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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/4988-0.txt b/4988-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e8d6b7b --- /dev/null +++ b/4988-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5553 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Outdoor Girls at Wild Rose Lodge, by Laura Lee Hope + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you +will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before +using this eBook. + +Title: The Outdoor Girls at Wild Rose Lodge + +Author: Laura Lee Hope + +Release Date: April 7, 2002 [eBook #4988] +[Most recently updated: March 27, 2021] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +Produced by: Jim Weiler, xooqi.com + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT WILD ROSE LODGE *** + + + + +The Outdoor Girls at Wild Rose Lodge + +or + +The Hermit of Moonlight Falls + +by Laura Lee Hope + +1921 + + +Contents + + CHAPTER I. JUST FUN + CHAPTER II. THE FALLING TREE + CHAPTER III. THE QUEER LITTLE MAN + CHAPTER IV. GOOD NEWS + CHAPTER V. BETTY TAKES A DARE + CHAPTER VI. NEARLY WRECKED + CHAPTER VII. BAD TIDINGS CONFIRMED + CHAPTER VIII. PREMONITIONS + CHAPTER IX. A VISITOR + CHAPTER X. HURRAH FOR ALLEN + CHAPTER XI. THE HOLD-UP + CHAPTER XII. SHEEP! + CHAPTER XIII. THE ENEMY ROUTED + CHAPTER XIV. NOTHING HUMAN + CHAPTER XV. WILD ROSES + CHAPTER XVI. THE WHIRLPOOL + CHAPTER XVII. THE THING + CHAPTER XVIII. SURPRISED + CHAPTER XIX. LIKE OLD TIMES + CHAPTER XX. VERY MUCH ALIVE + CHAPTER XXI. OUT OF THE DARK + CHAPTER XXII. TRAGEDY + CHAPTER XXIII. A MOONLIGHT APPARITION + CHAPTER XXIV. RECOVERED + CHAPTER XXV. THE OLD CROWD AGAIN + + + + +CHAPTER I. +JUST FUN + + +“Did you ever see a more wonderful day?” + +The four Outdoor Girls, in Mollie Billette’s touring car and with +Mollie herself at the wheel, were at the present moment rushing wildly +over a dusty country road at the rate of thirty miles an hour. + +Grace Ford was sitting in front with Mollie, while Betty Nelson and Amy +Blackford “sprawled,” to use Mollie’s sarcastic and slightly +exaggerated description, “all over the tonneau.” + +“You look as if you had never done a real day’s work in your life,” +said Mollie, with a disapproving glance over her shoulder at the girls +in the tonneau. + +“We never have,” returned quiet Amy, with a grin. + +“And we are proud of it,” added Betty, as she defiantly settled her +feet still more comfortably on the foot rail. “Why should we be +energetic when it is so much easier to be lazy?” + +“There the proper spirit speaks,” applauded Grace Ford from the front. +“I think I shall have to change places with you, Betty. It’s far too +exciting up here with Mollie. She insists upon staging near collisions +every few feet! thus keeping me awake!” + +“Great heavens!” cried Mollie, pressing an impatient foot upon the +accelerator to which the great car responded with an eager purring, +“did any one ever give us the mistaken title of Outdoor Girls, I +wonder? They should have called us the Rip Van Winkle club, instead.” + +“Now she’s getting sour-castic,” commented Grace lazily. “Have some +candy, honey, and sweeten up.” + +She passed the ever-present box of delicacies over to Mollie, to which +overture the young driver responded with so indignant a stare that +Grace quickly withdrew the box, tucked it behind her, and strove to +look unconscious. + +“Please, ma’am, I didn’t mean to do it,” she said meekly. + +“Well, don’t do it again, that’s all,” returned Mollie, +uncompromisingly, her eyes once more on the road ahead. “I’ve eaten so +many chocolates this week that I’ve had indigestion and mother +threatened to cut down my allowance.” + +“Goodness, it’s my allowance that suffers,” retorted Grace, ruefully, +“since it is my candy that you eat.” + +“Stop quarreling, girls, and answer my question,” said Betty, sitting +up straight and regarding delightedly a vista of flying hills and +woodland greenery. “I asked you a few minutes ago if you had ever seen +so wonderful a day?” + +“Yes, plenty of ’em,” returned Mollie, as she took a sharp curve on two +wheels. “If you weren’t too lazy to notice anything, Betty Nelson, you +would see that there is a storm coming up. Look at those clouds over +there in the east.” + +“Oh, you’re a kill-joy!” cried Betty, cocking an optimistic eye up at +the sky. “It’s only one teeny little cloud anyway, and who cares for +clouds when the boys are coming home?” + +Both Amy and Grace felt a breathless little tug at their hearts at the +joyful challenge in Betty’s words, but Mollie, with a perverseness that +was sometimes characteristic of her, refused to be too happy. + +“Who says they’re coming home?” she asked. “Now you’re only guessing.” + +“Guessing!” cried Betty indignantly. “What do you mean! guessing? The +war is over, isn’t it?” + +“Yes; and has been for quite a while,” Mollie responded dryly. “But +that doesn’t say that the boys are coming home right away!!” + +“We don’t care about the right away,” interrupted Amy, with a quiet +happiness in her face that made Betty hug her impulsively. “We can wait +patiently, now that we know they are safe.” + +“It’s all right for you to talk about patience, Amy,” retorted Mollie, +throttling her engine and sliding at breakneck speed down a long hill +without the thought of using a brake. A brake to Mollie meant something +to be used at the last minute when she couldn’t think of anything else +to do. “You’re an angel, but I’m not!” + +“No, indeed!” said Grace, so emphatically that the girls in the tonneau +chuckled and Mollie looked at her threateningly. + +“For goodness’ sake, don’t waste time looking at me,” Grace pleaded, as +they bounced into a hole in the road and out again, fairly jouncing the +breath from the girls’ bodies. “Keep your eyes on the road, Mollie +dear, We’re not ready to die yet.” + +“Well, look out, or you may! ready or not,” threatened Mollie darkly, +as the car skidded around another precipitous turn and the girls saw +with relief a long stretch of flat road before them. + +“Just the same the boys must be coming home before very long,” said +Amy, quietly returning to the subject. “And when they do come we’ll +have to give them some sort of big party or something, girls.” + +“Of course we will,” said Grace, munching contentedly on a chocolate. +“Something that will make the people in Deepdale sit up and take +notice.” + +“We-el! I don’t know,” objected Betty thoughtfully. “They say that the +few soldier boys who have come home object to any sort of fuss being +made over them. They seem to want to forget everything that has +happened ‘over there,’ and any sort of celebration brings the whole +thing vividly before them again.” + +“Yes, that’s true, too,” Mollie agreed. “I remember our doctor telling +mother that if people only wouldn’t try to force confidences from the +boys and would try to keep all thought of the awful things they had +been through out of their minds, there would be fewer cases of nervous +breakdowns.” + +“Pop!” said Grace, snapping her finger resignedly. “There go all our +hopes of a good time, Amy. When the boys come home all we shall be +allowed to do will be to smooth their fevered brows and hold their +hands + +“Well, we might do worse things even than that,” said Betty, with a +light laugh, and Mollie shot her a malicious glance. + +“Just watch Betty objecting to that,” she said wickedly. “Before we +know it she will be sighing that Allen has only one fevered brow to +smooth!” + +Amy and Grace looked at Betty mischievously! at Betty who could not for +the life of her look as unconcerned as she would have liked. + +“Don’t be so foolish,” she said hastily, at which the girls only +laughed the more. + +“Never mind, honey,” said Amy, putting an arm fondly about her chum. “I +guess we will all be crazy with joy to get the boys home again,” + +“Well, you needn’t think you can hold hands with Will and smooth his +fevered brow all the time,” said Grace unexpectedly. “Because I really +have some share in him myself, you know. Remember, mine was one of the +three pictures he kept under his pillow.” + +Readers of previous volumes in this series may recall that joyful +letter written to Betty not so long ago in which Sergeant Allen +Washburn! now Lieutenant Allen Washburn! had spoken of the three +pictures which Will Ford had kept under his pillow during his long +convalescence in one of the army hospitals over there. These readers +may also remember that one of the pictures was of the boy’s mother, +another of his sister, Grace, and the third of shy little Amy +Blackford, who now was blushing so furiously at the mere mention of it. + +“How about poor Frank and Roy?” asked Mollie, mentioning the other two +boys who made up the quartette of the girls’ boy chums. “Who will +attend to their fevered brows?” + +“Oh, you and Grace can take turns at that,” said Betty, lightly adding, +with a little sigh: “Try as we can, Amy and I never know quite how to +pair you four off. We can’t for the life of us find out which of you +likes Frank best and which inclines to Roy.” + +“That’s right, kid! keep ’em guessing,” said Mollie slangily, as she +turned on power and challenged a steep grade. “Grace and I believe in +scattering our favors! as ’twere. See that hill just ahead of us? What +do you bet I make it without changing gears?” + +“If you make it without changing our looks, I’ll be happy,” said Grace +ruefully, as they bumped and rumbled to the top of the steep grade. +“Look out, Mollie!” she added suddenly, indicating a big pile of +brushwood that jutted out almost into the center of the road. “For +goodness’ sake, slow down!” + +But Mollie did more than slow down. She stopped! and with such +suddenness that the girls were all but thrown out of the car and Betty +bumped her nose on the seat in front. + +They had scarcely regained their poise when they were startled by a +shrill cry from Amy. + +“Girls!” she almost screamed, clutching Betty’s arm in a grip that +hurt, “look at that tree. It’s going to fall! Oh, we’ll be killed!” + +The girls followed the direction of her pointing finger and looks of +horror sprang to their eyes. Slowly, its descent retarded somewhat by +the branches of other trees, a towering giant of the forest tottered +and crashed its destructive way downward. And they were directly in its +path! + + + + +CHAPTER II. +THE FALLING TREE + + +For a moment the Outdoor Girls sat fascinated, paralyzed, without the +power to move a muscle. Then suddenly Grace seemed galvanized to +action, She leaned toward Mollie, grasping the steering wheel of the +motionless car frantically. + +“For heaven’s sake, Mollie, get out of the way! Start the car!” she +screamed. + +“I can’t!” Mollie answered, tight-lipped. “Something’s wrong. The +motor’s dead.” + +But with Grace’s scream, Betty had come to her senses and had scrambled +out of the car, dragging the still paralyzed Amy after her. + +“Grace, get out! Mollie, are you crazy?” she shouted wildly. “You’ll be +killed!!” + +Automatically Grace started to clamber to the road, but Mollie still +fussed with brakes and levers, her lips in a tight line, her eyes +blazing. + +“Something’s wrong! but I’ll get her started,” she muttered over and +over to herself while Betty raged at her from the road. + +“Get out! get out!” fumed the Little Captain, “Jump, or I’ll come after +you and we’ll both be killed. Mollie!” + +Luckily for Mollie’s suicidal stubbornness, the great tree had been +halted far a moment in its downward plunge by some particularly heavy +foliage and branches, but the girls could see that it was only a matter +of seconds until the giant should tear itself loose and come plunging +down upon them. + +And still Mollie fumbled with levers in a vain and foolish attempt to +save her beloved car at the risk of her own life. + +Betty had just jumped upon the running board in a wild attempt to drag +her chum from the car when suddenly help came to them from an +unexpected quarter. + +An elderly man came running from the woods, evidently attracted by +their excited cries. He gave one look at the toppling tree, even now +tearing itself loose from the impeding branches, another at the machine +with the two girls still in it, and then, with a speed and decision +which seemed to belie his age, went to the rescue. + +“Come! help me push!” he cried to Amy and Grace, who were still +standing dumbly in the middle of the road. A moment later he had thrown +himself with all his might against the machine, striving to push it out +of the path of the falling tree. + +In an instant of time the girls had added their strength to his and the +automobile was moving slowly down the road. Luckily the car was on a +down grade or they never could have managed it. As it was, there was +just time to got out of the way when the great tree came crashing down, +its outermost branches just brushing Amy’s skirt. The giant had fallen +on the very spot where the car had been only a moment before! + +“Girls,” breathed Betty, with a shaky little attempt at a laugh, “I +guess we’ve never in our lives been nearer death than we were just +then.” + +And while the girls are marveling at their almost miraculous escape +from a terrible death, time will be taken to introduce the Outdoor +Girls to those readers who have not yet met them and also to review +briefly a few of the exciting and interesting adventures they have had +up to the time of this present narrative. + +There were four of them, Betty Nelson, or the “Little Captain” as the +girls often called her because she had such a decided talent for +knowing just the right thing to do at just the right moment, was +eighteen, dark-haired and dark-eyed. She had a fund of vitality and +more than her share of sense and good judgment! all of which went +toward making her what she was, the most popular girl in Deepdale. + +Grace Ford, tall, slender and willowy, was almost the same age as +Betty, but that fact and her love of the outdoors were the only things +she had in common with the “Little Captain.” Her father, James Ford, +was a lawyer, and her mother, Mrs. Margaret Ford, a rather dressy lady +who spent a good deal of her time at clubs, was quite a figure in the +society of Deepdale. However, all through the war Mrs. Ford had worked +with an untiring enthusiasm for the “cause,” a fact which had made her +many more friends than her social popularity could ever have done. + +Next in the little quartette came Mollie Billette. Mollie was +seventeen, French-American, and impulsive, with a quick temper that +made more trouble for herself than for any one else. She and Betty were +alike in their splendid vigor and vitality. Mollie, or “Billy” as she +was sometimes called by her chums, had a very lovely widowed mother and +an extremely mischievous young brother and sister, Paul and Dora +(nicknamed “Dodo”), who were twins and six. Although the twins were +pretty nearly always in trouble, they were really adorable children, +whom everybody loved. + +Amy Blackford, shy, sweet, pretty, completed the quartette. There had +been a mystery about her past which had recently been cleared up, and +it may have been this mystery that caused the girls to treat her with a +little more consideration and gentleness than they did each other. Her +guardian was a broker in the city who knew very little of the past +except through letters. + +The four boys who were close chums of the girls and had added to the +interest and excitement of more than one of their adventures were Allen +Washburn, who was very much interested in Betty, and in whom Betty was +very much interested; Will Ford, Grace’s brother, who had carried Amy +Blackford’s picture all through the war; Frank Haley, Will Ford’s +closest chum, and Roy Anderson who had not much distinction of any kind +except that he was “lots of fun” and a chum of the other three boys. + +In the first volume of this series the girls went on a camping and +tramping tour, tramping for miles over the country and meeting with +many adventures on the way. + +Later they had more fun at Rainbow Lake, in a motor car, in a winter +camp, in Florida, at Ocean View, then at Pine Island where the girls +and boys together had cleared up a mystery surrounding a gypsy cave. + +Later the girls and boys found themselves caught in the meshes of the +great war, as many hundreds of thousands of others had been. The boys +responded eagerly to the bugle call, and the girls, too, were eager for +Army service and finally went to a hostess house at Camp Liberty. +Though the girls had never worked harder in their lives, they found +that the task had a stirringly romantic side as well. + +Then in the volume directly preceding this, entitled “The Outdoor Girls +at Bluff Point” the girls had had perhaps the most exciting adventure +of all. + +The Hostess House at Camp Liberty having burnt down, the chums found +themselves forced to take a much-needed, although not entirely welcome, +vacation and had decided to spend it at a romantic spot near the ocean +called Bluff Point. The cottage on the bluff had been loaned to the +girls by Grace’s patriotic Aunt Mary, who declared that she owed +something to the chums for having worked so hard for the good old Stars +and Stripes. Mrs. Ford, worn out with war work, had gone with the girls +to chaperon them. + +Bad tidings at first threatened to overwhelm the chums. The Fords +received word that Will was seriously wounded “somewhere in France,” +and later Mollie received a telegram from her mother saying that the +twins, Dodo and Paul, had disappeared. Still later, while everything +was at its blackest, Betty read Allen Washburn’s name among the +missing. However, everything cleared up later when the twins, who had +been kidnapped, were recovered and their kidnapper sent to justice. +Still later Allen proved that the report that he had been missing was +an error by writing to Betty himself and in the letter he also spoke of +Will Ford and the fact that he was getting over his wound splendidly. +Of course there had been great rejoicing and the vacation had proved a +happy one after all. + +And now, at the time of this story, the war was over and the first +regiments of soldiers had arrived from the other side and the girls +were expecting a joyful reunion with the boys at any time. + +They had not yet made definite plans for the summer and were just in +the position of waiting for something to happen when something had +happened with a vengeance! but not at all the kind of something which +the four girls had expected. + +“I think you are right, my dear,” said the man who had saved the lives +of at least two of the girls, rubbing his hands fussily together and +peering out of small, near-sighted eyes, first at the tree and then at +the girls. “It was a close call! a very close call. I declare, it was +very nearly the closest call I ever saw!” + +For the first time the girls really looked at him. He was a rather +small man, slenderly built, with long sensitive hands and a very bald +head, in the center of which a tuft of hair stood comically upright. +These characteristics, coupled to the squinting eyes, gave the man a +very odd appearance. + +He was so queer a figure standing there in the center of the road that +the girls found themselves staring unduly. Realizing something of this, +Betty jumped down from the running board where she was still standing +and held out her hand to the little man, thanking him in a voice that +still trembled a little for the great service he had done them. The +other girls followed suit and so overwhelmed their rescuer that he +seemed quite embarrassed and looked around nervously as if for some +means of escape. + +Betty, seeing his embarrassment, was about to take pity upon him when +something happened that they had not bargained for. It began to rain, +not gently, but in a deluge, taking the girls completely by surprise. + +Instinctively they turned toward the car, but Mollie suddenly began to +laugh in a half-hysterical manner. + +“This is what I call fun,” she said. “Engine dead, caught in the rain, +and I’ve even left the side curtains at home! I guess we’re in for it, +girls.” + + + + +CHAPTER III. +THE QUEER LITTLE MAN + + +While the girls stood looking wildly at each other their unknown +rescuer seemed suddenly galvanized to action. + +“This won’t do at all!” he cried, raising both hands to his bald head +which was by this time very wet and more shiny than ever. “You will get +your death of cold, young ladies, you surely will. You must come with +me. Here, right along this path I have a cottage!” All the time he was +talking he was hustling them fussily ahead of him, for all the world +like some old hen with a brood of chickens. + +The girls, not knowing what else to do and being in rather a bewildered +frame of mind, allowed themselves to be hustled. The rain was sheeting +down in a terrific cloud burst, so that their clothes clung to them +damply and they began to shiver. + +They circled the fallen tree which had so nearly been their undoing, +and a moment later found themselves upon a narrow footpath which seemed +to lead into the very heart of the woods. + +“I wonder where he is taking us,” whispered Grace in Betty’s ear. +“Maybe he’s a murderer or something.” + +In spite of her discomfort, Betty giggled. + +“Did you ever see a murderer with a bald head like that?” she asked. + +It seemed to the girls as if the path must be at least a mile long, but +just as they were despairing of ever reaching the end of it, they came +out into a partially cleared space and through the trees caught a +glimpse of something that looked like a house. + +Their new acquaintance, who up to this time had been bringing up the +rear, now took the lead and led them over tangled underbrush, stones +and foot-bruising rocks, to his strange little dwelling. + +“It’s a house, it’s a house!” cried Grace thankfully, as they hurried +after the little man. “I guess somebody will have to wring me out when +we get inside. I’m soaked through!” + +“Goodness, why don’t you tell us something we don’t know?” grumbled +Mollie, but nobody was listening to her. They had reached the house and +the man had swung the door open hospitably. + +“Step inside, step inside, do,” he urged with a nervous gesture that +reminded the girls once more of the proverbial hen. “You will find it +dry at least, and I will have a fire for you in a hurry. Just a moment +till I get some wood! just a moment!!” + +And while he rambled on, suiting his words with quick nervous action, +the girls crowded inside the cottage and looked about them curiously. + +The room they had entered was large and scrupulously neat. At first +glance it seemed a queer combination of hunting lodge and museum of +natural history. The rough clapboards and beams of the ceiling and +walls had never been plastered, and this very crudity seemed somehow to +give the room an air of warmth and homelikeness that was very inviting. + +Hung on the walls were several fairly large skins of animals, a gun or +two, and over the huge open fireplace, which very nearly covered one +end of the room, hung the magnificent head of a buck. + +On the wall opposite the fireplace was a set of rudely-erected shelves, +one beneath the other, and these shelves were covered with specimens of +butterflies, beetles and other bugs of every size and description. That +the specimens had been mounted by an expert even an inexperienced eye +could see. + +The girls, who had been regarding the oddities of the room with growing +interest, were brought back to a realization of the discomfort of wet +clothes by the owner of the place himself. + +The latter had brought firewood from somewhere, and, with the aid of +half a dozen matches, had succeeded in getting a fairly good blaze. + +Then with a smile of satisfaction he turned to the girls, rubbing his +hands together genially. + +“Come nearer to the fire! come closer! do,” he urged in his quick +nervous way. “I am sure you are chilled through! quite chilled through. +I will bring chairs.” He stopped abruptly and looked about him with an +embarrassed air, his gaze coming to rest on the only chair which +adorned the room. + +Betty, seeing his confusion, was trying to think of something helpful +to say, when the little man suddenly found a way out of his quandary. + +“Ah, I have it!” he cried, seizing enthusiastically upon a long bench +that stood on one side of the room. “Four can sit upon this quite +easily, I am sure. A happy thought! a very happy thought!” and he +pulled and tugged at the bench until he succeeded in moving it close to +the fire, + +Afterward it occurred to the girls that they might have helped him, for +it was a very heavy bench and he was rather a frail old man. But at the +time they were too interested in this unusual place and their rather +extraordinary host, to think of anything very rational. + +However, they seated themselves dutifully in a row upon the bench, “for +all the world like an orphan asylum out for an airing,” as Mollie said +later, and gratefully stretched out their sodden shoes to the blaze. + +They were cold and they were wet and they were fast becoming very +hungry, all of which might have been expected to form a very good +reason why they should have been miserable, But they weren’t miserable! +not at all. To the Outdoor Girls the thrill of an adventure always more +than counterbalanced the possible discomforts attending it. + +Their host started to draw up the one chair in the room, hesitated a +moment then, as though he had just thought of something, turned and +darted through the door, closing it with a little click behind him. + +For the space of half a second, the girls looked after him. Then they +looked at each other. Then they drew a long breath and let loose the +flood of curious questions which had been struggling for expression for +the past twenty minute + +“Well, isn’t this a lark?” cried Mollie, her eyes dancing. “Half an +hour ago we were awfully bored, and now look at us.” + +“Yes, look at us,” said Grace with a little sniff. “I’m sure we’re not +very much to look at right now with our hair wet, and our clothes!” + +“Oh, for goodness’ sake, who cares about such things?” cried Betty +gaily. “I think this is a darling place and I’m having the time of my +life. I wonder who he is?” + +“He seemed kind of scared just now, didn’t he!” chuckled Mollie, +feeling her shoe to see if it was drying out any. “It was funny the way +he bolted out of the room.” + +“Poor old dear! no wonder he was scared,” commented Grace, as she took +off her hat and tried to do something with her hopelessly bedraggled +locks. “The way we look we’re enough to scare anybody. Oh, dear, hasn’t +any one a comb?” + +“Why, of course, we carry a complete beauty parlor outfit just for your +benefit, dear,” giggled Mollie. “The rest of us don’t need it though. +We are too beautiful naturally.” + +“You know I like him a lot, the queer little man, I mean,” said Amy, +evidently following out her own train of thought. “He seems kind of +fussy and peculiar but he has an awfully nice smile.” + +“Trust Amy to find the smile,” said Betty, putting an arm fondly about +the younger girl. “And of course we all like him,” she added seriously. +“If it hadn’t been for him we probably wouldn’t be feeling so happy +right now.” + +“Yes, we would probably be in some hospital with our unhappy relatives +weeping over our mangled remains,” said the irrepressible Mollie, and +laughed at the shriek that went up at her gruesome remark. “There +probably wouldn’t have been enough of us left to recognize,” she added +by way of good measure, and they shrieked again. + +“For goodness’ sake, let’s talk of something pleasant,” said Grace, +rising suddenly and going over to the window. “If you want to sit on +that old bench all day, you can.” + +It appeared that the girls had no intention of sitting on the bench all +day. They got up and sauntered about the room, examining the skins on +the walls and looking, but without much curiosity, at the rifles. They +lingered longest before the shelves of butterflies and beetles, for +some of the specimens were really beautiful and very rare. + +After they had examined everything in sight they began to grow restive. +They must have been in the place nearly an hour and it suddenly +occurred to them to wonder where their host had been keeping himself +all this time. + +“I wish we could get started,” worried Mollie, looking out upon the +sodden landscape. The rain was apparently coming down just as hard as +ever. “I hate to leave the car all by itself out there. Somebody might +steal it.” + +“I wish I knew where that man was,” said Grace nervously. “I never +trust strange men. He may set the house on fire for all we know.” + +The words were hardly out of her mouth when the door opened and the +topic of conversation himself entered, carrying a tray so big and +heaped so high with sandwiches that one could scarcely discover the man +behind it. + +Betty and Amy ran to his assistance, and between them they got the tray +safely to the bench. In one delighted glance the girls saw that not +only sandwiches, but a steaming pot of coffee and the remains of what +had been a great, three-layer chocolate cake were on the tray. + +At thought of the fussy little man taking all this time and trouble, +for it must have taken a good deal of work to make all that formidable +array of sandwiches! the girls were sincerely touched and regarded +their host with a new interest. + +“There, there,” he was saying, regarding the heaped-up tray with +evident pleasure, “you must sit down and eat at once. You must be +nearly starved! famished. I hope this will be enough.” + +He looked at them so anxiously that Betty felt like hugging him! and +nearly did it. + +“Enough! Well, I guess it is enough,” she said heartily, as the other +girls seated themselves on the bench either side of the tempting tray +and began enthusiastically to help themselves. “It would be plenty for +an army. We can’t thank you enough.” + +“Indeed we can’t,” added Mollie. + +“It’s awfully good of you,” said Grace, as she took a bite of her ham +sandwich. + +“Awfully good,” added Amy, like an echo. + +The little man waved aside their thanks and drew up the one chair in +the room, talking all the time in his quick, jerky fashion. + +“It was no trouble, I am sure,! no trouble whatever,” he said, adding +as though he wished to change the subject: “You didn’t tell me your +name!!” he hesitated, looking at Betty, who of course did tell him her +name on the spot. This proved a signal for mutual introductions, and +the girls learned that their new friend was a college professor, Arnold +Dempsey by name. They also learned that he had taken up woodcraft in +the hope of recovering his health. + +And while they contentedly munched sandwiches and sipped steaming +coffee the girls learned a good deal more about Arnold Dempsey, and the +more they learned of him the more they felt drawn to him. + +And when he started to tell them of his two sons who had fought so +nobly in the army of democracy, their eyes began to shine and they +leaned toward him with an interest that was intensely real. + +“Oh, it must be wonderful to have two big soldier sons,” cried Amy, +forgetting her shyness in her enthusiasm. “Aren’t you dreadfully +proud?” + +A gleam came into Professor Dempsey’s eyes and his thin shoulders +straightened. + +“Yes, yes,” he said. “Of course I’m proud of my boys! very proud. And I +hope,” a look of absolute happiness came into his eyes and he smiled +contentedly, “that before very long I shall see them.” + +“Oh, I’m sure you will!” cried Betty eagerly. + +“That’s what we are all hoping for, anyway,” said Grace, adding with a +sigh: “The boys have been gone so _dreadfully_ long.” + +“Look,” cried Mollie presently, rising suddenly to her feet and +pointing toward the window. “We have been so busy talking that we never +noticed the sun had come out.” + +“And doesn’t it look good!” exulted Betty. + +In spite of their reluctance to leave their newfound friend, the girls +were anxious to be off, for they knew their parents would be worrying +about them. + +Professor Dempsey insisted on seeing them safely back to the road +although they protested that there was absolutely no need of it. + +“There are two or three paths that lead to the road,” he explained, as +he flung wide the door, letting in a flood of sunshine, “and I wouldn’t +have you lose your way for the world! not for the world!” + +The woodland was beautiful after the rain, and the girls sniffed the +fragrant air eagerly as they followed Professor Dempsey along the path. +It was not till they had almost reached the road that Mollie had a +disquieting thought. + +“How do we know but what we’re stuck here for good?” she asked the +girls. “The car stopped dead, you remember, just under that horrible +tree, and I’m sure I don’t know what in the world made it. If I can’t +find out the trouble!!” + +“Oh, but you’ve got to find it,” protested Grace, while Betty and Amy +looked worried. “We can’t stay here all night, and it may be a dozen +miles to the nearest garage.” + +“I know that just as well as you do,” grumbled Mollie. “But if I can’t, +I can’t, that’s all.” + +By this time they had reached the road and Mollie went straight to the +car. While she and Betty were trying to find out what was wrong the +other two girls and Professor Dempsey looked on anxiously. + +“Well, as far as I can see there is absolutely nothing wrong with it,” +snapped Mollie at last, lifting a face flushed with exertion. “Get in, +girls, and I’ll start the engine! or try to. Then if she won’t go we’ll +have to make up our minds to stay here all night or walk to the next +garage.” + +Accordingly the girls got in and Mollie pressed the self-starter. To +her great surprise, the engine purred a response, and as she shifted +her gears the car moved slowly forward. + +“Oh, goodie, we’re going,” cried Amy, and the faces of the other girls +showed relief. + +“Must have been a drop of water in the gasoline,” hazarded Mollie, and +then she throttled the engine once more while she and her chums turned +to say good-bye to Professor Dempsey. The latter was still standing in +the road, looking up at them rather wistfully. + +“I’m glad that I had an opportunity of helping you, young ladies! very +glad,” he answered, in response to their repeated thanks. “You +conferred a great favor on me also, for I have little company. +Good-bye! and good luck to you.” + +The girls responded gayly, and as they started forward Betty leaned far +out of the machine to call back an encouraging: “Keep hoping hard for +your boys to come home. I am sure they will be back soon.” + +“Thank you, young lady, thank you,” said Professor Dempsey, but the +words were too low for Betty to catch and she was too far away to see +the mist that sprang suddenly to his eyes. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. +GOOD NEWS + + +Deepdale, the home of the four Outdoor Girls, is a thriving little city +with a population of about fifteen thousand people. It is situated on +the Argono River, a pleasant stream where a great many of the young +folk of Deepdale, and some of the older ones too, keep motor boats and +canoes and various other types of pleasure craft. + +Farther on, the Argono empties into Rainbow Lake, which is picturesque +in the extreme. It has several pretty and romantic looking islands, +chief of which is Triangle Island! so called because of its shape. + +There is a boat running from Deepdale to Clammerport at the foot of +Rainbow Lake, and this boat is almost always crowded with pleasure +seekers. In addition to this Deepdale is situated in the heart of New +York state and is only a hundred-and-fifty-mile run from the city of +that name. Thus one can easily see that Deepdale is a very desirable +place in which to live. + +At least that is what the four Outdoor Girls thought. And since they +had spent most of their lives there, they certainly ought to know! + +On the morning of this day, some ten days or so after their strange +encounter with Professor Dempsey, the girls were gathered on Betty’s +porch, talking over their plans for the summer. + +“I am only waiting to hear from Uncle John,” Mollie was saying, as she +swung lazily back and forth in the couch swing. “The last time I saw +him he said that he was almost sure to go north this summer and he told +me that as soon as he made definite plans he would let me know.” + +“You told us that two weeks ago,” Grace reminded her. “And we haven’t +heard from him yet.” + +“It does seem to take him a long time to make up his mind,” sighed Amy. + +Betty, who had been trying to read a novel, closed the book and turned +to them with a laugh. + +“Goodness, you all sound doleful,” she told them. “It seems to me that +we ought to be able to live through it, even if we don’t get Wild Rose +Lodge for the summer. There are plenty of other things we can do,” + +Mollie turned upon her indignantly. + +“How you talk, Betty Nelson,” she scolded her. “As if we could possibly +have as good a time anywhere else as we could at Wild Rose Lodge. Think +of being in a real hunting lodge out in the woods away from everybody! +Why, it will be a real adventure!” + +“All right. I surrender! don’t shoot,” laughed Betty, coming over and +perching on the railing beside Mollie. “I admit we should probably have +more fun at the lodge than we could anywhere else. I was only trying to +look on the bright side of things in case our plans should fall +through. Hello! who’s this?” + +“This” proved to be Mollie’s little sister Dora, or “Dodo,” as she was +called by almost everybody. With a sigh of relief, the girls saw that +Dodo’s twin brother, Paul, was not with her, for together the children +were a simply unconquerable pair. + +The twins had been spoiled by their widowed mother, Mrs. Billette, even +before the time when they had been kidnapped and spirited off by a +hideous Spaniard. But since their recovery, their joyful mother had +indulged them in every way until they had become well nigh +unmanageable. + +Yet in spite of everything, the twins were very lovable, and every one +loved them, even those whom they annoyed most. + +And now as Dodo tore up the street toward them, waving something white +in her hand, the girls instinctively glanced about to see what they +ought to put out of sight before the cyclone struck them. + +“Thank goodness, Paul isn’t with her,” murmured Grace. “Then we would +be in for it.” + +“Dodo,” cried Mollie as the child started up the walk, “scrape some of +that mud off your feet before you come up, You will get Betty’s porch +all dirty.” + +“Name’s Dora! not Dodo,” the little girl answered, paying not the +slightest heed to Mollie’s caution about the mud. “Dodo’s a baby’s +name! don’t like it. Got something for you.” + +She stumbled heedlessly up the steps, leaving a trail of mud behind +her, and almost breaking her neck in the bargain. + +“Now just look at Betty’s porch,” Mollie was beginning in exasperation +when Betty laughingly interfered. + +“Oh, let her alone, Mollie,” she coaxed. “The porch was dirty anyway +and! what’s that you have in your hand, Dodo?” + +“Sumfin’ for Mollie,” answered Dodo, leaning sulkily against the rail +while the girls regarded her anxiously. “An’ if Mollie aren’t nice to +me she can’t have it.” + +“Oh, for goodness’ sake be nice to her and get it over with, Mollie,” +urged Grace, uneasily conscious of the candy box she had shoved hastily +behind her. She was afraid one corner of it might show. + +So Mollie got down from her perch on the railing and went over +coaxingly to the little girl. + +“Give it to Mollie, honey,” she begged. “I’ll even call you Dora, if +you will.” + +“_Always_ Dora! _never_ Dodo?” asked Dodo eagerly, for she was growing +out of babyhood just enough to resent being called by her baby name. + +“Always Dora,” Mollie promised. + +For answer Dodo held out the white thing she had waved at them from the +street, and with a little cry of excitement Mollie saw that it was a +letter addressed to her in her Uncle John’s firm hand. + +At her exclamation the girls crowded round her eagerly. She hastily +tore open the envelope and devoured the contents. Then she turned to +the girls with a glowing face. + +“It’s all right, it’s all right!” she cried, waving the letter round +her head like a flag and nearly upsetting her chums. “Uncle John says +it is settled. He is going to Canada for a couple of months and we can +have the lodge for the whole time he is away or a part of it, just as +we wish. Hooray! How’s that for luck?” + +The girls were so excited over their good fortune that they forgot all +about Dodo. She, finding herself unobserved, had slipped around the +girls to the swing, snatched the box of candy which Grace had exposed +when she got up, had taken the steps two at a time and was flying off +down the street before the girls saw what she was up to. + +Then it was Grace who, with a dreadful premonition, thought of her +candy. She turned quickly, saw that the box was gone, and uttered a +wail of woe. + +“That little Turk of a sister of yours has done it again,” she cried, +turning to Mollie, while Betty and Amy began to laugh. “You just wait +till I catch her. I’ll get my candy back if I have to! spank her,” this +last with a fierce scowl. + +Betty put an arm about her excited chum, led her over to the swing and +put her down in it. + +“By the time you caught Dodo there wouldn’t be any of your candy left,” +she said, adding soothingly: “Never mind, honey. We will get you some +more if we have to take up a collection.” + +“Makes me feel like an orphan’s home,” grumbled Grace, but she laughed +nevertheless with the rest and immediately forgot both her candy and +Dodo in renewed excitement over Wild Rose Lodge. + +“Just where is this place, Mollie?” asked Amy. “What is it called?” + +“Oh, that’s the very best part of it,” said Mollie, with a mysterious +smile. “It has the most wonderful, most romantic name. Come closer +while I whisper it! Moonlight Falls. There, isn’t that a real name for +a place?” + +“Wild Rose Lodge at Moonlight Falls,” sighed Grace ecstatically. “If we +don’t have a wildly romantic time in a place with a name like that, it +will be our own fault.” + +“But we will have to have a chaperon!” Amy was beginning when Betty +interrupted her eagerly. + +“I have fixed that,” she said, and while they all looked in +astonishment she went on quickly to explain. “I met Mrs. Irving in the +street the other day! you know she has been away ever since that last +time she was with us on Pine Island! and I asked her then if she would +chaperon us this summer.” + +“But you didn’t even know then that we were going to Wild Rose Lodge, +Betty,” Mollie interrupted. + +“I knew we were sure to go somewhere. We always!” Betty was arguing +when Grace cut in impatiently. + +“Never mind about that,” she said. “Did Mrs. Irving say she would go?” + +“She said she was very sure she could manage it,” Betty answered. “She +seemed awfully surprised and said it would be great fun to be with us +girls again.” + +“It will be great fun for all of us,” said Amy happily. “I’ll never +forget the wonderful time we had on Pine Island with Mrs. Irving and +the boys.” + +“Yes! and the boys,” Betty repeated a little wistfully. She was +thinking of Allen Washburn and the wonderful time they had had that +never-to-be-forgotten summer! before the war had come to separate them +and make their hearts ache. Oh, it would be unbelievably happy to have +the boys back again! Will, Roy, Frank and! her Allen. The old crowd +together once more. She looked around at the girls, who had also fallen +into a thoughtful mood, and suddenly she smiled, the old bright, happy +smile that was peculiarly Betty’s own. + +“Oh, cheer up, everybody,” she cried gayly. “How do we know but what +the boys will be home in time to join us at Wild Rose Lodge? Then think +of the fun!” + +“Oh, Betty, if we could only believe that!” they cried. + +“Well,” said the Little Captain stoutly, “you never can tell. Stranger +things have happened, you know.” + +“But nothing so joyful,” added Mollie. + + + + +CHAPTER V. +BETTY TAKES A DARE + + +It would be a week or two before Wild Rose Lodge would be ready for the +girls’ occupancy, and as a relief for their impatience they filled in +the time in hiking, motoring and put-putting up and down the Argono in +their natty little motor boat. + +But whatever it was they were doing, their conversation almost +invariably returned to one of two subjects! the return of the boys and +the good time they would have at Moonlight Falls. + +They spoke often of Professor Arnold Dempsey. They took a real interest +in the queer little old man, both because of the service he had done +them and the fact that he was watching and waiting for his two big +sons, even as they were anxiously awaiting the return of their boys. + +“It must be dreadfully lonely for him in that little cabin or house or +whatever you call it in the woods,” Amy said one day as she and the +girls sauntered down to the dock where their motor boat was anchored. +“And he said he hardly ever had company.” + +“Goodness, I should think he would go crazy,” Mollie commented. “Why, I +go almost mad when I don’t have any one to talk to for an _hour_.” + +“I wonder if he lived in that little house all during the war,” said +Betty thoughtfully. They had reached the dock and were walking slowly +out upon it. “If he did, it must have been dreadfully hard for him. It +makes me shiver to think of him sitting there all alone, reading the +casualty list, terrified for fear the next name would be that of his +son!!” + +“Oh, Betty,” cried gentle Amy, all her sympathy quickly roused by the +picture Betty had drawn, “what a dreadful thing to think of!” + +“But he never did find their names among the missing or killed,” Mollie +reminded them soberly. “We know that because he said he expected to see +them soon.” + +“Of course, And all we can do is hope with all our hearts that he gets +his wish,” said Betty brightly, adding with a sudden change of subject: +“But away with dull care. The sun is shining and here’s our fairy ship +waiting to carry us off to fresh adventure. What more could any one +want, I’d like to know.” + +“Humph,” grunted Mollie, eyeing critically the trim little boat in +which they had had so much fun and adventure, as the other girls +tumbled aboard. “I’d say she didn’t look very much like a fairy boat +just now. She needs considerable polishing and scrubbing. Why don’t you +girls get busy, anyhow?” + +“Just hear who’s talking,” yawned Grace, disposing herself lazily in a +comfortable chair on deck. “I haven’t noticed you waving a broom and +mop frantically around these parts lately, Mollie dear.” + +“In fact,” Betty added with a mischievous twinkle in her eye, “I think +I remember suggesting that the _Gem_ needed grooming the other day. +Whereupon some one who shall be nameless suggested a motor ride +instead.” + +“She’s got you there, old dear,” drawled Grace, taking the inevitable +box of chocolates from her pocket and opening it lovingly. “I remember +the incident pre-zactly as it has been described.” + +Mollie, who was still standing on the dock, regarding them frowningly, +started to reply but Betty interrupted her with a shout. She had +started the engine and the boat began to move slowly away from the +dock. + +“Better hurry up,” suggested the Little Captain wickedly. “We’d rather +not leave you behind, but if you insist. + +However, Mollie had not the slightest intention in the world of being +left behind. With a gasp of mingled surprise and dismay she made a jump +for it, cleared the foot of space between the dock and the boat and +landed square in the middle of Grace’s astonished and outraged lap. She +would have sat on the candy box, too, and would, in all probability, +have ruined it and her dress as well, had not Grace, with rare presence +of mind, whipped the box out of danger just in the nick of time. + +“Well,” said Mollie, too surprised and indignant to move for a moment, +while, at the comical picture she made, both Betty and Amy laughed +merrily, “I surely like this!” + +“You do, do you? Well, I don’t!” cried Grace, recovering both her +breath and her dignity at the same moment. “If you don’t stop sitting +on my lungs this minute, Mollie Billette, I’ll! I’ll! stick this pin +into you.” + +With a yell Mollie stumbled to her feet and shook out her dress +belligerently. + +“You had better not. I’m stronger than you, Grace Ford, and I’ve a good +mind to let you see what the bottom of the river looks like.” + +She advanced toward her prospective victim, and Betty stopped laughing +long enough to call to her. + +“You’d better change your mind, Mollie,” she cautioned merrily. “You +can’t give Gracie a ducking without ruining her dress and she might +charge you damages. Reconsider! I beg of you, reconsider!” + +Mollie condescended to reconsider and plumped herself down cross-legged +on the deck, disdaining a chair. + +“Oh, very well,” she said, adding as she glared darkly at Grace: “You +will probably never know, woman, how near to death you were.” + +To which Grace replied with unexpected ferocity. + +“And you may never know, woman, just how near to death you are this +minute. Look at what you have done to my best sport skirt. I don’t +believe I will ever be able to get those wrinkles out.” + +“If you two will stop quarreling just long enough to tell me where you +want to go,” Betty requested, “I should be very much obliged. Up or +down the river?” + +“Anywhere,” answered Grace, still regarding her crumpled sport skirt +gloomily. “We are just trying to kill time this afternoon anyway, so I +don’t see that it makes much difference where we go.” + +“Suppose we take her up to the Point,” suggested Mollie, getting up +from the deck and going over to Betty who still had the wheel. “Maybe +we can get some ice-cream and a drink of ice water. I am getting +dreadfully thirsty already.” + +Betty looked tempted but a little doubtful. + +“You know it is pretty dangerous to run in there, Mollie,” she +protested. “There are so many other boats driven by Percy Falconer’s +crazy lot who don’t care whether they capsize you or not!” + +“Goodness, Betty, it isn’t like you to be afraid,” Mollie started, but +stopped at the look in the “Little Captain’s” eye. + +“I’d rather you didn’t ever say that again, Mollie,” she said. “I’ll +take you in there since you want it, but if anything should happen +remember that I warned you.” + +“Goodness, Mollie, I don’t see why you ever wanted to go and suggest +that for,” said Grace nervously. “We all know there is danger of a +collision over at the Point, and I’m sure I don’t want to spoil my +clothes, even if you do.” + +“Your father said that he would rather we kept to this side of the +river, Betty,” urged Amy. “Please don’t go over to the Point now.” + +“There’s no use talking to her,” snapped Grace. “You ought to know +Betty well enough by this time to know that she would take us over to +the Point now, after what Mollie said, if she knew we would all die of +it. Might as well save your breath.” + +Mollie said nothing, but down in her heart she was more than a little +bit anxious and was beginning to regret that she had deliberately egged +Betty on. + +Percy Falconer, of whom Betty had spoken, had once been a rather +dudish, affected boy and had later developed into an exceedingly fast +young man. He had an immensely rich father and a mother who denied him +nothing so that he had been able to gather together a few kindred +spirits among whom he was the leader. All the regular boys and girls in +town thoroughly disliked “the set,” but there were a few girls who were +willing to put up with Percy Falconer and his crowd for sake of the +long motor rides, dances, dinners and motorboat picnics that the boys +were able to give them. + +There were always some of this wild crowd over at the “Point,” and it +was for this reason as well as the very real danger of a collision with +a recklessly driven boat that Betty’s father had rather discouraged the +chums going over to that side of the river. + +However the day was fine, the water of the river was as calm as a lake +and the _Gem_ flew across the sparkling water like a gull, bringing a +flush of pure excitement and pleasure to the faces of the girls. +Danger! what danger could there be in this staunch little craft, with +Betty at the wheel? + +They were half way across the river, now! three quarters. The gay +pleasure craft flaunting up and down the river were becoming more +numerous and Betty slackened speed. Her breath came more quickly and +her hands tightened on the wheel. She could drive a boat as well as any +boy, but here, she knew, was a situation to test her greatest skill. + +Craft of all sizes and descriptions seemed to the excited girls to be +piling up about them. Most of the boats were being navigated carefully, +but now and then a small, fast speed-craft would shoot out from behind +another so suddenly that Betty would be forced to swerve sharply to one +side, fairly grazing the stern of the racing boat. + +On one of these occasions, when it had seemed impossible to avoid a +collision, Amy called out sharply: + +“Oh, Betty, don’t you think we had better go back?” + +And Betty replied with a queer little laugh: + +“Might just as well go ahead as back now. We’ll be there in a minute. +Don’t worry.” + +The words were scarcely out of her mouth when two craft running neck +and neck and driven recklessly slipped out from behind a sailboat and +drove directly down upon the _Gem_. It seemed impossible that the +Outdoor Girls could escape disaster. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. +NEARLY WRECKED + + +The girls did not scream. Perhaps they were too frightened or perhaps +it was just natural pluck. + +They did jump to their feet though as if with some wild thought of +leaping overboard. But there they remained, staring with fascinated +eyes at the fate that was bearing down upon them. + +As for Betty, after one breath-taking minute when all the blood in her +body seemed to rush to her head, she simply sat there and tried in the +second that was given her to think what to do. + +Almost automatically, she wrenched the wheel around, nearly capsizing +the boat with the sudden turn. At almost the same second, as though the +thing had been prearranged, the boys in the racing craft swung around +in the opposite direction. + +A slight scraping as the side of the _Gem_ slid along the side of the +nearer of the racing craft, and they were safe, with no harm done with +the exception of a little paint scraped from the side of the boat. + +It was a moment before the girls could realize what had happened to +them. Then a voice hailed them from the boat alongside. In a glance the +girls perceived that the voice belonged to no other than Percy Falconer +himself. + +“Hello,” called Percy, adding boisterously as he recognized the girls: +“Well, by all that’s holy, if it isn’t the Outdoor Girls! Thought you +never came over to this side of the river.” + +“We don’t,” Betty answered, the hand that still gripped the wheel +shaking nervously now that the danger was over. “And I don’t believe we +ever will again, either!” + +“I say, your teeth are chattering,” cried Percy, looking at Betty in +open admiration. In the old days, Percy had tried hard to win favor in +Betty’s eyes, but the latter had always treated him with a good-natured +indifference not unmixed with contempt that had been very hard for the +young dude to bear. During the years he had still admired Betty from +afar and hated Allen Washburn for being the “lucky one.” So now he +hastened to make the most of what he thought was an opportunity. + +“Come on over to the Point with me and Derby here,” indicating the +young fellow in the other racing craft who had drawn his boat up close +to them and was looking on with interest. “We will get you something to +steady your nerves a bit. We had a pretty narrow squeak that time, and +it’s no wonder it upset you a little.” + +He was supposedly addressing all the girls, but his eyes were only for +Betty. As for her, she suddenly had a startlingly clear mental picture +of what her father would think were some one to tell him that his +daughter and her chums had been seen at the “Point” with Percy Falconer +and a friend of his. + +In days gone by Percy had been very insipid, his mind entirely on his +clothes; now he had become a sport, and the report was that he caroused +around not a little. + +Betty turned to the youth with a decided little shake of her head, +though her eyes were smiling. + +“I think we shall have to go right back,” she said. “It looks as though +it were going to rain. Thank you just as much,” and she began to ease +her motor boat gently away from the other craft, + +“Oh, I say,” Percy cried, disappointedly and a little angrily, for out +of the corner of his eye he could see that his friend was laughing at +him, “we would only keep you for a moment or two. You needn’t be afraid +of us. We won’t bite, you know.” + +“We don’t know you well enough to be sure even of that,” said Mollie, +coming suddenly and flippantly into the conversation. + +But Percy took not the slightest notice of her and, as Betty was slowly +but surely widening the distance between the _Gem_ and his boat, he +leaned forward eagerly. + +“Betty, let me see you some time. How about to-morrow night?” + +And because Betty was always kind to every one and was sorry for +Mollie’s flippant speech, she said, quite unexpectedly, even to +herself, “All right.” + +Then she turned the _Gem_ around and started for home, conscious that +her chums were gazing at her in speechless amazement. + +“Betty!” cried Grace, horrified. “You are never going to let Percy +Falconer come to see you, are you?” + +But Betty turned on her irritably. She was tired and nervous and angry +at herself for having anything to do with that conceited dude, Percy +Falconer. + +“You heard me say he could come, didn’t you?” she said in response to +Grace’s incredulous question, Amy’s wide-eyed stare, and Mollie’s grin. +“And if you are going to ask me why I said so,” she added desperately, +“I’m not going to tell you. And if anybody speaks to me before I get +back to the dock, I’ll! wreck ’em, that’s all.” + +The girls exchanged glances and wisely decided to change the subject, +for the present at least. For the time they had plenty to do anyway, +just watching out that somebody else did not run into them! + +By the time they reached comparatively clear water they were all tired +and they were glad for once when the _Gem_ scraped against the home +dock and the “cruise” was over. + +“Well,” said Mollie as they climbed on to the dock, “we surely did have +some excitement, but we didn’t get what we started out for after all.” + +“What’s that?” asked Grace, as she tied the ribbon round her candy box +and adjusted her hat at a more becoming angle. + +“Ice-cream and a drink of ice water,” said Mollie ruefully. “I’ve just +remembered that I am dying of thirst.” + +“Come on around to my house,” Betty invited. Her wrist was lame from +gripping the wheel so hard and she felt it gingerly. “Mother said she +would make a big pitcher of lemonade for us and leave it in the +refrigerator.” + +“Whew,” whistled Mollie, taking Betty’s arm and hurrying her forward. +“By any chance did you girls hear what I heard? _Me_ for _it_, Betty +Nelson.” + +The girls talked little an their way to Betty’s house, but they thought +a good deal. They were tired and disgruntled, and it seemed to them in +their pessimistic mood that everything they had tried to do that day +had gone wrong. And the climax of it all was their meeting! if it could +be called a meeting! with Percy Falconer. Worst of all, Betty was going +to allow him to call! + +With something of this in her mind, Mollie glanced sideways at her chum +and, curiosity getting the better of her discretion, ventured to remark +upon it. + +“I wonder what Allen will say,” she said, “when he learns about Percy.” + +It was an unfortunate remark, as Betty very soon showed by turning upon +her chum angrily. + +“I don’t know that Allen has a right to say anything at all about what +I do,” she said. “And as I don’t intend ever to see Percy Falconer +after to-morrow, I think we had better forget about him. But there,” +she added, bringing herself up short and giving Mollie’s hand a little +conciliatory squeeze, “I didn’t mean to be cross. I’m just kind of mad +about the whole thing! and tired, and hot!!” + +“I know,” said Mollie generously. “I guess we all are! tired and hot, I +mean. We will feel better after we have had something cold to drink.” + +Betty’s mother had left not only the lemonade but some sandwiches of +chopped nuts and cream cheese. Jubilantly the girls carried these +delicacies out on the front porch and proceeded to devour them without +further delay. + +As they ate and drank, their ill-humor vanished and they began to feel +once more like their cheerful, optimistic selves. They even began to +laugh a little about the close shave they had had with Percy and his +friend. + +“It was mighty clever work of yours, Betty, swerving around like that,” +Mollie said reminiscently, as she patted the Little Captain’s hand +approvingly. “I’m sure I would have been so scared I’d have gone right +ahead and then there would have been a nasty smash.” + +“I do hope the folks don’t hear about it,” worried Grace. “It would +only make them nervous and they might even refuse to let us go out in +the _Gem_ any more.” + +“I don’t see how the folks are going to know anything about it,” said +Amy calmly. + +“Unless our dear friend Percy blabs it all over town,” added Grace. + +“I think we ought to tell the folks,” Betty spoke up suddenly. “I know +they would rather hear about it from us than from any one else. Hello,” +she broke off, as her eye lighted on a newspaper lying on the table, +“this looks like the evening edition. Maybe it has some news of Allen’s +division.” + +“My, just listen to her,” yawned Grace. “Allen’s division, indeed. As +though he were the only one we were interested in!!” + +But her words were cut short by a startled exclamation from Betty. + +“Oh, girls, look here!” she cried. “Look at these names. Oh, I hope it +isn’t true! I hope it isn’t!” + + + + +CHAPTER VII. +BAD TIDINGS CONFIRMED + + +“I wish I knew what you were talking about,” said Mollie, pausing with +a sandwich half-way to her mouth, while Amy and Grace regarded the +Little Captain with astonishment. “What names? Where?” + +But Betty was paying no attention to them. She was reading hastily the +column that had caught her startled attention. + +“Listen to this,” she said, reading out loud. “Among those who were +killed in the last great Allied offensive are the names of these brave +soldiers. James Browning of Columbus, Ohio! No, that isn’t what I mean! +Look, here they are! James Dempsey and Arnold Dempsey, Junior. Girls, +do you suppose!” and she looked at them with widening eyes. + +“Arnold Dempsey, Arnold Dempsey,” repeated Mollie, searching in her +memory, but Amy interrupted excitedly. + +“That was Professor Dempsey’s name, wasn’t it?” she asked. “Oh, Betty, +do you suppose it could be his son?” + +“Why, of course it is his son! how could it be any one else?” cried +Grace, the excitement beginning to communicate itself to her. “Arnold +Dempsey, Junior! and the professor said his sons were over there.” + +“Didn’t it say something about James Dempsey, too, Betty?” asked +Mollie, fairly snatching the paper from her chum. “Yes, here it is. Do +you suppose that can be his other son?” + +Betty shook her head soberly. + +“I don’t know,” she said. “Of course he didn’t tell us the name of his +other son, but it might easily be James. Oh, I hope it isn’t so!” she +added, her heart aching for the lonely old man whose one big interest +in life was his boys. “I do hope there has been some mistake.” + +“I guess we all do,” said Amy gently, adding with a sigh: “But I’m +afraid there isn’t very much hope of it. The Government is usually +right when it comes to things like that.” + +“Not always,” Mollie retorted quickly. “Look at the time they reported +that Allen was among the missing and he wasn’t at all. That is the only +mistake we happen to know about, but I fancy there are plenty of +others.” + +At mention of that dreadful time when she had read Allen’s name in the +long list of the missing, Betty experienced again something of the +emotion she had felt at that time. + +She saw again in imagination the dark room where she had gone to be by +herself, she heard the thunder of the surf on the rocks outside and the +rumble of the thunder overhead. She saw once more the vision of Allen +as she had seen it then. Allen stretched out cold and dead perhaps on +some shell-ridden battlefield or perhaps, more terrible still, a +prisoner in the hands of the Hun, suffering unspeakable torture!! + +“But this is not as bad as though the boys were missing,” she said +suddenly, speaking her thought aloud. “At least the professor will know +that his sons are dead.” + +The girls started and looked at Betty queerly. + +“I was thinking of Allen,” she explained in response to their rather +startled glances, “and the time when we thought he was missing. If this +thing is true about Professor Dempsey’s sons I think I shall be able to +sympathize with him, almost better than any of you.” + +“I guess you will, honey,” said Mollie soberly, putting an arm about +her chum. “It was a terrible time for us all! there at Bluff Point. But +it was almost worth the suffering when we found out that Allen was +alive and well and never had been missing at all. Do you remember how +happy we all were then?” + +“Happy,” Betty repeated, shaking off her depression and smiling at the +memory. “I’ll say we were the happiest girls on earth! especially after +we recovered the twins. But what,” she said, coming back to the present +subject, “are we going to do about Professor Dempsey? We ought to do +something, you know.” + +“I suppose we ought,” said Grace, a little vaguely, “but I’m sure I +don’t know just what.” + +“I think,” suggested Amy practically, “that the best thing would be to +try to find out first of all whether these poor boys who were killed +are really Professor Dempsey’s sons or not.” + +“Humph, that sounds all right,” observed Mollie. “But has any one here +any suggestion as to just how we will go about it? I’m sure I don’t +know any one who is acquainted with Professor Dempsey! or his family +either.” + +“I’ve got it,” said Betty, leaning forward eagerly. “It may not be much +of an idea, but then again it may.” + +“Speak up, speak up, what’s on your mind?” urged Mollie slangily. + +“Well,” said Betty, “there is Mr. Haig, principal of Deepdale High. He +knows pretty nearly every one at the university where Professor Dempsey +used to teach and he is more than likely to know whether the professor +has any sons and what their names are.” + +“Yes, that is all right as far as it goes,” broke in Mollie +impatiently. + +“We all know Mr. Haig!” Amy began, but this time it was Grace who +interrupted. + +“Yes, we all know him,” she said. “But I’d like to know if there is any +one of us! except Betty perhaps! who would have the nerve to go to him +and ask him a question like that!!” + +“Say, who’s telling this story I’d like to know,” broke in Betty +impatiently. “I’m not asking any one to go to Mr. Haig with that +question or any other! although I would be perfectly willing to brave +the lion in his den if there were no other way. My plan is this. Dad +knows Mr. Haig, you know! went to school with him! old college chums +and all that. I’m sure that if we asked him real pretty he would go to +Mr. Haig and find out about Professor Dempsey for us.” + +“Then suppose we find out that Professor Dempsey hasn’t any sons by the +name of James and Arnold?” suggested Grace. + +“Then we shall be mighty glad we took the trouble to find out and set +our minds at rest,” answered Betty soberly. + +“And if we find out that they are really his sons, what then?” queried +Grace, and this time Betty looked puzzled and Mollie and Amy completely +beyond their depth. + +“Why then,” said Betty hesitatingly, “I’m sure I don’t just know what +we ought to do. But don’t you think,” she added, brightening, “that it +might be a good idea to wait until we have found out definite facts +before we try to solve any more problems?” + +Rather reluctantly the girls agreed and, after making Betty promise +that she would let them know the very first minute she found out the +names of Arnold Dempsey’s sons, they said good-bye and started for +home. + +Of course Betty had already told her father and mother about Professor +Dempsey and the part he had played in actually saving their lives; so +when she told them that night of what she had read in the paper and +begged her father to help her find out whether the dead soldiers were +really Arnold Dempsey’s sons or not, he readily consented to do what he +could. + +“I’ll drop in and see Haig to-morrow,” he promised. “I have often heard +him speak of Professor Dempsey as being one of the best professors of +zoology up at the university and I am sure I will be able to find out +what you want to know. I hope you have been mistaken in your +conclusions, for it would be a horrible blow to a man to lose both his +grown sons at once and like that. Now run off to bed and tomorrow I may +have some news for you.” + +With this Betty was forced to be content. She went to bed of course, +there was nothing else to do, but she tossed restlessly all night and +what sleep she got was checkered with horrid dreams and she woke up in +the morning feeling as though she had not been to sleep at all. + +The next day was a long one to live through, even though the girls did +keep calling her up at frequent intervals to see if she had any news +for them yet. She became so tired of hearing the telephone bell ring at +last that she stuffed a handkerchief between the bell and the clapper +and sat down to read a novel and while away the time as best she could +till her father came home. + +Luckily for her! and him too, perhaps! Mr. Nelson did get home early, +and he was no sooner inside the door than Betty grabbed him by the arm, +led him over to a divan in the corner of the living room, and let loose +upon him a flood of questions. + +“Did you see him? What did he say? Why didn’t you let me know sooner?” + +These and various other queries were hurled at Mr. Nelson so fast that +it is no wonder the poor gentleman appeared slightly bewildered. But +knowing his impetuous young daughter of old, he merely pinched her +cheek fondly and waited for her to give him a chance to speak. + +“If you will wait just a moment I will try to tell you about it,” he +said at last, mildly. + +“There’s only one thing I really want to know, Dad,” said Betty +soberly. “And that is the name of Professor Dempsey’s sons.” + +Her father shook his head slowly, regretfully. + +“I am afraid it is as you have feared, dear,” he said, “Professor +Dempsey has two sons! or rather, had! and their names were James and +Arnold.” + +“Oh, Daddy!” Betty was quiet for a minute, letting the full +consciousness of what her father had said sink into her heart. Then her +lips trembled and her eyes filled with tears. “I! I was pretty sure it +was true. But, oh, I was hoping so hard that it wouldn’t be!” + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. +PREMONITIONS + + +Betty kept her promise and called up the girls to tell them the news. +Like the Little Captain, they had felt almost sure of the identity of +the two Dempsey boys who had been killed in France, yet the +confirmation of their fears came as a distinct shock. + +They waited for a couple of days, undecided what to do, if indeed it +was their place to do anything at all. Vaguely they felt the need of +comforting the queer little professor in his hour of greatest trouble, +and yet they were at a loss to know just how to go about it. + +Meanwhile, the occupations that had ordinarily filled their days to +overflowing with fun, seemed dull and uninteresting and they found +their thoughts reverting again and again to the bereaved father in his +lonely little cabin in the woods. + +Percy Falconer had called at Betty’s house the day after the incident +on the river as had been arranged, and Betty had conceived the plan of +having all her chums there to meet him. + +Her hope was that the gay Percy, seeing four, where he had expected +only one, would be overwhelmed with numbers and would flee the premises +early! to return no more. + +Her faith in her plan was more than justified. Percy had always been a +little afraid of the Outdoor Girls! Betty in particular! but it is +probable that if he had been able to meet them one at a time, he might +have come off victorious. As it was, he was routed, completely and +ignominiously, leaving the girls to laugh at his discomfiture. + +“There, I guess that is the end of _that_ pest,” Mollie had said when +she had recovered a little from her mirth. “I imagine we won’t see him +around these parts again.” + +“I hope not,” Betty had answered with a satisfied little yawn. “Wasn’t +he too funny in that checked suit and awful green necktie? Poor old +Percy! I suppose he can’t help it. He probably just grew that way,” + +She had been comparing him all evening with her splendid, upstanding +Allen, and poor Percy had certainly not gained by the comparison. + +The amusing incident served to divert their minds somewhat from the +thought of Professor Dempsey, but the picture of him haunted their +minds so continually day and night that the Outdoor Girls finally +decided that something must he done about it. + +“I can’t stand it any longer,” Betty confided to them one morning when +they stood on Mollie’s porch discussing what course of action it would +be best to take. “I have a queer feeling that the poor professor is in +desperate need of friends, and I don’t believe I’ll be able to sleep +another night until I find out something definite about him.” + +“Won’t he think we are sort of ‘butting in’?” asked Grace, hesitating a +little. “He might think we came just out of curiosity.” + +“I don’t think he would,” said Mollie. “You know he invited us to come +back some time when we could stay long enough for him to tell us +something about those bugs and butterflies and things he sticks pins +into + +“That’s the idea!” exclaimed Betty quickly. “We won’t have to tell him +we know anything about his trouble. If he tells us! why, all right, but +if he doesn’t, of course we won’t try to force a confidence. Anyway,” +she finished soberly, “we’ll have the satisfaction of knowing we have +done our best for him whether it really helps him any or not.” + +“And we owe him a very great deal,” spoke up Amy softly. “He really +saved our lives, you know.” + +So it was settled, and while the other three girls ran home to put on +coats and hats and get ready for the drive, Mollie ran around to the +garage and brought her big car to the front of the house. + +She waved good-bye to her mother, who was trying rather wildly to keep +Dodo and Paul from running under the wheels of the car and getting +killed, and purred off down the street in the direction of Betty’s +house. + +When she arrived there she was a little surprised to see that Betty was +backing her fast little roadster down the drive. + +To Betty the little car was almost alive, and she talked to it as she +would have to some loved horse or dog. She scrubbed it and scoured it +and shined it so that it always looked like a brand new car. + +“Hey, look out!” cried Mollie, for Betty, not noticing her and being a +little worried about the sound of the engine, had backed the small car +down the drive and almost into Mollie’s big one. “What kind of driving +do you call that? Do you want to buy me a new mudguard?” + +“Oh, pardon me,” said Betty, laughing back at her. “You were so small +and insignificant, I came near not seeing you.” + +“Well, you would have _felt_ me in another minute,” grumbled Mollie, as +she shut off the engine and got out of the car. “What’s the idea of +your little peanut, anyway? Thought you were going to ride in a regular +car.” + +“That’s why I chose mine,” Betty laughed back impishly, still intent on +the sound of the engine. + +It was part of their fun to be always throwing insults at each other’s +car but the thrusts were invariably good-natured. + +Only once had there threatened to be any trouble between the chums on +account of rivalry over the cars. That had been when Mollie had taken +Betty’s “dare” to a race and Betty’s little roadster had won the day, +racing like a streak of light along the country road and leaving +Mollie’s high-powered but more clumsy car far behind. + +But Mollie had taken her defeat like the little sport she was! even +though it must be admitted she had been considerably disappointed and +taken aback by her failure! and in her ever since there had been a +great respect for Betty’s car. + +But now she eyed with impatience the bent figure of the Little Captain +as she still leaned over the wheel, her ear tuned to the purr of the +engine. + +“For goodness’ sake, what’s the matter with you?” she cried. “I thought +you were the one who was in a hurry to be off and now look at you! +sitting there like!!” + +“Engine is missing,” Betty informed her briskly. “Guess I had better +have a look!” + +“If you start fussing with bolts and screws now, you can count me out,” +said Mollie, resolutely climbing back into her car. “It is ten o’clock +already, and we won’t be home before night if we don’t hurry.” + +“Oh, all right,” laughed Betty. “But if the car gives out before we get +back don’t blame me, that’s all.” + +“It would give me the greatest of pleasure,” said Mollie with a +diabolical chuckle as her machine moved off down the street, “to have +every one in Deepdale see me towing your poor little flivver through +the town.” + +“Huh,” sang back Betty scornfully as the roadster responded eagerly to +her touch, “they will have a great deal better chance of seeing me in +the lead with your great big jumbo tottering feebly at the end of a +rope.” + +They picked up Amy and Grace on the way and were soon flying swiftly +down the road in the direction of Professor Dempsey’s tree-surrounded +home. + +They were in rather good spirits at first, for now that they were +really on the way to doing something, though they were not quite sure +what, they felt relieved and almost gay. + +But as the distance shortened between them and their destination, a +strange depression that they could neither explain nor brush away +settled down over them. + +Once, Grace, who sat beside the Little Captain in the roadster, sighed +rather dolefully and Betty looked at her out of the corner of her eye. + +“Do you feel that way too, Gracie?” the latter asked. + +“What way?” asked Grace uncertainly. “That sigh, do you mean?” + +“Yes,” nodded Betty. “You sounded rather mournful and that is exactly +the way I feel. What’s the matter with us, anyway? Where are our +spirits?” + +“I suppose we couldn’t expect to feel joyful,” said Grace after a +little pause. “We aren’t going, so far as I can see, on a very happy +errand, you know.” + +“But I don’t think it is that alone,” said Betty, with a shake of her +head. “I feel as if we were going to see something perfectly dreadful!” + +“Betty,” Grace looked at her in sudden alarm, her eyes wide, “you don’t +suppose that the professor could have done anything! anything rash, do +you?” + +“You mean!!” said Betty, hesitating before the ugly word. “Oh, Grace, +you don’t mean! suicide, do you?” + +Grace nodded and tried hard not to look as frightened as she felt. + +“No, I! I don’t think so,” said Betty, grasping the wheel with hands +that somehow seemed suddenly weak. “If I thought anything like that had +happened I wouldn’t have the courage to go on.” + +“Well, I don’t believe I have! the courage, I mean,” said Grace, +irresolutely. “Don’t you think we had better go back, Betty? It’s so +lonesome here and! and! everything!!” + +Her voice was rising to something like a wail, and Betty, striving to +throttle her own misgivings, spoke in a voice that was intended to be +reassuring. + +“We wouldn’t think very much of ourselves if we turned back now,” she +said. “And probably we are worrying a great deal about nothing. He +didn’t seem like the kind of man who would do a thing like that.” + +Grace said no more about turning back, and they were silent for the +rest of the way. But instead of lightening, the cloud of depression +became deeper and more foreboding until even the stout Little Captain +began almost to wish that they had not come. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. +A VISITOR + +When they came to the scene of what was so nearly a terrible accident a +week or so before they found that the big tree which had extended clear +across the road was gone and that the underbrush also had been cleared +away. + +They stopped the cars a little the other side of the path that led into +the woods and slowly stepped down into the road. + +When they caught sight of each other’s faces they began to laugh +shakily. + +“We certainly look as if we were going on a ghost hunt,” Mollie said. +At this Grace uttered a little cry of protest. The thought had struck +too near her own disquieting thoughts to be comfortable. + +“For goodness’ sake, somebody say something cheerful,” she begged. +“I’ve got to get up my courage some way.” + +“Well, I haven’t any to lend you,” grumbled Mollie, as she linked her +arm in Betty’s and the two went along toward the path. “I don’t like +this job a little bit.” + +“Don’t you think,” suggested Amy, holding back a little, “that somebody +ought to stay here and take care of the cars?” + +“No, you don’t!” said Mollie, catching her by the hand and pulling her +along after them. “If one of us goes we are all going.” + +“Oh, come along,” urged Betty, eager to get the thing over with. “I +think we are all acting like a lot of geese. It might help some if we +tried to remember that we are Outdoor Girls.” + +This challenge did a great deal toward bolstering up the girls’ courage +and they hurried along the path more confidently, + +Their pace slowed a bit, however, when they reached the cleared space +where the little cottage stood and they paused for a moment in the +shelter of the trees to discuss what to do next. + +“Do you think we had all better go?” asked Grace nervously. “Perhaps +the four of us would frighten him!!” + +“No, we will all go together,” said Betty decidedly. “There is nothing +to be gained by standing here talking about it. Come on, girls.” + +She started across the cleared space and the girls followed slowly. The +little cottage looked deserted and forlorn and the dreary aspect of it +served to increase the girls’ uneasy sense of disaster. + +Betty knocked gently on the door which had, upon that other occasion +not so very long ago, been hospitably opened to them. But, though they +waited breathlessly for a response, none came! the house was as silent +as a tomb. + +“Do it again, Betty. He might be asleep or something,” suggested +Mollie, with a glance over her shoulder at the quiet woodland. “Knock +harder this time.” + +Betty obeyed, but with no better success than the first time. +Everything was as silent as before. + +“Isn’t there a bell, I wonder?” suggested Amy, wishing ardently that +they were back on the road once more. “Perhaps your knock isn’t loud +enough for him to hear.” + +“We might tap on the window,” suggested Grace. “If I use my ring on the +window pane he surely ought to hear that.” + +She started to suit her action to the words when an exclamation from +Betty made her pause. The latter had tried the door and found to her +surprise that it gave to her touch. + +“The door is unlocked,” she said. “I don’t believe the professor is in +here at all and if he has gone into the woods to hunt his butterflies +and beetles I am sure he wouldn’t mind our going inside. What do you +think?” + +She was about to push the door open, but Grace detained her with a +nervous hand on her arm. + +“Oh, I don’t think we had better go in, Betty!” she cried. “You know +what we were speaking of in the car. Suppose we should find that he +has! that he has!!” + +“That he has what?” asked Amy, her eyes wide. “For goodness’ sake, what +do you mean, Grace?” + +Betty tried to stop her, but Grace hurried on heedlessly. + +“He may have committed suicide,” she cried, adding, in response to +Mollie’s and Amy’s cry of horror: “You know he must have been desperate +enough to do anything, poor old man, out here all alone.” + +At the conviction in Grace’s tone, Betty felt her own nerve slipping. +She did not want to go into that silent house any more than the other +girls did. Every instinct in her commanded that she run from the place +to the commonplace safety of the road. She was afraid of what she might +find on the other side of that unlocked door. And yet!! + +“I’m going in,” she cried, and, suiting the action to the word, pushed +the door quickly open and stepped over the threshold. + +Emboldened by her example, the other girls followed and stopped short +with a cry of dismay. They had not found what they feared! but +something almost as bad. + +The room, which had been so neat and orderly when they had last seen +it, was now the scene of such utter confusion as one might only hope to +see depicted in a cubist’s nightmare. + +The animal skins which had adorned the walls had been torn down and lay +in a tattered heap upon the floor. The shelves upon which had rested +the professor’s botanical specimens had been swept clean and their +contents also were scattered about the floor. + +The bench upon which the girls had sat and partaken of the queer little +man’s hospitality was overturned and the one chair in the room was +upside down on top of it. The whole room looked as though a cyclone! or +a maniac! had been at work. + +The girls stared for a minute and then drew closer together as if +seeking protection from some unseen menace. They had some vague +conception of what had taken place here in this lonely little cottage. +The elderly and already nervous professor, reading the tragedy of his +sons’ death, all alone perhaps, with no one to comfort or restrain him, +had lost his mind, temporarily at least, and had found an outlet in +ruthlessly destroying everything which came within reach of his hand. + +And if this were so, might he not even now be hiding about somewhere, +watching them, perhaps? + +This thought seemed to strike the girls at the same time, for after +peering for a second about the room, they turned and made a concerted +dash for the door. + +Once outside the room, in the reassuring sunshine, they turned and +looked at each other sheepishly. Then Betty wheeled about and started +for the door again. + +“Betty, you are never going back into that place again?” cried Amy +wildly, holding to her skirt. “I won’t let you! Do you hear me? Come +back here!” + +But Betty had no intention of coming back. She turned and faced the +girls calmly, though inwardly she was trembling. + +“Of course I am going back,” she said. “Professor Dempsey may be in one +of the other rooms and he may be sick. If nobody will go with me, I’m +going in alone.” + +Of course the three girls could not let her go in alone, so they +trailed back at her heels into the house, being very careful, however, +to leave the door wide open behind them, in case a hasty retreat became +necessary. + +Cautiously Betty opened the door at the other end of the room and +stepped into what had evidently been a sort of rough kitchen. Now it +was nothing but a nightmare like the other room, and she shuddered as +she looked about at the desolate confusion. + +There was a door at the farther end of this room, and after some +hesitation and an inward struggle Betty crossed hastily to it and flung +it wide open. + +What she half expected and feared to find there nobody but Betty +herself ever knew, but whatever it was, she gave a great sigh of relief +at not finding it there. The room was upset, though not quite as badly +as the other two, but there was no sign of human occupancy anywhere. + +She turned to the girls who had come up behind her and were eagerly and +half shudderingly peering over her shoulder. + +“There’s nothing here,” she announced, the relief she felt showing in +her voice, “and as there doesn’t seem to be any other room in the +place, I suppose we might as well go back.” + +Echoing her suggestion heartily, the girls started to retrace their +steps when a slight sound in the other room made them stop short in a +panic. + +“What was that?” Amy questioned, but Mollie held up her hand +impatiently. + +There came the sound of some one stumbling over something. This was +followed by a muttered exclamation. + +While the girls looked about them wildly for a means of escape Mollie +began to laugh hysterically. + +“We have a visitor,” she announced in a strangled voice. “And he is +between us and the only door in the place. Come on, girls, let’s see +who it is.” + +They stepped out into the cluttered living room and came face to face +with a young man who seemed more startled at seeing them than they had +been at sight of him. + +“Well, I’ll be jiggered!” he exclaimed, and at sound of the commonplace +phrase the girls could have hugged the speaker in relief. Also they +felt a rather hysterical desire to laugh long and foolishly. + +As it was, the stranger stood staring at the girls and the girls at him +so long that the funny side of the situation struck Betty and she +really did begin to laugh. + +“We haven’t the slightest idea who you are,” she told the astonished +young man. “But I am sure of one thing, and that is that we were never +so glad to see any one in all our lives as we are to see you.” + + + + +CHAPTER X. +HURRAH FOR ALLEN + + +The young man stared for a moment longer. Then the humor of the +situation seemed to strike him too, and he smiled pleasantly. + +“It surely is a pleasure to be as welcome as all that,” he said +pleasantly, and the girls noticed that he was a well set up young +fellow and that he wore his uniform easily, as if he had been used to +wearing it for a long, long time. “I am Wesley Travers,” he went on. “I +live in a cottage down the road and I came over this way to see if the +old professor had come back yet. I saw the door open! came in! and +found you.” + +He smiled again pleasantly and looked as though he considered that he +had fallen into rather good luck. But at his mention of the professor +Betty had sobered instantly. + +“Oh, then you know something about Professor Dempsey?” she questioned +eagerly. + +“Please tell us what happened to him,” added Amy breathlessly. + +“Did he do this?” asked Mollie, with a comprehensive sweep of her hand +about the cluttered room. + +“I’m afraid he did,” answered the young fellow, sobering instantly. +“You see, I just returned from overseas about a week ago and a couple +of days later my dad read in the paper about the death of this queer +old man’s two sons. The pater had always been interested in the lonely +old boy, so he sent me over to see if I could do anything for him. I +found the place like this and! the bird had flown. Went dopy I suppose +about the bad news and tore things up a bit.” + +Though the boy’s words were slangy, there was real sympathy in his tone +and the girls liked him the better for it. + +“And you haven’t heard anything from him since?” asked Betty softly. + +“Not a word or a sign,” answered the boy, with a shake of his head. +“Just clean cleared out, that’s all. Pretty hard luck, I call it. Just +at the end of things too! when he had a right to expect the fellows +home. Pretty tough luck. I wish I could find the poor old duffer and do +something for him.” + +The girls heartily echoed the wish. Before leaving the place for good, +they looked about the rooms once more for some sign or message that +might give them a clue to the whereabouts of the professor. They found +nothing, however, and finally were forced to give up the search. + +As the young people stepped outside once more and closed the door after +them upon the desolate house a great wave of pity swept over Betty. +Somehow it did not seem right to go off like this as though they were +abandoning the old man to his fate. Yet what could they do more than +they had done? + +“Girls,” she said, a little quiver in her voice, “I would give almost +everything I own to find the poor old professor and help him back to +happiness. If I only could,” she added after a pause. + +“Well,” said Wesley Travers, as he looked admiringly at Betty’s +flushed, sympathetic little face, “I imagine if any one could find him +and bring him happiness, you would be that one.” + +The young soldier accompanied them back to the road. After thanking him +for the information he had given them, the girls climbed into their +cars and headed toward home, leaving Wesley Travers still standing in +the road and looking after them thoughtfully. + +“A mighty nice bunch of girls,” thought the latter. “Especially the +little brown-haired one. They seemed rather interested in that dotty +old professor too. Lucky fellow to have four girls like that interested +in him!” After this remark he started off toward home. + +Luckily for the girls, the next few days were so crowded with +preparations for the trip to Wild Rose Lodge that they had not much +time to dwell on the poor old professor and his misfortunes. + +Only at night would they sometimes dream queer dreams in which +wild-eyed men went around smashing everything in sight and a little +cottage stood lonely and desolate and ghostlike amid a silent forest of +trees. + +After a night like this the girls were always glad to awake and find +the sunshine streaming cheerfully in their windows. And they would +throw themselves with more than usual energy into the activities of the +day. Yet try as they would, they could never quite blot the tragedy +from their minds. + +On the afternoon of the day before they were to start for Moonlight +Falls, the girls were gathered in Betty’s garage at the back of the +house, where the Little Captain was giving her car one last overhauling +to make sure that it was in perfect condition for the trip. Mollie +suddenly espied the postman coming down the street. + +Now the postman was a very popular man with the girls, for the reason +that he brought almost daily some message from the boys on the other +side. He sympathized with the chums so fully in their desire for +letters with the red triangle in one corner that he actually confessed +to a guilty feeling when he had no missive of the sort for them. + +So now, as Mollie ran toward him with outstretched hand, he held up to +her delighted gaze not only one letter, but four. + +“One for each of you,” he said beamingly, as Mollie reached him. “I +thought that probably I would find all four of you at one place, so I +kept the letters together.” + +“Oh, thanks, it is awfully good of you,” said Mollie absent-mindedly, +as she took the welcome letters and hurried with them back to the +garage. “One for each of us, just think of that!” she cried to the +questioning girls. “It looks as if the boys had all written at the same +time. Put down your duster, Betty, for goodness’ sake, and read what +Allen has to say. Maybe,” she added hopefully, as she ripped her +envelope open, “they will tell us something definite about coming +home.” + +So down the girls sat in the midst of dust cloths and more or less dirt +to find what the boys had written. For a moment only the crackling of +paper broke the silence. Then Grace gave a little joyful cry. + +“Will says he is almost sure to be home soon!!” + +“And he has been made a sergeant,” Amy interrupted, or rather added, +her eyes shining with pride. “Just think of that! Will, a sergeant!” + +“I was just going to tell them that if you had waited a minute,” said +Grace, rather crossly. There was quite a little jealousy between Grace +and Amy over Will. Grace had declared more than once that whereas she +had known her brother all her life, Amy had only known him for a couple +of years! or! or more. Grace loved her brother devotedly and once in a +while she resented Amy’s place in his affections. + +So now to change the subject and avert a possible quarrel, Mollie +jumped into the breach. + +“Listen to this,” she said. “Roy and Frank have been made corporals and +Allen! oh, look at Betty blush!” She looked gleefully across at the +Little Captain and Amy and Grace followed her glance. + +Betty was not blushing, but she felt as uncomfortable as though she had +been. + +“Tell us what Allen says,” Mollie dared her wickedly. “Come on, honey! +dare you to.” + +“You can go on daring all you like,” said Betty defiantly. This time +she was blushing! from the fact that she knew she could not, or would +not, tell the girls what Allen had said in his letter. Not for anything +in this world! + +“I don’t mean what you mean,” said Mollie, enjoying her confusion +immensely, while Grace and Amy looked on laughingly. “I just thought +that maybe you would like to be the one to tell us about his +promotion.” + +“His promotion!” cried Amy and Grace together, and Betty looked quite +as bewildered as any of them. + +“Mollie, for goodness’ sake tell us what you mean,” she demanded. + +“But didn’t he tell you about it, Betty?” Mollie insisted. + +“Wait a minute,” said the Little Captain as she hastily scanned the +pages of her long letter. Then, down near the end of the last page she +found it, just a little paragraph, put in as though it had been an +afterthought. “Why,” cried Betty, her eyes beginning to shine with +excitement, “girls, listen to this. Allen _has_ been promoted. He’s an +officer now! a lieutenant! Think of it! leather leggings and all!” + +It was too much for the girls. They laughed and cried and hugged each +other and tried to imagine Allen in his new uniform to their hearts’ +content, for the young new-made officer was a favorite with them all. + +“Goodness,” said Amy happily, “I suppose when he gets home he will be +altogether too high-toned to notice common folk like us.” + +“Oh, I don’t know,” said Grace happily, adding with a sly little glance +at Betty, “I imagine he will make an exception of one of us at least.” + +“I wonder,” drawled Mollie as she picked up her unfinished letter, +“which one of us you can mean.” + + + + +CHAPTER XI. +THE HOLD-UP + + +The girls were glad that the letters had come from the boys just as +they had, for it helped them to bridge over the tediously long wait +till the next morning. + +They read the missives with the little red triangles in the left hand +corner over and over again and! whisper it!! at least two of them slept +with the precious letters under their pillows. + +And then! the morning was upon them. It was a beautiful morning too, +and as the girls dressed hurriedly they were glad that they had +arranged to start early. In that way they could take their time and +enjoy to the full the glorious ride to Moonlight Falls. It was only +fifty-five miles, but by driving slowly they could make it seem like +twice that. + +It was barely half past nine when Betty, having finished breakfast and +put the last finishing touches to her new white hat, ran around to the +garage to get the car out. + +Ten minutes later she had drawn up in front of Mollie’s house, her ears +still ringing with the hundred and one instructions of her anxious +mother, and was tooting the horn of her little car furiously. + +The summons had the desired effect. Mollie came running from the house, +straightening her hat with one hand and lugging a valise in the other +while the twins trailed at her skirts. + +“For goodness’ sake, let go of me, Paul. Dodo, if you touch that bag +again, I’ll spank you. Mother,” she wailed, looking back pleadingly +over her shoulder, “won’t you please make these little pests go into +the house?” + +Whereupon Mrs. Billette suddenly appeared at the door, smiled at Betty, +grabbed Paul with one hand, Dodo with the other, while the twins roared +a protest. + +Released, Mollie dropped her bag, sped round to the garage, and in a +moment more was backing the big car round to the road. + +The girls had decided to about live in their khaki tramping suits on +this trip, merely packing in a good dress or two to wear on dress-up +occasions. In this way they had to take less luggage and could have +more space to “spread out” as Mollie said. + +“Put your grip in here, Betty,” Mollie suggested, as she slung her own +grip into the tonneau of the big machine. “There is more room, and Mrs. +Irving said she wouldn’t mind in the least being entirely surrounded by +suitcases.” + +Betty laughed, did as she was bid, and a moment later they were off, +speeding down the road to Grace’s house where they were to pick up the +other two girls and Mrs. Irving. + +They found the three waiting for them, and it took scarcely any time at +all to add the extra grips to the growing pile in the tonneau of +Mollie’s car. Amid great fun, Mrs. Irving, who was rosy-cheeked and +matronly and as jolly as the girls, was wedged into the remaining +space, Amy climbed to the front seat beside Mollie and Grace took her +seat with Betty. + +They were off! The sting of the wind was in their faces, and the sun +beat warmly down upon them as they rolled along, passing familiar +houses, and sometimes familiar people, to whom they waved, and so on +and on till they left the town behind them and started out on the open +road. + +“My, this is something like,” commented Grace, stretching her feet out +before her for all the world like a lazy, comfortable cat. “I feel +awfully sorry for all the poor people who haven’t cars to ride in +to-day and Wild Rose Lodges to visit. By the way, why is it called Wild +Rose Lodge, Betty?” + +“Because they say there are lots of wild roses around it, of course,” +Betty responded, her hands resting easily on the wheel, her eyes bright +with the joy of the moment. Grace, stealing a sideways glance at her, +could not help thinking that Betty looked not unlike a wild rose +herself. + +“You look awfully pretty, honey,” she said then, for Grace was always +generous with praise where her friends were concerned. “I would give +the world to have a color like yours.” + +“Goodness,” remarked Betty, turning to look at her chum, her face a +little brighter pink because of the honest compliment, “you have a +lovely color! as you very well know. Mine is too red sometimes.” + +“Nobody thinks that but you,” said Grace, squeezing Betty’s hand +affectionately while she dived down in her pocket for some candy. “The +only time I have noticed you get very red,” she added, “is when some +one happens to mention a certain young gentleman by the name of +Lieutenant Allen Washburn.” + +Betty could feel that her face was burning, but she did not care. She +was awfully proud of Allen and desperately fond of him and for the +moment she did not care if the whole world knew about it. + +“Isn’t it wonderful, Gracie?” she cried, her heart pounding joyously. +“About Allen being an officer, I mean. I have to pinch myself several +times a minute to make myself realize that it is really true.” + +“It surely is great,” Grace answered slowly, adding after a moment, +while a faraway expression crept into her eyes, “I don’t blame you for +being crazy about him, honey. I could almost be foolish myself. Oh, +don’t worry,” she went on quickly as Betty turned amazed and rather +startled eyes upon her. “I’m no fonder of Allen than I am of any of the +other boys. I just said that I didn’t blame _you_, that’s all.” + +Betty turned her eyes to the road once more, but in her heart she was +troubled. There had been a note in Grace’s voice that she had never +heard before. Could it be possible that she really cared for Allen? But +she pushed the thought from her mind resolutely. If such a thing could +have been possible, she certainly would have discovered it before this. +The mere thought was nonsense of course. And yet she was troubled. + +“Have some candy,” Grace invited, breaking in upon her thoughts. “You +needn’t stick up your nose at it to-day for I bought this fresh from +the store this morning.” + +“Who said I was going to stick up my nose?” said Betty, helping herself +to a chocolate that looked as if it might contain a nut and thankful +for the break in her not-too-pleasant reflections. “If you will think +back just a little, I think you will admit that I have been guilty very +seldom of sticking up my nose at anything + +“Except Percy Falconer,” finished Grace drolly, and they both laughed +merrily. + +“Poor Percy!” said Betty, chewing her candy contentedly. “I suppose he +will hate us more heartily than ever now.” + +They were running some eight or ten miles from the town along a quiet +stretch of road, never dreaming of danger, when Betty’s little racer +nosed around a bend in the road and came smack into it! Not twenty feet +ahead of them a man sprang into the middle of the road and leveled a +revolver at them! In one electrified instant they saw that the fellow +wore a mask and a slouch hat and looked for all the world like a +brigand straight out of some sensational moving picture. + +Betty, more surprised at first than alarmed, put on her brakes and came +to a standstill, at the same time putting out a hand to warn the car +behind them. + +“Oh, Betty, we are being held up!” moaned Grace, who evidently was +frightened enough for both of them. “For goodness’ sake, hold up your +hands. He may shoot.” + +Still feeling rather dazed with the suddenness of the thing, Betty +raised both hands above her head, at the same time feeling a rather +hysterical desire to laugh. It was so absurd, being held up by a masked +stranger in broad daylight, + +Nevertheless, she gave a little gasp of fright as the man waved his big +revolver menacingly and came close to the car. She wished frantically +that he would not point that firearm at her. Suppose it should go off! + +“Come on, hand over what you got,” the robber demanded in a gruff +threatening voice. “The quicker you move, the better it will be for +you.” + +“Wh-what do you want?” asked Betty, in a weak little voice that did not +sound like her own at all. She had thought of her pocketbook beside her +in the pocket of the car. The purse contained a whole month’s +allowance. She was sparring desperately for time! help in some form or +other might come at any moment. But the ruffian in the road was +evidently in no frame of mind to be fooled with. + +He waved his revolver once more, eliciting a terrified gurgle from +Grace and commanded roughly that they get out of the car. + +“No funny business,” he snarled. “Get out!” + +Betty was about to obey when she had a brilliant thought. Her pepper +gun! She had bought it the day before from the son of her father’s +chauffeur, thinking it was an undesirable plaything for a nine-year-old +boy and had put it, as the most convenient place, in her car. And the +pepper gun was filled! as it should have been! with good red cayenne +pepper! + + + + +CHAPTER XII. +SHEEP! + + +For a moment Betty hesitated, almost afraid of what she was going to +do. The pepper gun might work, but if she were not quick enough or +clever enough, her little trick might also result in a tragedy. + +Her hesitation was only momentary, however, for Betty was a born +fighter. Suddenly she cried out as if in joyful greeting to an +unexpected arrival. + +“Here they come! here they come!” she called, and in the moment that +their captor turned his startled eyes from her to the road ahead, Betty +acted. + +She snatched the pepper gun from its hiding place in the car and as the +man once more turned furiously upon her let him have the full contents +directly in the face. + +It was a dreadful thing to do. Choking and sputtering, the ruffian +dropped his revolver and raised both fists to his tortured eyes. + +“I’ll get you for this!” he cried between great sneezes that threatened +to tear him apart. “You just wait!!” + +But Betty refused to wait. As soon as the fellow had dropped his weapon +she had started the engine, and now she guided the car past the +stuttering robber and raced off down the road. + +Mollie, who had only half understood what was going on but who had +caught enough of it to be considerably alarmed did not stop to ask +questions, but sped off down the road after Betty. + +It was half a dozen miles farther on that Betty finally slowed the car +and waited for Mollie and the others to catch up with her. Grace, who +had been gradually recovering from her fright, had not yet recovered +enough to ask any questions. She had been too much concerned in putting +miles between them and the scene of their adventure. + +As Mollie came up alongside, Betty drew her first free breath. + +Of course Mollie and Amy and Mrs. Irving wanted to hear all about it, +and Betty told them what had happened, her account interrupted by +hysterical laughter. + +But when she came to the pepper gun, the girls’ expression of utter +bewilderment changed to admiration of Betty’s quick thought and quicker +action. + +“Why, Betty,” cried Amy, incredulously, “I don’t see how you ever had +the courage to do it. Why, that man might have shot you!” + +“He probably would have if I hadn’t got him first,” said Betty, +half-way between laughter and tears. “It was taking an awfully big +chance, but,” with a flash of spirit, “I wasn’t going to sit there +calmly and have him take away all our money. Not if I could help it.” + +“Betty, I think you were simply wonderful,” said Mollie in heart-felt +admiration. “Why, if he had taken our money it would have completely +spoiled our trip.” + +“How they talk,” said Grace hysterically. “Any one would think it was +only the trip that mattered when we might very easily have been +_killed_.” + +This remark served to bring Mrs. Irving to a realization of the +present, and she suggested that they start on again. + +“Not that I am particularly nervous,” she hastily added, as the girls +looked at her suspiciously. “Only I will feel just as well when we have +put a dozen miles between us and that highway robber, instead of only +half that. I wish there was a town handy where we could notify the +authorities.” + +They started on again, and as the miles slid past them they became less +nervous and even began to laugh a little at thought of the robber’s +consternation when he received the contents of Betty’s pepper gun full +in his face. + +“He was probably the most surprised crook ever,” commented Grace with a +chuckle. “He never will get over cursing you, Betty. How did you ever +happen to have it? The pepper gun, I mean,” she added curiously. + +Betty explained how the gun had come into her possession. “I didn’t +know,” she added ruefully, her foot on the accelerator as they sped up +a steep hill, “when I bought it, that it would come in so handy. How +much further do you suppose we have to go?” she asked, changing the +subject abruptly. + +“Why,” said Grace, looking at her wrist watch and realizing suddenly +that she was getting rather hungry, “we have been riding since ten +o’clock and it is now after noon. We must be very nearly there by this +time. Goodness, I hope there will be something to eat around Wild Rose +Lodge. I’m getting famished.” + +“Mollie’s Uncle John said he would attend to that! stocking the cabin +with good things, I mean,” said Betty, herself suddenly conscious of a +disturbingly hungry feeling. “He said we would find enough canned +things to last us at least a week.” + +“Canned things, yes,” pouted Grace. “But who in the world wants to live +on canned things? I don’t see why we didn’t bring a chicken along, at +least.” + +“Well, maybe we can manage to run over one,” chuckled Betty, as they +passed a farmhouse and several chickens scuttled squawking across the +road. “Then we can have one good and fresh. For goodness’ sake, what is +Mollie tooting that horn for?” she added, as the raucous signal came +from the car behind them. “Has she stopped the car, Grace? Look and +see.” + +“It’s stopped deader than a door nail,” said Grace, obligingly screwing +about in her seat and fixing on the road behind them a disapproving +eye. “Now what do you suppose can be the trouble this time? If she has +had a blowout or something, I’m not going to help fix the old thing!!” + +“You couldn’t fix the blowout, dear, but you might help with the tire,” +Betty said, with a laugh, as she stopped the roadster and jumped to the +road. “Come on, she seems to be excited about something!!” + +“Goodness, I hope it isn’t another highway robber,” said Grace +anxiously, stopping in the middle of the road at the dreadful thought. +“I don’t see any, but!!” + +“You don’t see any because there _isn’t_ any,” Betty assured her, +taking her by the arm and leading her decidedly forward. “You don’t +suppose there is a whole Robin Hood’s band in this woods, do you?” + +Mollie and Amy and Mrs. Irving came running to meet them excitedly! or +at least, Mollie and Amy did the running, while their chaperon followed +more slowly. + +“There are blackberries in there, whole bushels and bushels of them!” +Mollie called. “You could see them from the road, and there you girls +passed right by them without even looking.” + +“Blackberries!” repeated Grace resignedly, as she felt in her pocket to +see if she had any candy left. “Just listen to her speaking of +blackberries when what I’m dying for is a good big steak with onions on +top of it!” + +“Stop it,” cried Mollie indignantly, while the others felt their mouths +begin to water. “The idea of mentioning steak! But here,” she broke +off, seizing Grace’s hand and dragging her toward the woods, “come with +me and pick berries if you value your life. Lucky we brought those tin +pails along.” + +“But why,” protested Grace patiently, as she was dragged along, “should +we want to pick berries?” + +“To eat,” replied Mollie, attacking a bush that was fairly black with +the luscious ripe fruit. “And besides,” she added, lowering her voice +to a confidential pitch, “Mrs. Irving said that if she could find some +flour and baking powder in the lodge she would make us a steamed +blackberry pudding for supper.” + +Grace stared for a moment then, without another word, set to work on +the loaded bush. + +“You might have told me that before,” she grumbled, her mouth full of +berries. “You always did have a mean disposition, Mollie.” + +To which Mollie’s only reply was a chuckle and a sly wink at Betty, who +was working close at her side. + +They worked on happily for a few minutes, then suddenly Amy +straightened up and stood quiet as though she were listening to +something. + +The girls, whose nerves were still a little on edge from their recent +adventure, demanded to know in no uncertain tones what was the matter +with her. + +“N-nothing,” Amy answered a little sheepishly. “I thought I heard a +little rustling among the leaves, that’s all.” + +“Probably a breeze coming up,” said Betty matter-of-factly, and they +went on with their berry picking. + +But it was not long before a second disturbance came, and this time +they all heard it. It was, as Amy had said, a rustling sound. However, +it was louder this time, as though several heavy bodies were pushing +through the underbrush on the other side of the road. + +“Perhaps we had better go and see what is making all the noise,” said +Mrs. Irving, her light tone successfully hiding an undercurrent of +nervousness. “I guess we have picked enough berries for our pudding, +anyway.” + +The girls picked up their pails and started for the road, Betty in the +lead. But when the latter reached the outer fringe of bushes she +started back, almost treading on Mollie’s toes and causing her to drop +her pail in alarm. + +“It’s sheep!” cried the Little Captain. “Dozens and dozens of them! +Come and look!” + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. +THE ENEMY ROUTED + + +Mrs. Irving pushed forward beside Betty, and the girls stared +unbelievingly over her shoulder. Then they saw that she was right. + +While they had been picking berries in the woods a flock of sheep had +wandered down to the road from the other direction and had completely +surrounded their two cars. + +The big-eyed, innocent looking animals were circling around and around +the machines as if examining them with a sort of ovine interest and +curiosity. + +But to the girls the sheep had a rather terrifying aspect. There were +so many of them and they had so completely taken possession of their +automobiles! How in the world were they ever to get back their +property? + +“Goodness!” Grace whispered plaintively in Betty’s ear, “I expect they +will try to climb into the cars next. What ever are we going to do?” + +“Sh,” cautioned Amy fearfully, as some of the flock, attracted by the +noise in the bushes, turned their heads in the direction of it. +“Suppose they should come in here?” + +“Well, they are not lions, you goose,” said Mollie, coming out of the +trance into which surprise had thrown her. “They are only sheep, and +they couldn’t hurt you if they tried.” + +“Not unless they stampeded,” said Betty quietly. “In that case I +wouldn’t care to be in the way.” + +“But we can’t stay here all night,” Mollie protested impatiently. + +“Held up by a lot of silly old sheep,” added Grace, still more +uncomfortably conscious of a growing appetite. + +“It must be almost two o’clock,” added Amy with a sigh. + +“Yes, if things keep on this way it will be night before we reach the +lodge,” said Mollie, adding with decision, “I vote that we get some +sticks and stones and scat ’em out of the way.” + +“I think I have a better suggestion than that,” put in Mrs. Irving, +speaking for the first time. “I think we had better wait for a short +time before we do anything. The sheep will probably get tired in a +little while and wander off of their own accord.” + +“Oh, all right,” said Mollie, with rather bad grace as she seated +herself on a convenient rock. “But all the time we are waiting for them +to be tired, we will be getting tired ourselves and, goodness, Mrs. +Irving, I’m being starved to death.” + +At the desperation in her tones the girls had to laugh, though they +were as reluctant to sit with folded hands and wait as she was. Still, +Mrs. Irving was their chaperon and probably knew best. + +So with admirable resignation they disposed themselves beside Mollie on +the big rock and settled down to watch for developments. + +But after waiting for an everlasting five minutes they decided that +there were to be no developments. The foolish sheep continued to circle +lazily about the cars, nibbling now and then upon the grass by the +roadside but showing not the slightest intention in the world of moving +from there for some time to come. + +“Oh, what shall we do?” moaned Grace, moving restlessly on her +uncomfortable seat. “My foot is going to sleep and I’m trying to sit on +a pointed stone or something.” + +“And it looks as though those crazy sheep were going to stay there all +night,” added Betty, herself growing restive at the apparent futility +of waiting for something to happen. “Can’t we do something, Mrs. +Irving?” + +“Wait just a few minutes more,” begged the lady, who was afraid of the +sheep, but was reluctant to confess her fear to her young charges. +“Look, there seems to be a movement among them now,” she added +hopefully, as one sheep pressed against another and sent it scampering +a few feet along the road. “We won’t have to wait much longer, I am +sure.” + +And so, loth to break their chaperon’s authority, the girls fidgeted +and fumed, getting more impatient and hungrier with every leaden minute +that dragged itself by until almost three-quarters of an hour had +passed. + +Then, when they began to think that they must scream if they were +forced to wait another minute, their chaperon rose of her own accord +and with a decided movement flicked the dust from her skirt. + +“I think we have waited long enough,” she hazarded, to which each girl +said a fervent though silent “amen.” “I suppose we shall have to follow +Mollie’s suggestion and gather sticks and stones. Perhaps we can scare +them away.” + +“Hooray!” shouted Mollie, jumping to her feet with relief. At the +unexpected sound the sheep in the road started and looked about them +uneasily. “Come on, girls, I’m mad enough to attack ’em single-handed. +All who are with me, say Aye.” + +“Aye!” they yelled, scurrying about to find sticks and stones. + +Betty, flourishing a branch at the frightened flock, yelled: “We are +wild, wild women, old sheep. You had better get out while the going’s +good. We eat little fellers like you alive!” and with a whoop of wild +spirits she danced down to the edge of the wood waving her stick wildly +about her head. + +Her fun was contagious and, smothering their laughter, the girls +waltzed after her, throwing sticks and stones and all sorts of +improvised weapons into the midst of the now thoroughly frightened +flock. + +Mrs. Irving strove to caution them, but her voice was lost in the +babble, and for once in her life at least she found herself utterly +ignored. With a little sigh she picked up a stick of her own and +followed after the girls. + +For a moment it looked as though the panic stricken sheep would rush +straight for the shouting girls, and in that moment what was little +more than an exciting game to the girls might have turned into a rather +dreadful tragedy. + +But, luckily, half a dozen sheep broke through and, led by an old ram, +started down the road and the rest of the flock, as is the habit of +sheep, followed after. + +In a moment the entire flock was galloping off down the road with the +excited girls in pursuit. There is no telling how far they might have +followed the sheep had not Betty become suddenly possessed of a grain +of common-sense. + +Panting and laughing, she came to a standstill while the girls rushed +past her. + +“Come back here!” she cried, her voice choked with laughter. “There’s +no use of our being as silly as the sheep. Mrs. Irving will think we +have deserted her.” + +So reluctantly the girls abandoned the chase and started back to rejoin +their much relieved but slightly dazed chaperon. + +“Now if we had only done that an hour ago,” said Mollie, as they +climbed back into the machines determined to make up for lost time, “we +would have been that much nearer the lodge and! something to eat.” + +“Goodness, it will he almost dark when we get there now,” wailed Grace, +as she slipped into the seat beside Betty. “And we haven’t had anything +to eat since breakfast.” + +“What with highway robbers and sheep,” laughed Betty, as she started +the engine, “we shall be lucky if we get there at all.” + +“Oh, Betty, if you love me don’t mention that awful highwayman again,” +begged Grace, looking uneasily into the shadows of the wood. “I don’t +want to have any more thrills like that as long as I live.” + +“Let’s hope we won’t,” said Betty fervently. + +“It’s a pity there is no telephone along this road! we could notify the +folks at Deepdale,” remarked Mollie. + +“Humph, if we did that they might get so scared that they’d send for us +to come home,” came from Amy. + +“That’s so!” came from the other Outdoor Girls quickly. + +“Well, as I said before, no more thrills like that for yours truly,” +repeated Grace. + +But little did the girls know that in the weeks to follow they would +have more and more startling thrills than they had ever experienced +before. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. +NOTHING HUMAN + + +They might have reached Wild Rose Lodge before dusk, in spite of +Grace’s gloomy prediction, if everything had gone well then. But it +seemed that the evil genius of bad luck was not yet through with them. + +They were scarcely five miles from their destination when, bang! went a +report that made the girls clutch at each other wildly. At first they +jumped to the conclusion that they were being held up again, but close +on the heels of the first thought came the conviction of the truth. +Mollie had had a blowout! + +Betty, looking behind, saw the big car stop and brought her own little +roadster to a standstill once more. + +“There is nothing wrong with our tires, is there?” she asked of Grace. +“Look over your side, Gracie, and see.” + +Finding nothing amiss, they jumped out and ran back to Mollie to offer +assistance. Mollie was eyeing the flat tire gloomily and saying things +under her breath that none of the girls could catch. Then as Betty +spoke to her she seemed to come to life and ran around to the back of +the machine. + +“Of course you can help,” she answered, working to release the extra +tire. “I would like to see you get out of it. Lucky I bought an extra +tire before we started, though I did hope,” here she glared at the +girls as if it were all their fault, “that I wouldn’t have to use it so +soon. We’ve had more trouble on this ride than any I can remember. A +hold-up, sheep and! this!” + +“Well, there is no use talking about it,” Betty reminded her +cheerfully. “The less we talk, the harder we can work and the sooner we +shall get started again.” + +“Yes, that’s all very well,” grumbled Mollie, as she fumbled for her +tools; “but you don’t know this place as well as I do.” + +“You talk,” said Amy, her eyes widening, “as though there were wild +animals or something in the woods. I didn’t know they came as far east +as this.” + +“They don’t, goose,” said Mollie grumpily, as she pulled at the tire. +“I didn’t say anything about wild animals, did I? Only we have to ride +about two miles through the woods before we get to the lodge and I must +say I didn’t want to do that in the dark.” + +“But there is some sort of road, isn’t there?” asked Grace. + +Mollie, bending over the lifting jack, shot her a withering glance. + +“Of course there’s a road,” she said shortly. “How else could we expect +to use the cars?” + +“It must be a sort of wagon road,” suggested Betty as she deftly helped +her chum. “And I don’t blame you for not wanting to try it at night, +Mollie. I don’t much like the idea myself.” + +“I believe if we hurry that we can get there before dusk,” said Mrs. +Irving confidently, though it might have been noticed that she kept her +eyes rather anxiously on the fast sinking sun. + +At last, after what seemed an eternity to the impatient girls, the new +tire had replaced the old one, the old one was safely strapped on the +back of the car, the tools were put away, and they were ready to start +once more. + +“Give her plenty of gas this time, Betty,” Mollie sung after her as the +Little Captain climbed into her car. If we can manage to get to the +woods before dark we will be doing good work. Let her go.” + +With which advice she settled herself behind the wheel of her own car +and they were off once more. + +Betty did “give her plenty of gas,” the result being that they +succeeded in reaching the wagon road that led into the woods to the +lodge just on the edge of dusk. + +However, when they started along the road they were dismayed to find +that what was only dusk outside on the road became almost dark in here, +and Betty had all she could do to keep to the road at all. + +“Hadn’t you better put on your lights?” Grace suggested uneasily. “We +might run into a ditch or something. Betty, I’m half scared.” + +For answer Betty switched on the lights and the woods and the road +ahead of them were suddenly flooded with a weird radiance. It brought +out branches and leaves and stones in such sharp contrast to the dark +background that the effect was startling. + +“Oh,” gasped Grace, “turn them off again, do, Betty. It is positively +ghastly.” + +“Don’t be foolish,” said Betty, striving to make her voice sound +matter-of-fact, her eyes glued to the road ahead of them as it twisted +and turned through the woods. “I don’t see why lights should make a +perfectly harmless wood look ghastly. And, anyway, I couldn’t turn them +out now. I don’t believe I could find my way. You don’t want me to run +into something, do you?” + +“No, of course not,” Grace said more firmly, rather ashamed of her +fears. “I didn’t mean to act in a silly fashion. But,” she turned to +Betty quickly, “that hold-up and all! don’t you feel a little queer +yourself, Betty? Tell the truth.” + +“Yes,” said the Little Captain truthfully. “I feel,” she added slowly, +as though searching for words, “I feel as though the woods belonged to +somebody and that we were sort of! sort of! intruding.” + +“Why, Betty!” said Grace, staring at her, “what a funny thing to say.” + +“I suppose it is,” said Betty, shaking off the illusion with a shrug of +her shoulders. “I am getting foolish in my old age I guess. We shall +all feel better when we get something to eat.” + +“If we ever do,” said Grace gloomily, adding as a sudden turn in the +woods shot them deeper into the gloom of it: “Do be careful, Betty. I +feel as though we were going over a precipice.” + +But Betty was too busy keeping the road to listen to her. + +“Look behind,” she directed Grace, “and see if Mollie is following +close to us.” + +“She is right behind,” reported Grace, as two eyes of light shot their +glare in her eyes. “She is following us closer than a poor relation.” + +Betty giggled at this, and then for a long time! or at least it seemed +a long time to their strained nerves! they went on in silence, +following the winding road wherever it led and getting deeper into the +forest with every moment. + +Then suddenly something loomed up dark against the shadows only a few +hundred feet ahead of them, and with a great feeling of thankfulness +they realized that they had reached their destination. Directly ahead +of them stood Wild Rose Lodge. They had arrived! + +But just as they were about to break into wild jubilation something +happened that tightened Betty’s hand on the wheel and made Grace cry +out with dismay. + +Out from the shadow of the lodge a second shadow detached itself, a +hunched up, bulky, fearful shadow that seemed neither beast nor man, +but a combination of both of them. + +For a moment, while the girls watched, paralyzed with fright, the thing +seemed about to spring into the path of the moving car. But in another +instant it turned, wheeled, and disappeared into the thick bushes about +the house. + +Then and only then did Betty recover presence of mind enough to stop +the car. + +“Betty! Betty!” cried Grace in a horrified whisper, grasping Betty’s +hand as it clung to the wheel. “What was it? Oh, what was it?” + +“I don’t know,” Betty answered mechanically. “I only know it was +horrible.” + +Then quite suddenly and without warning Grace broke down and cried. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. +WILD ROSES + + +“We will go into the house,” Mrs. Irving answered to their concerted +cry of “What shall we do?” “Whatever it was that has frightened us has +disappeared now, and we shall certainly be safer inside the house than +out here. Come on, girls, I have the key.” + +And so, leaving the cars where they were, the girls approached the +house with shaking knees and hearts that hammered their fear aloud. The +Outdoor Girls were ordinarily afraid of nothing real and human, but to +be held up at the point of a pistol would unnerve almost any one, and +the struggle the girls had made not to give way to their fears at the +time had made them more nervous still. And this thing that had startled +them now, added to what had gone before, seemed a little more than +could be borne. It seemed, in fact, like nothing human. + +Mrs. Irving turned the key in the lock, opened the door and stepped +inside the dark place, motioning to the girls to follow her. + +Fearfully the chums obeyed and Betty and Mollie pulled out their +electric pocket torches, filling the place with a weird light. Mollie, +being acquainted with the place, naturally took charge of the +situation. + +“There are matches over there,” she said, “and candles over the +fireplace. For goodness’ sake, let’s get a regular light, folks. +Perhaps that will make us feel more natural.” + +“So say all of us,” echoed Amy. “The dark makes everything worse, when +you are not well acquainted with a place.” + +Mollie touched a match to the candles, and in the answering flare +turned to face her chums. + +“Girls,” she said, determinedly, “I don’t know how you feel about it, +but I vote that before we do anything else we get something to eat. We +all look like ghosts just now and I’m sure we feel much worse than +that. But a little food makes a monstrous lot of difference.” + +“You know it does,” cried Grace, relaxing into one of the big chairs +that were scattered about the room and covering her face with her +hands. “I think if I don’t get something to eat soon, I’ll die, that’s +all.” + +“Well, we are none of us going to die,” said Mrs. Irving vigorously, as +she threw aside her coat and hat. “Show us the way to the kitchen, +Mollie, and if there is anything there to eat, we will get it.” + +Accordingly Mollie took one of the candles and led the way into a +little room beyond while all the girls but Betty crowded in after her. + +For the Little Captain slipped back for a moment and very quietly +closed the door, shutting out definitely the shadow beyond it. + +“I suppose it is foolish,” she said to herself, “because if there is +anything out there that really wants to get in there are plenty of ways +that it can do it, without coming in through the door. But,” and she +turned the key in the lock, “it certainly makes one feel more +comfortable to have the door closed.” Then she followed the girls into +the other room, and the sight that met her eyes was certainly more +cheering than anything she could have imagined. + +Mollie’s Uncle John had surprised them. In the exact center of a table +set for five lay a young pig, roasted whole and browned to a turn! Nor +was this all. The table was littered with covered dishes of all sizes +and descriptions, and as the contents of each one of these dishes was +disclosed, the girls became more and more excited and hilarious. + +There was apple sauce in one, salad in another, mashed potatoes that +had become quite cold in another, and a boat of gravy which had also +become quite cold. + +“But we don’t mind,” cried Mollie joyfully, as she took the gravy-boat +in one hand, the dish of potatoes in the other, and ran with them over +to a great stove in one corner of the room. “We need only some matches +to have this blazing hot in a minute. No, not that way, Grace,” as the +latter tried to help by lighting the burner. “This isn’t a gas stove, +you know; it’s an oil stove and you had better look out or you will +blow us all up. + +It is small wonder if Betty was so dazzled by this joyful scene that +she could neither move nor speak for the space of two seconds or so. +Then, recovering her powers of locomotion, she went over to the table +and picked up a note that, in their excitement, the girls had +overlooked. + +“See what this says,” she called to them, and they looked at her rather +impatiently. Just at that moment the only thing they cared to consider +was food! and more food! and then some more! + +But as Betty read they became more interested, and even stopped long +enough to hear her through. It was a brief note. This is what it said. + +“My dear young ladies: + “I am a neighbor of Mr. Prendergast,” (this was the dressed-up name + of Mollie’s Uncle John) “and he axed me to get your dinner ready + fer you. I tried to keep it hot but you wus so long comin’ I had to + go home to get dinner fer my old man. Hope things is all right. + + +“LIZZIE DAVIS.” + + +“So she is the one who has done all this,” said Betty, looking around +at the good things with dancing eyes. “I bet she is nice and plump and +has rosy cheeks.” + +“Lizzie Davis? Lizzie Davis?” repeated Mollie, bringing the steaming +gravy back and plumping the dish triumphantly down on the table. +“Rather a funny name for a fairy godmother, but she sure does know how +to cook. Don’t forget the potatoes, Grace. Come on, girls! let’s sit +down.” + +So down the girls sat and acted like ravenous pigs! or so Grace +described their conduct afterward, Mrs. Irving set to work carving the +delicious pork, but they could not wait for her. + +They seized slices of bread, spread apple sauce and butter on them, and +ate like what they were, four famished girls and one equally famished +chaperon who had been out in the open all day and had had nothing to +eat since morning. + +It was some time before they showed any considerable signs of slowing +up. Then Grace put down her fork, leaned back lazily, and called for +dessert. The latter was a huge cherry pie, and before the girls were +through with it there was not enough left to color a robin’s egg. + +After the pangs of hunger had been satisfied they found to their great +surprise that they were dead tired and sleepy. + +“We will get the dishes out of the way and then Mollie can show us +where we sleep,” said Betty. “Oh, girls, did you ever in your life +taste such a dinner?” + +It was not till the dishes had all been cleared away and Mollie took up +her candle to show them their quarters that the unwelcome thought of +the thing that had so frightened them again crept terrifyingly into +their minds. Try as they would to forget it, they could not. + +There were three small sleeping rooms in the lodge, but, small as they +were, they were comfortable and contained beds that seemed the height +of luxury to the tired girls. + +Because of the indistinct and flickering candle light the girls could +make out very little of what the rooms really looked like, and they +postponed any close examination until the morning. Back of the lodge +was a shed for the cars. + +The bedrooms were all joined by doors, which gave the girls a safe and +sociable feeling. Mrs. Irving, of course, had one room to herself, +Betty and Mollie slept together and Grace and Amy paired off. + +They wasted little time in getting ready! Betty and Mollie had +appointed themselves a committee of two to bring in the grips from +Mollie’s car! and before long they tasted the exquisite restfulness of +comfortable beds after a long nerve-trying day in the out-of-doors. + +“I don’t believe I shall close my eyes all night,” said Amy with +conviction. “I’m too horribly nervous.” + +But three minutes later she was sound asleep! + +The sun had been up a good two hours before any one stirred in Wild +Rose Lodge. Betty was the first to awake, and in fifteen minutes she +had the rest of the sleepy-eyed and protesting girls up and nearly +dressed. + +“What’s the idea, anyway?” yawned Grace lazily. “I could have slept at +least a good two hours more.” + +“On a day like this?” sang Betty, breathing in deep breaths of the +wood-scented air. “And isn’t this just the dearest room you ever saw?” +she added, wheeling about and regarding the apartment delightedly. They +were in Grace and Amy’s room, for, as usual, Mollie and Betty had been +the first dressed and had gone into their chums’ room to hurry them up! +if such a thing were possible. + +Betty’s summing up of the room they were in was indeed well deserved, +for the place was charming. There was a dresser, a bed, and three +chairs, and all of these articles of furniture had been rough-hewed out +of logs, giving the place a delightfully rustic appearance. There was a +grass rug on the floor and in one corner a little table covered with +books. + +“Isn’t it darling?” cried Mollie, following Betty’s glance about the +place. “Uncle John built the lodge and made all of the furniture +himself, you know. And he bought the grass rugs from the Indians.” + +They were still exclaiming about the place when Mrs. Irving called to +them that breakfast was ready. With a whoop of delight they answered +the summons, and a moment later sat themselves down to a most +satisfying meal of omelet and toast and coffee with real cream in it. +Also Mrs. Irving set on the table a yellow-topped pitcher of milk fresh +from the cow. + +“Our friend, Lizzie Davis, brought it,” their chaperon answered with a +smile, in response to the girls’ curious questions. “Also some fresh +butter and eggs, I have an idea,” she added, as she got up to refill +the butter plate, “that we shall live on the fat of the land while we +are here.” + +“Lizzie Davis,” repeated Betty, pausing in the act of filling her glass +with fresh milk and regarding Mrs. Irving with dancing eyes. “Tell me, +chaperon dear, Didn’t she have nice red cheeks, and wasn’t she +delightfully plump?” + +“Yes,” said Mrs. Irving, smiling at Betty’s flushed prettiness. “She +was all of that, my dear. I don’t believe I ever saw a more cozy +looking person in my life.” + +“I knew it!” cried Betty triumphantly, adding with a suspicious eye on +Grace: “Hand over that plate of toast, Gracie. You needn’t think you +can eat it all up!” + +After breakfast they sallied forth to “view the country o’er.” They +would have stayed and helped Mrs. Irving clear up, but that good woman +declared that she could do better by herself on this first morning. +After she had become better acquainted with the place they could help +her all they liked. Finally, after some protest, they had to let her +have her way. + +As they stepped out on the porch, Betty paused and held up her hand for +silence. + +“Listen,” she said. “That murmuring sound and the splash of water!!” + +“It’s the river and the falls,” explained Mollie. “Let’s go down and +have a look at them.” + +But Amy, giving a little gasp of delight, fairly tumbled down the steps +and into a riot of gorgeous pink wild roses. The lodge was fairly +surrounded by them. + +“Oh, you darlings!” cried Amy, putting both arms around a bush of the +fragrant flowers as though she would gather in all their beauty at +once. “I never saw anything so wonderful in all my life! Oh, girls, I’m +glad I came!” + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. +THE WHIRLPOOL + + +All the spirit and joy of the woods seemed to have entered into the +Outdoor Girls. For the next half hour they romped in the woods and the +beautiful flowers for all the world like little children whose first +glimpse it was of the country. + +They took down their hair and made wreaths of wild roses for crowns, +and when, faces flushed with exercise and fun, they had finished, one +might easily have mistaken them for real fairies come to life. + +“But I want to see the river,” Betty called to them, stopping once more +to listen to the rhythmic sound of splashing water. “Come on, girls. It +can’t be more than a few hundred feet away, even though we can’t see it +for the bushes. Lead on, Mollie Billette, I wouldst hie me hence.” + +But when Mollie laughingly obeyed and started into the woods, Amy held +back. + +“What’s the matter?” Grace asked, turning to her curiously. + +“I! I was just thinking,” stammered Amy, ashamed of her own weakness, +“about last night.” + +“About last night,” Betty prompted, still at a loss. + +“You haven’t forgotten, have you?” she asked, incredulously. “That! +thing! on the porch.” + +“Oh!” they said, and a shadow fell over their bright faces. + +“Why, yes,” said Betty, slowly, adding as though she could not quite +explain the phenomenon herself: “I suppose we did forget all about it.” + +“Or if we didn’t, we should have,” said Mollie, ungrammatically but +decidedly. “Come on, girls, we aren’t going to let any silly old thing +like that frighten us out of a good time.” + +“It seems,” said Grace thoughtfully, while Amy still held back, “almost +as if we had dreamed the whole thing. The memory of it is so vague! and +indistinct.” + +“Well, it isn’t vague to me! or indistinct either,” said Amy, feeling +rather abused because the girls did not seem to share her feelings. “I +hardly slept all night long just thinking about it.” + +“Oh, Amy Blackford!” said Grace accusingly, while Mollie and Betty +turned twinkling eyes upon her. “If that isn’t the biggest one I ever +heard. Why, I woke up once or twice in the night and each time I found +you almost snoring.” + +“Oh, I did not,” protested Amy, flushing indignantly, but here Mollie +and Betty stepped laughingly into the fray and peremptorily put an end +to it. + +“Let’s not fight about it,” said Betty, when she could make herself +heard. “We don’t care whether Amy snored or not. What we want to know +is this: Who is coming with us for a look at the falls?” + +“Now you’re talking, Little Captain,” said Mollie approvingly. “All in +favor please say Aye.” + +Amy still showed some inclination to hold back, but Mollie and Betty +each took an arm and hurried her willy-nilly with them into the woods. + +“You had better take the lead, Mollie,” Betty suggested after they had +gone some little distance along the path. “I can manage Amy alone now, +I guess. She seems pretty well tamed.” + +“Tamed, but scared to death,” Amy came back, with a wry smile. “Really, +Betty,” she turned to look at the Little Captain closely, “aren’t you +the least little bit nervous about what happened last night?” + +“No, I don’t think I am now,” said Betty, adding candidly, “I must say +I was last night though! just frightened to death. It seemed so awfully +uncanny! coming upon that thing in the dark after what we had gone +through with that bandit. But then,” she added more lightly, +“everything seems so much worse in the dark, you know.”. + +“Yes,” said Amy slowly and looking very serious. “That all may be very +true. But I think that as long as we are sure we didn’t dream it last +night and that the skulking thing really dodged out from the corner of +our porch that we ought to be on our guard against it. And how,” she +finished most reasonably, “can we be on our guard in the woods?” + +Betty was at a loss to know just how to answer such a question. By this +time Mollie and Grace were some little distance ahead of them and Amy’s +nervousness was beginning to communicate itself to her against her +will. + +She felt again the creeping sensation that had traveled up and down her +spine at sight of that crouching, sinister figure that had sprung out +from the shadow of the porch. + +It had disappeared into the bushes last night, and, for all she knew! +and the thought made her tingle weirdly! it might still be hiding in +them, crouching, ready to spring + +With an effort she shook off the mood and turned to Amy brightly. + +“There is no use in our making a mountain out of a mole hill,” she +said, plucking a wild rose as they swung by and smelling of its +delicious fragrance. “Last night, I admit, it seemed very terrifying to +us, but that was probably because we couldn’t see what it was that +frightened us. It may just have been a large dog or something.” + +“Humph,” sniffed Amy, sceptically, “it must have been a monster dog. +Sort of a ghost hound.” + +“Goodness, that’s going from bad to worse,” laughed Betty, as they +rejoined the other girls. “Let’s hope it isn’t anything like that, Amy +dear. Hello, what are you waiting for?” she hailed the girls +cheerfully. “We almost fell over you.” + +“Watch your step,” cautioned Mollie, adding as she cleared aside some +bushes and motioned Betty to a place beside her: “We’ve reached the +river, Betty, and a little farther up is the falls. Isn’t it +beautiful?” + +“Oh, it is beautiful,” rejoined Betty, a sentiment which Amy heartily +echoed, and for a few minutes they stood there, drinking in the beauty +of the scene, entirely unmindful of the lovely picture they themselves +made with their loosened hair and wreaths of wild flowers. + +The river was not very wide, but the water was deep and clear and swift +and the continual swish-swish of its passage over rocks and between +foliage-laden banks made a pleasant, even sound that was deliciously +restful and refreshing. + +“Oh, if we could only get down right into the very middle of it and let +those little ripples wash over us forever and forever!” sighed Grace +ecstatically. + +“She would a little mermaid be!” sang Betty, as she slipped down to the +very edge of the water and leaned over to catch her reflection in the +bright depths of it. “But honestly, Mollie, isn’t there any place in +the river where we can swim?” + +“It looks too swift for good swimming to me!” began Grace, but Mollie +stopped her with a mysterious finger to her lips. + +“Hush, my pretty one, not a word,” said the latter, beginning to pick +her way daintily along the river bank. “Follow me and you will wear +diamonds, or seaweed, or whatever it is that mermaids wear. And don’t +fall over, whatever you do,” she turned around to caution them, “The +river is so swift here that I don’t believe even the strongest swimmer +would have a chance.” + +Accordingly the girls “watched their step,” and for some distance +followed Mollie uncomplainingly. Then, as there seemed no sign of their +getting anywhere, Grace started to protest. + +“Say, do you suppose she has any idea where she is going?” the latter +asked of Betty in a tone that was designed to reach Mollie’s ear. But +before she could say anything more, Mollie herself swung jubilantly +round upon them. + +“Here we are, girls!” she cried. “Now see if you ever saw anything so +pretty in all your lives.” + +Once more the girls stood spellbound by the natural beauty of the +scene. As they walked they had become more and more conscious of the +roaring noise made by rushing water, and now, ascending a small rise of +ground, they came full upon the majestic beauty of Moonlight Falls. + +The falls fell full thirty feet, and at the foot of it the river was +churned into swirling, liquid foam that whirled around and around again +in a sort of mad race and then went rushing off down the river in a +shower of lacy spray. + +It was wildly inspiring, exhilarating, and the girls thrilled with a +strange new emotion as they watched. It was so free, so gloriously +unchained! + +“There is our swimming pool over there,” Mollie said, raising her voice +to make it heard above the roar of the water. “You see there is a sort +of little back eddy below the falls and to one side of it, and right +there we’ll find the best swimming of our lives. But,” she added, and +her voice was impressively solemn, “heaven help any one of us who gets +in the path of the falls.” + +“Look!” cried Amy suddenly, her voice ringing out full and clear and +startled above the uproar. “That! thing! over there. It is going into +the falls! no, under them!” + +“Where?” cried Mollie eagerly, leaning far forward. “Oh, yes, I see +what you mean. Oh, girls, I’m slipping!” Her voice rose to a terrified +wail. “Betty! Catch me!” + +But Betty was too late. She sprang forward just in time to see Mollie +slide down the slippery bank and plunge into the maddened water of the +river! + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. +THE THING + + +It took the girls a moment to realize the extent of the awful thing +that had happened. Then Betty, obeying her first impulse, raised her +hands above her head as though to dive, but Amy screamed to her to +stop. + +“You will only be lost too!” she cried frantically. “Look! that flat +stick! the long one!!” + +Instantly Betty saw what she meant and stooped to pick up a long broken +branch that was lying at her feet. At the same instant Mollie came to +the surface several feet away from the spot where she had fallen and +threw her strength desperately against the rushing might of the river. + +Betty ran along the river bank, Amy and Grace at her heels, shouting +encouragement to Mollie as she ran. + +“Hold tight!” she cried, adding with fresh dismay as she saw that the +girl was being swept further from the shore: “Over this way, honey, +Swim to your right! to your right!!” + +Blinded, chilled to the bone with the cold water, her hair in her eyes +and her skirts clinging tight about her legs, Mollie struggled wildly, +unable to hear the shouts of her chums above the ringing in her ears. + +It was taking all her strength to hold her own against the rush of the +river! and now she was not even doing that! Slowly, very slowly, she +was being pushed backward; in a little while more she would be sucked +downward, and then!! + +She closed her eyes, and then, as though the obliteration of one sense +made more clear the other, she heard Betty calling to her above the +roar of the falls. + +“Mollie! Mollie!” it came, faint but distinct, “take hold of the stick +and we’ll pull you in. Mollie, do you hear me?” + +The girl in the water was still struggling hard against the current +that was dragging at her cruelly, and at the sound of Betty’s words she +shook the water from her eyes and looked about her dazedly. She had +forgotten the girls. + +Then she saw something that sent a tingle of renewed hope through her +tired body. What she saw was a long branch bobbing on the water not two +feet from her outstretched hand, and at the other end of the stick was! +Betty. + +With a sigh that was half a sob she struck out for it, reached it, and +clung to it as only the drowning know how to cling. + +Then she felt herself being drawn through the water, and once more she +closed her eyes. When she opened them again she was on a warm grassy +bank with Amy chafing one hand, Grace the other, while Betty was busy +unfastening the clothes about her waist. + +As Mollie was never under any circumstances expected to act as people +thought she should act, so this occasion was no exception to the rule. +She pushed Amy and Grace aside, glared at Betty, and sat up with a +little jerk. + +“For goodness’ sake, stop undressing me, Betty Nelson!” she said. “I’m +not dead yet.” + +“So we see,” said Betty, while her eyes lost their anxious expression +and began to twinkle instead. “But you might have been, you know, if we +had left you to yourself.” + +Mollie looked down at her dripping clothes ruefully and then out at the +rushing water. + +“I guess you are right,” she said with a little grimace, “It wasn’t +very pleasant while it lasted, either. Whew, but that water was cold!” +She shivered involuntarily and Betty sprang to her feet. + +“We had better be getting back to the lodge,” she said. “You can put on +some dry things, Mollie, and we girls will get you some hot soup. You +are chilled to the bone.” + +“Nonsense,” denied Mollie grumpily. “I’m beginning to feel fine and +warm. Besides,” she added, trying to cover a chill that fairly made her +teeth ache, “I want to stay and find out about that thing that got us +into all this fuss.” + +“Nonsense,” Grace put in. Up to this time Grace had been made +speechless by Mollie’s sudden recovery. “You are shivering so you can’t +sit still.” + +“It makes me cold just to look at you,” added Amy, + +“Don’t be foolish, honey,” said Betty impatiently. “You can’t sit there +all day in dripping clothes, and besides you will really get cold.” + +“Humph,” grunted Mollie, getting to her feet rather unsteadily and +shaking out her sodden skirts. “I guess this isn’t the first time I +have taken a dip in cold water. And besides,” she added impatiently; “I +don’t know about you girls, but I would like to know just what that +thing was that we saw dart beneath the falls.” + +“That was what made you fall into the water, wasn’t it?” asked Betty, +her forehead wrinkling thoughtfully. “You leaned so far out to see!!” + +“Yes, yes,” Mollie interrupted impatiently, all her curiosity revived. +“That was what made me fall into the water all right. But what I want +to know is! what was it?” + +“I don’t know,” said Betty, shaking her head. “I didn’t see it.” + +“Neither did I,” Grace added. + +Mollie looked from one to the other of them open-mouthed. Then she +turned to Amy, + +“You saw it, didn’t you?” she asked. “You screamed, you know.” + +“Yes,” said Amy, nodding her head very solemnly, “And it looked to me a +lot like what we saw last night.” + +“Thank goodness, you saw it too or the girls would surely think I had +been dreaming or was crazy,” said Mollie, with relief. Then she +suddenly turned and started off into the woods. “I’m going all alone to +find out what that was,” she told her stupefied chums. “I’ve got to +clear up the mystery before I’m an hour older.” + +But this time Mollie found that there was some one stronger than she, +and that was Betty. The Little Captain ran after her and brought her +back, protesting but captive. + +“We are going back to the house now and get you something hot to eat,” +said Betty, as they rejoined Amy and Grace and started off toward home. +“Afterwards if everybody’s willing we will hunt this strange beast that +jumps out from porches and leaps into rivers just for the fun of the +thing. But just now, Billy Billette, you are going home.” + +But Mollie had been more severely shocked than she was willing to admit +by her experience, and it was some time before the girls visited the +falls or the river again. Meanwhile they contented themselves with +exploring the country about the lodge, taking short trips in the cars +and wondering whether the boys would really be home before the summer +was over. + +Their days were not altogether happy, however, for the thought of that +weird thing prowling around in the woods and ready, for all they knew, +to spring out at them at every turn, refused to be banished from their +minds. + +Then, too, they thought a great deal about poor Professor Dempsey and +the little ruined cottage in the woods. Somehow, they had an uneasy +feeling that if they had gone to him at the very first minute they had +heard of his trouble they might have helped him. Whereas, they had +waited and! he had fled. + +For a while the idea of a dip in the swimming pool was naturally not +very attractive to Mollie, but at last there came a day when she +herself suggested it and the girls enthusiastically seconded the +motion. + +More than the prospect of a good time, was the hope, unexpressed, that +they might see again that strange thing which Amy and Mollie had only +glimpsed the time before. Perhaps, they thought, if the mysterious +thing were faced in the open and in broad daylight, it might prove to +be no mystery at all but something ordinary and commonplace enough to +do away with all their vague and weird imaginings. + +But in this expectation they were most completely disappointed. Nothing +at all unusual occurred and although they enjoyed their swim in the +warm back eddy of the pool, they came away disgruntled and with a +curious feeling that they had been cheated out of something. + +“I only wish the boys would come,” sighed Amy, as they turned in once +more at the lodge. + +After that the “Thing” became almost like an obsession with them. They +must find out definitely what it was that was spoiling all their fun. +They began to haunt the river, especially at the foot of the falls, in +the hope of seeing something, anything that would put an end to their +curiosity and uneasiness. + +For a long time they had not got up courage enough to visit the place +at night, but at last they became curious enough to brave even that. + +“We have simply got to find out something,” Mollie whispered to Betty +as on this particular night they stood on the porch and waited for Mrs. +Irving to join them. “We can’t go on this way any longer, Betty. Why, I +am getting so nervous I jump if you look at me.” + +“I know,” said Betty soberly. “It really is getting on our nerves too +much. Amy and Grace are feeling it even worse than we are.” + +“Yes,” agreed Mollie grumpily. “Last night was the third night in +succession that Amy got us all out of bed to listen to some fool noise +outside. I’m just about sick of it.” + +The other three came then and they had no further chance for +conversation. As a matter of fact, they talked surprisingly little on +the walk to the river. + +High above them a wonderful full moon sent its silvery light filtering +down through leaves and branches, making of the woods a fairyland. +Somehow, the very beauty of it filled the girls with a strange dread. +To them the patches of moonlight were weird, unreal, the shadowy woods +held a sinister menace. + +By the time they had reached the river’s edge they were almost ready to +turn and run, But they conquered the impulse and pressed on. Then +suddenly they saw what they had hoped, yet dreaded, to see. + +On the opposite bank, staring down into the rapids with a terrible +intentness, stood a man, or something that resembled a man. In one +awful, breath-taking minute they realized that here at last was the +“Thing.” + +As they watched, the hunched-up crouching figure on the opposite bank +made a lumbering movement forward as though about to throw itself into +the water at the foot of the falls. + +“Oh!” screamed Betty, the words wrenched from her dry throat. “Don’t do +that! You mustn’t do that! Go back! For goodness’ sake, go back!” + +With a hoarse cry that answered her own, the “Thing” flung back from +the water’s edge and disappeared into the darkness! + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. +SURPRISED + + +The Outdoor Girls could hardly have told how they got back to the lodge +after that, Blindly they stumbled through the underbrush, expecting +they knew not what horrible thing, thankful for the moonlight that made +it possible for them to hurry. + +They did reach home somehow and there they sat until late into the +night, trying to find some explanation for the thing they had seen, +striving to think up some plan for hunting it down until finally Mrs. +Irving sent them to bed. + +That did not do very much good, for they lay awake and talked until the +first rays of sunlight crept into the windows. Then they said goodnight +and sank into a sleep of exhaustion. + +For three days after the episode the girls never went far from the +house on foot. They would take the cars and spin down the open road, +but a sort of horror of the supernatural kept them from venturing into +the woods again. + +But when the fourth day dawned the fright of their moonlight experience +had begun to wear off and they were beginning to feel ashamed of their +fear. + +Having a little of this in her mind, Mollie gave voice to it at the +breakfast table. + +“I must say,” she began, buttering a piece of bread energetically, +“that it isn’t like us Outdoor Girls to let anything scare us into +staying near the house. Why, I declare, I don’t believe there is one of +us who would dare poke her nose past that rose bush in front of the +porch after sundown. That’s a pretty state of affairs, isn’t it?” + +“Well, you needn’t glare at me as if it were all my fault,” retorted +Amy with spirit. “I’m sure I didn’t wish the horrible old thing on us.” + +“I only wish I knew who did,” sighed Grace, adding, with a sudden burst +of ferocity: “I would wring his neck.” + +“Suppose somebody suggests something we can do about it,” said Betty +reasonably. “I’m sure that after the other night nobody could blame us +for being frightened.” + +“No. But there is one thing I can blame you for,” said Mollie, glaring +morosely at her chum. “And that is for not letting the horrible old +thing drown itself when it so very evidently wanted to. If that had +happened all our worries would have been over.” + +“Goodness, Mollie, what a horrible idea!” Betty protested. + +“I don’t think it was a horrible idea,” Grace put in. “I think it was +just about the finest idea I ever heard of.” + +“Yes,” added Amy with a deceptive mildness, “if you hadn’t called out +just then, Betty, the whole thing would have been over and the Thing +would have been drowned. And then,” she added plaintively, “we would +have been able to enjoy our summer.” + +“It really wasn’t any of our business, you know,” Grace finished, +moodily. + +For a moment Betty sat and stared at them, undecided whether to be +amused or indignant. However, the latter emotion won and she turned +upon the girls with flashing eyes. + +“I think you are all perfectly horrid,” she said. “And I would think +you were worse if I weren’t perfectly sure that you don’t really mean +what you say. Why, just suppose,” she went on earnestly, “that we had +willingly permitted that man to commit suicide? Why, we would have been +just as guilty as if we had murdered him!” + +“But he may have done it since anyway,” muttered Mollie stubbornly. “He +didn’t have to wait to ask our permission, and there are plenty of +times that he can commit suicide when we are not around! if he really +wants to do it.” + +“What he or anybody else does when we are not around, is not our +business,” answered Betty. “We can’t help what happens in our absence.” + +“You seem to take it for granted that it is a man,” Mollie continued, +still stubbornly argumentative. “But I am not so sure about that. The +several times that we have seen the! the! Thing! it has looked as much +animal as human to me.” + +“Well, we won’t argue that point,” said Betty, rising and beginning to +clear away the dishes, “because we don’t know anything about it.” + +“That is just exactly what I am getting at,” said Mollie earnestly, +leaning forward and resting her elbows on the table while the girls +watched her interestedly. “We don’t know anything about it, but that is +no reason why we should sit back and twiddle our thumbs and start at +shadows.” + +“Well, for goodness’ sake, tell us what’s on your mind,” prompted Grace +impatiently. “We haven’t sat back and twiddled our thumbs and started +at shadows because we enjoyed it, you know.” + +“Now my plan is this,” said Mollie, ignoring Grace, who shrugged her +shoulders and reached for her candy box. “Suppose we take a tramp +through the woods to the head of the falls? It is a beautiful hike and +the scenery at the falls is magnificent. But aside from that we will +have a chance to find out something about this thing that will do away +with the mystery.” + +“If it doesn’t do away with us at the same time,” said Amy so ruefully +that they had to laugh at her. + +“Well, what do you say?” asked Mollie, looking around the circle of +thoughtful faces! her glance a dare. + +For a moment it looked as if they all might refuse to go, but then +their sporting blood came to the fore and they decided for the +adventure. + +But when they told Mrs. Irving about their project and begged her to +say yes to it, she looked very doubtful and only consented at last on +the proviso that she was to go with them. This they were only too glad +to have, and a few minutes later the lodge hummed with excitement and +preparation once more. To the Outdoor Girls, active and fun-loving by +nature, to be quiet for a few days was nothing short of torture. So +now, even though there was still more than a little fear of the “Thing” +in their hearts, they found relief in the promise of adventure. + +They put up some sandwiches and fruit in a basket in case they were not +able to get home by noon. Then they locked the door of the little lodge +and started down the steps. They hesitated before starting into the +woods, and Mollie had a happy thought. + +“We can go part of the way along the road,” she said. “And then there +is a path that leads directly through to the head of the falls.” + +The celerity with which they accepted this suggestion seemed funny to +them afterward, but at the time they had other things to think about. +Mostly they were wondering if they would realty be able to hold on to +their nerve long enough to see the adventure through. + +“I wish,” said Betty wistfully, as she had wished so many times of +late, “that the boys were here. They could help us out so beautifully.” +And she sighed, for when she spoke of “the boys,” she always thought of +one boy most! and that one was Allen. + +“Well, there’s no use wishing for what can’t possibly happen,” Grace +was saying, when there came a whistle so clear and penetrating that it +made them jump! then another, and another. Was it just that they were +nervous or was there really something peculiarly familiar in the sound? +At any rate they stopped and turned around to see who the whistlers +could be. + +There were three soldiers coming down the road, broad-shouldered, vital +looking fellows who swung along toward the astonished girls as though +they owned the world. + +“Betty, oh, Betty!” whispered Grace in a tense voice, grasping Betty’s +arm so hard it hurt. “It can’t be, oh, it can’t be the boys!” + +But Mollie had broken away from the group and was rushing toward the +soldier lads like the wild little tomboy she was. + +“Girls, it’s the boys! it’s the boys! it’s the boys!” she yelled. +“They’re all tanned and they’re at least ten inches taller, but it’s +the boys just the same.” + +And before any of the other girls knew what she was about she had +kissed each one of them twice and was hanging on the tallest one’s arm, +who happened to be Frank, laughing and crying at the same time. + +Then the girls seemed to decide that she had had the lads to herself +long enough, and they immediately entered the contest, all laughing at +once, all crying at once, and all talking at once, until it was a +wonder the boys did not lose their heads entirely. + +The only one who was not absolutely and completely and deliriously +happy was Betty. For the other three boys were there, but Allen had not +come! + +As though reading her thought, Will, who was much handsomer and more +manly than when he went away, put an arm about the Little Captain’s +shoulder big brother fashion and drew her aside from the rest. + +“You are wondering about Allen,” he said, and Betty nodded eagerly. +“You see,” continued Will, his face lighting up in a smile that would +always be boyish, “since Allen became one of the big bugs! which is +another name for officer, you understand! he had to pay the penalty and +stay over there with them for a little while longer. He will probably +be over on the next transport, although of course you can never be sure +about that. Oh, and I forgot,” he put his hand in his pocket and drew +forth a pocketknife, a wad of string and! a little three-cornered note. +“He asked me to give this to you as soon as I saw you. So now you can +tell him that ‘I seen my duty and I done it noble.’“ + +With a twinkle in his eye Will turned back to the others and Betty was +left to open her note. This is what she read: + +“Gosh, some fellows do have all the luck, don’t they? But never mind, +little girl. I’m coming to you by the very first boat, and when I get +there do you know what I’m going to do? Do you?” + + +Betty wanted to run away by herself and read the note over and over +again. But she could not do that. With a sigh she hid the little +message in a pocket of her skirt and turned back to the others. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. +LIKE OLD TIMES + + +It was a long time before the boys and girls woke up to the fact that +they were still standing in the center of the road and that they might +be ever so much more comfortable on the porch of the lodge, if any one +had had sense enough to think that far. + +Mrs. Irving, who had been keeping herself rather in the background +during the first rapturous greetings, now came in for her share of +salutations and boyish greetings. The young soldiers crowded about her, +patting her hands and her shoulders and telling her how awfully fine +she looked and how glad they were to find her here until the lady +actually blushed with pleasure and begged them to stop their nonsense. +In fact, it was she who finally suggested that they go up to the lodge +again. + +“I don’t see why we didn’t think of that before,” said Mollie, joyfully +slipping an arm into Frank’s and turning him right-about-face. “We are +due to talk all day anyway, so we might as well do it in comfort. Don’t +forget the lunch basket, Betty,” she called back to her chum. + +Betty would have forgotten the basket and left it where it stood just +as she had dropped it at the side of the road! and small wonder if she +had! but as she stooped to pick it up, Will’s strong brown hand whipped +out in front of her nose and seized the handle firmly. + +“That’s the idea,” said Grace approvingly, adding with a sisterly pat +on his shoulder: “You run along with Amy and Mrs. Irving. I want to +talk to Betty.” + +So Will, being a well-trained brother, did as he was told, and Grace +drew Betty behind the others. + +“What about Allen, honey?” she asked, her blue eyes honestly worried. +“We all missed him so, but we didn’t like to say too much for fear! for +fear!!” + +“He’s all right,” said Betty, her heart glowing again at thought of the +little note hidden away in her pocket. “He has only been delayed a +little, that’s all. Will says he will probably be over on the next +transport.” + +“Oh, I am relieved,” said Grace with such fervor that Betty looked at +her quickly. Could it be, she wondered, that what she had half sensed +before could be really true? Was Grace fond of Allen? But because the +idea made her unhappy, she decided that she was just trying to think up +trouble and dismissed it from her mind. All the girls loved Allen of +course! who could help it?! but they couldn’t any of them, she told +herself fiercely, care for him the way she did. + +“Well, what are you thinking about? You needn’t look so fierce,” she +heard Grace saying, and she forced a smile to her face. + +“I’m not looking fierce,” Betty answered gayly. “Don’t you know that +that is just my natural expression, Gracie dear? That’s the way I make +little girls like you afraid of me.” + +“Well, I’m not afraid of you, not one little bit,” asserted Grace, +squeezing Betty’s arm fondly. “Oh, Betty dear, isn’t it wonderful +having the boys back and don’t they look fine! especially Will?” + +“Don’t they? Especially Will,” agreed Betty with a sly little glance. +“If you don’t look out you will give the impression that you’re rather +fond of that worthless old brother of yours, honey.” + +“I love him awfully,” replied Grace, adding with a little puckering of +her forehead: “But I am going to tell you something, Betty, that I +wouldn’t tell to any one else for the world. I’m jealous, actually +jealous! of Amy.” + +Betty gave a merry little laugh and slipped an arm about her chum. + +“Gracie dear, we never would have known that if you hadn’t told us,” +she said dryly, “Don’t, you know,” as Grace looked at her +reproachfully, “that we have all been perfectly well aware of that ever +since Will first began to make eyes at Amy?” + +“I can’t help it,” Grace retorted, while sudden tears sprang to her +eyes. “I’ve known him longer than she has, and we’ve loved each other +ever since he was two and I was two weeks! Did you see the way he +looked at her?” she finished dolefully. + +“Yes. But of course you couldn’t see the way he looked at you,” said +Betty quickly. “And I did.” + +“Oh, did he look glad to see me? Did he?” demanded Grace with pathetic +eagerness. + +“Of course he did, you little goose,” said Betty, adding with a +chuckle: “You’ve been spoiled, that’s all. You’ve been so used to being +the _only_ pebble on the beach, dear, that you can’t be content with +being just one of two.” + +By this time they had reached the lodge and were greeted noisily by the +others, who had already seated themselves on the porch as though they +intended to stay all day. + +“Hello,” called Frank. His handsome face, though somewhat thinner than +the girls remembered, was better looking than ever and he had developed +a trick of flinging the hair back from his forehead that the girls +thought immensely attractive, + +Roy, who had seated himself on the railing of the porch and was +swinging his feet, looked more unchanged than either of the boys, +though the girls were soon to find out that he had changed the most. + +Will, who had settled Amy in a chair and was sitting cross-legged on +the floor at her feet, was gazing up at the girl with his heart in his +eyes. As for Amy! well, the girls had never known she could look so +radiant. + +“Have a seat,” invited Roy, rising lazily to the dignity of his six +feet as Betty and Grace came up on the porch. “It would seem like old +times to see you girls perched on the railing.” + +“I’ll have you know, sir,” said Betty very demurely, as she pulled +Grace down beside her on the top step of the porch, “that we have quite +grown up since you have been away. We will sit here where we can get a +good view of you all.” + +“And we want to hear about everything you have done over there,” broke +in Amy eagerly. “Please, everything! right from the beginning.” + +The boys fidgeted, looked dismayed, and Roy burst forth in protest. + +“Oh, I say!” he cried. “We’ll do anything else for you, but please +don’t ask us to do that.” + +“We don’t want to talk about ourselves or the war,” muttered Frank, +almost as if to himself. “We want to forget about it! if we can.” + +“You see,” Will explained, and there was a stern note in his young +voice, “we worked and we sweated and we fought. We lived under +conditions week after week and month after month that it makes us +shudder even to think of now. For months we lived in a perfect inferno! +and do you know what our idea of heaven was then?” + +They said nothing and he went on in a lighter tone. + +“It was just to get back alive and, well, to God’s country and you +girls! to sit for hours, days if we could, where we could look at you +and listen to you and not do a thing but just be happy. I wonder if you +can understand that?” + +“Of course, we can, Will!” cried Betty, impulsively reaching over and +laying a hand on the boy’s arm. “You have earned the right to sit and +be amused, and we’ll do it till you cry aloud for mercy. And you +needn’t tell us a single word about yourselves until you get good and +ready.” + +“You’re a brick, Betty,” said Will warmly, laying his hand over her +little one. “I might have known we could count on you.” + +“By the way,” Roy broke in suddenly, his eye on the basket of eatables +that the girls had prepared for their adventure, “what’s in that +hamper, anyway? If it’s anything to eat, let’s have it.” + +Betty pulled the basket over to her, lifted the cover and passed it +over to the ravenous one. + +“Eat while there is anything left,” she commanded, adding with a +chuckle: “Our adventure seems to be over for to-day, at least.” + +“Adventure?” repeated Frank inquiringly, as he reached for a sandwich. + +“Yes,” said Mollie, adding with a sigh: “And you boys had to come along +just in time to spoil it all.” + + + + +CHAPTER XX. +VERY MUCH ALIVE + + +That is complimentary, I must say,” grinned Will, getting up from his +seat on the porch and going over to join Roy on the railing. “After +being away for months we are told the minute we get back that we’ve +‘spoiled everything.’ “ + +“’Tis rather hard lines,” said Mollie with an answering grin. “But one +must tell the truth, you know.” + +“By the way,” put in Grace curiously, “I know Betty promised that we +wouldn’t ask questions, but there is just one thing I want to know.” + +“Speak, fair damsel,” Roy replied, thinking meanwhile how much prettier +Grace had grown. “We will promise to answer faithfully anything that is +not connected with war.” + +“When did you get in?” asked Grace, “and how did you get here?” + +“We came in yesterday,” answered Roy, helping himself to another +sandwich. “And of course we beat it for headquarters right away.” + +“Yes’m, and I’ll tell you we were a disappointed lot when we found that +you girls had flown,” added Frank ruefully. “We were all set for a +jolly reunion!!” + +“But we wrote you about spending the summer here,” Betty interrupted. +“And we were mourning because you couldn’t be at the lodge with us.” + +“We missed your letters, I guess,” said Will. “We sailed very suddenly, +and there is probably a stack of them piled up there at the old service +station.” + +“We found out where you were all rightie, though,” Roy continued. “So +we took the first train out this morning, debarked at the nearest +station south of here, and proceeded to walk the rest of the way. It +was thus that you came upon us.” + +“You came upon us, you mean,” Amy corrected. “We ought to know well +enough, because you nearly gave us heart failure.” + +Will looked at her as if he wanted to say something but did not quite +dare in public. However, she intercepted the look and with a little +panicky feeling turned her eyes away. + +“I imagine,” said Grace softly, looking up at Will, “that mother wasn’t +glad to see you or anything.” + +“Not at all,” returned Will, a soft light in his eyes as he remembered +the greeting between him and his parents. “I was a little afraid,” he +added soberly, “that mother and dad wouldn’t like my skipping off like +this the day after I’d got home. But they seemed to understand all +right.” + +“Gee, but this is great,” said Frank, stretching contentedly and +looking about the group with happy eyes. “I wonder how many times we’ve +seen this all in our dreams, fellows. Only we couldn’t have imagined it +half as perfect as this.” + +“It sure is like old times,” agreed Roy, adding with a smile as he +turned to their chaperon, who had been quietly enjoying herself: “We +even have Mrs. Irving with us. Gee, it’s just like that summer at Pine +Island! All the old crowd together!!” + +“Except Allen,” put in Will, frowning a little. “Gosh, it didn’t seem +right at all to leave the old fellow behind. You wouldn’t know him,” he +added, his face flushing enthusiastically, “I’ve never seen a fellow +change the way Allen has! for the better.” + +“Was there so much room for improvement?” asked Betty demurely, and +they looked at her laughingly. + +“Nobody would expect you to think so,” Will replied, his eyes +twinkling, then added seriously: + +“Of course we all know that Allen was the finest kind even before the +war, but, gosh! I wish you could just see how all the fellows love him +and how even his superior officers consult him and seem to value his +judgment. I tell you, I’m glad to have him call me his friend.” + +“You bet!” exclaimed Frank, nodding soberly. + +“Allen sure has come out strong,” Roy agreed; and at this glowing +praise of the only absent one Betty felt her heart swell with pride and +she wanted to hug the boys for being so loyal to her Allen. Also, deep +down in her heart, she began to feel a little trepidation about the +homecoming of this hero. Who was she, Betty Nelson, to call this +glorious Lieutenant Allen Washburn, _her_ Allen? + +So engrossed was she in these and other absorbing thoughts that it was +some time before she noticed that the conversation had taken another +turn. Also that the boys and girls were becoming rather excited. + +“I didn’t say it was a ghost,” Mollie was declaring hotly. “In fact I +have always thought of a ghost as wearing a sheet and pillow case sort +of garb. And this thing certainly wore nothing of the sort.” + +“Tell us all about it,” said Frank, leaning forward. + +“Yes, it sounds as if it might prove interesting,” added Roy. + +So the girls told them all about it from that first night when they had +been so badly frightened by the “Thing” that had hidden in the shadows +of the porch. The boys listened with scarcely an interruption till they +were through. + +“Gosh, I don’t like the sound of that at all,” said Will, when they had +finished. “It isn’t a pleasant thing to have a lunatic roaming the +woods while you girls are all alone here in this place. Could you +possibly put us up for the night?” he asked, turning abruptly to Mrs. +Irving. + +“Why, there isn’t any room,” said the latter slowly, frowning a little +as she tried to think up ways and means. “There aren’t any extra beds, +but there is a large settee in the living room and a couple of you can +sleep on that. I found plenty of blankets stowed away.” + +“Fine!” cried Will enthusiastically. “Just the very thing! One of us +can take turns sleeping on the floor. It won’t be the first time we’ve +slept on harder things.” + +“Goodness, any one would think they were going to stay a month,” said +Mollie in dismay. + +“No, we won’t stay a month,” Will went on. “But we are going to stay +until we find out what it is that has been bothering you girls. Do you +suppose we would leave you unprotected here? I should say not!” Grace +noticed that when he said this his glance was first for Amy, and, +afterward, for her. + +So it was settled. Mrs. Irving went inside to see about getting lunch. +“Though how the boys can find any room for lunch after eating all those +sandwiches, I don’t know,” Amy had commented wonderingly. + +Mrs. Irving had refused absolutely to let any of the girls even so much +as help with this lunch, saying they must stay outside and visit with +the boys on this momentous occasion. + +“Since you are convinced that this thing is not a ghost,” Will went on, +while appetizing odors began to waft toward them from the open kitchen +windows, “we will take it for granted that it is a man, and a man who +has, presumably, lost his mind.” + +“A crazy man,” murmured Betty. “Worse and worse! and more of it.” + +“Girls,” cried Amy, jumping suddenly to her feet, “I have an idea.” + +“Impossible!” drawled Grace. + +“Why,” went on Amy, unheeding Grace’s remark and growing visibly more +excited as she talked, “you know, Professor Dempsey went crazy! or at +least we supposed he did! and ran away into the woods. Now since Will +thinks this man is crazy too, why, they may be one and the same + +“Amy!” cried Mollie, her eyes beginning to shine as she realized the +possibility of what the girl had said. “You are a wonder, child! Why +didn’t any of us think of that before?” + +“Because it is rather far-fetched and absurd, I suppose,” said Grace, +the suggestion of a sneer in her voice bringing a quick flush to Amy’s +face. + +“I don’t see that it is so far-fetched! or absurd either,” Betty broke +in quietly. “Remember, we are only a little over fifty miles from the +place where Professor Dempsey had his cottage, and it would be easy for +him to wander this far.” + +Here Frank broke in on behalf of the very much mystified boys. + +“Before you stage the hair-pulling contest,” he said, “would you mind +telling us poor benighted males what it is all about?” + +So the girls told them all about Professor Dempsey, and while they +talked the boys became more and more excited. Finally Will could keep +quiet no longer. + +“Say,” he asked, leaning forward, “did the two sons of the cracked old +professor happen to bear the names of James and Arnold?” + +The girls gaped at him, “Yes,” they breathed. “How did you know?” + +“Because,” said Will, “those very same fellows were in our regiment. In +fact, I was beside Arnold when he was wounded in that last engagement. +Strange thing that James was wounded at the same time.” + +“Wounded?” repeated Betty, who like all the girls was feeling rather +dazed at this new development. “Then they weren’t killed?” + +“Not a bit of it,” Will replied vehemently. “Why, even their wounds +weren’t serious enough to lay them up for long. The last I heard of +them they were coming over on a hospital ship and expected to be here +almost as soon as we were. For all I know, they may have landed by this +time.” + +“Oh,” said Amy, still too dazed to take it all in. “Then all this time +we have thought of them as dead, they were alive!” + +“Very much so,” said Will, with a grin, “and probably kicking too! just +like us!” + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. +OUT OF THE DARK + + +It took the Outdoor Girls a moment or two to digest this rather +startling information. And when it did finally seep into their +consciousness, their first feeling was one of joy for the poor +professor whose sons would be restored to him after all. + +But quick on the heels of this thought came another. How could the sons +be restored to their father, if the father were nowhere to be found? + +“You say the old chap skipped out, decamped?” Will broke in on their +meditations. “That sort of complicates matters, doesn’t it?” + +“Rather,” agreed Roy, frowning. “It is going to be rather tough on +those fellows, James and Arnold, to come home, expecting to be welcomed +by a rejoicing parent, only to find said parent missing.” + +“Humph, that’s the first time I’ve thought of the boys’ side of it,” +said Betty. “We have been too much occupied right along in being sorry +for the poor old professor.” + +“Well, if you had known the boys, you would have thought of their side +of it all right,” said Frank seriously, “They are mighty good scouts, +both of them, and they think a lot of their old dad, too, I can tell +you. Why, many a night”! his voice took on a reminiscent note and the +girls felt once again that they were privileged in having a brief +glimpse of the life “over there”! “when a surprise attack was scheduled +for the next morning or we were waiting for some such manoeuvre from +the enemy, Arnold would talk to me about his dad! that was the time +when fellows got chummy, you know, and got to know each other’s souls! +and once he gave me a note for the old chap and asked me to deliver it +if I came through and he didn’t. I think I have it about me somewhere.” +He fumbled about in his pockets while the girls waited silently. + +Presently he drew forth a little slip of paper, muddy and worn and +dust-stained from being carried about for a long, long time in a khaki +pocket. + +“He told me,” Frank went on, still holding the slip of paper in his +hand but making no attempt to open it, “that his mother had died when +he and Jimmy were young and that since then his dad had been father and +mother both to them and that he had worked himself nearly to death to +give them a chance for the college education that he had had. He said +that the one thing that had always threatened to floor the old boy was +when either he or Jim got mad and threatened to give up school and go +to work so as to take some of the load from the old pater’s shoulders. +So they were glad, actually glad, when the war came along and gave them +a chance not only to serve their country and earn some money! even if +it was only a miserable pittance! so that they could send some home to +their dad and feel that they had stopped being a drag upon him. He used +to tell me,” Frank went on, for the spell of those old thrilling times +was strong upon him again, “with tears in his eyes! and I’ll tell you +there was no braver man in all the American army than Arnold Dempsey; +he was good for two Boches any day! that it would be the happiest +moment of his life when he got back to the old country and announced to +his proud and admiring pater that he had come home to turn the tables; +that Jimmy and he were going to make the old fellow take a rest and do +the work themselves for a change. And he asked me, in case anything did +happen to him and Jimmy, to be kind to his dad and try to make up to +him as much as I could. I gave him my promise that night.” Frank looked +about the intent group of faces soberly, “In case the boys had been +killed, I would have regarded it as a sacred trust.” + +Something swelled in the girls’ hearts and for a moment they could not +speak. Then, + +“I guess we all love you for that, Frank,” said Betty simply. With a +little nod of her head toward the slip of paper he still held, she +added: “What about that! now?” + +Frank looked down at the slip of paper for a moment uncomprehendingly, +for his thoughts had been far away. + +“Oh, the note,” he said. “Why, that was only to be given to his father +in case anything happened, you know. But now that the boys are coming +back to him themselves, I suppose the thing is worthless.” He made a +motion as though to tear the note up, but Grace stopped him with a +quick exclamation. + +“Don’t!” she cried, adding as they all looked at her in surprise: +“Don’t you suppose there might be something in it that would give us a +clue to the professor’s whereabouts now, perhaps? Don’t you think it +would be wise to look, at least?” + +But Frank slowly shook his head. + +“Arnold Dempsey’s message, written to his dad when he thought he might +never see him again, doesn’t belong to us,” he said decidedly. “The +note was given in trust to me, and since I can’t deliver it! or at +least, since there is now no reason for delivering it! the only thing I +can honorably do is this.” And very slowly and very decidedly he tore +the note into little bits and threw the pieces among the wild roses at +the side of the porch. + +It was the first real glimpse the girls had had of the man who had come +back in the old Frank’s place, and with all their hearts they admired +him. + +Even Grace, who had seemed inclined to pout a little, could not but +admit that the action was splendid in him. + +“And now,” said Will, “after all that, the boys will come back to find +their dad gone, heaven knows where, dead perhaps!!” + +“Oh, I wonder if there isn’t some way we can follow him and find out at +least what has happened to him?” broke in Amy earnestly. “It seems +dreadful just to sit back and not even try to help,” + +“I don’t see what we can do,” said Will judicially, just as Mrs. Irving +appeared in the doorway. “We will postpone the discussion for the +present anyway,” he added, in a different tone, rising with alacrity +and dusting off his uniform. “Something tells me that lunch is waiting. +Come, let us eat!” + +So ended all serious discussion for that day, and the girls and boys +gave themselves up to the delight of being together again. Only Betty’s +thoughts seemed to wander at times and she had to be brought back by +sundry mischievous and significant remarks from the young folks. + +Worn out with fun, the young soldiers slept like tops that night in +their improvised beds and rose the next morning professing to feel like +“two year olds” and ready for whatever new fun and adventure the day +might bring them. + +And for the first night since their arrival at Wild Rose Lodge the +girls slept soundly without being bothered by the haunting fear of the +“Thing”! at least, so they said. + +That day they wandered through the woods together, searching for some +sign of their strange visitor, but found not a trace of anything +unusual and alarming. + +“I’m really beginning to believe that you girls have let your +imaginations run away from you,” Will remarked, when they sat about the +living-room after a satisfying supper, just luxuriating in idleness. + +“Or perhaps the gentleman has been frightened away by our coming,” Roy +suggested in a superior tone that made the girls want to throw +something at him. “Perhaps he is afraid of the uniform of the U. S. A.” + +“He may be afraid of the uniform,” sniffed Mollie scathingly. “But he +certainly couldn’t be afraid of _you_.” + +“Now you don’t mean that, you know you don’t,” laughed Roy, drawing her +down beside him on the couch and holding her there with an iron grip of +his brown fingers. “Say you didn’t, like a pretty little girl, and I’ll +let you go.” + +“I won’t say any such!!” Mollie began, then suddenly her gaze stiffened +into such a stare of wonder, and even alarm, that it made the girls +fairly hold their breath. + +“Mollie, what is it?” demanded Roy commandingly. + +“Over there!” she shrieked. “At the window, Roy! Do you see it?” + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. +TRAGEDY + + +There, pressed so close to the pane of the window that the nose was +flattened grotesquely, eyes wildly staring, hair disheveled, was a face +that even in that tense moment the girls recognized! the face of +Professor Dempsey! + +It took the boys perhaps a second to fling out of the room, jump down +the steps of the porch and circle the house to the window. + +And yet, in that second, the man was gone, leaving no more trace than +if the earth had opened and swallowed him up. For almost an hour the +boys searched the woods about the lodge, refusing to allow the girls to +accompany them, saying truly that they would hamper them more than they +could help. + +“You see, I was right after all,” Amy stated for at least the tenth +time. “From the moment the idea came to me, I felt almost sure that +poor crazy Professor Dempsey was this thing that was frightening us.” + +“But did you ever see such an awful face in all your life?” said +Mollie, shuddering at the recollection. + +“And the look in his eyes as he stared at Roy,” Grace added in a hushed +voice. “I shouldn’t wonder if! if we hadn’t been there, he might have +murdered him.” + +“Oh, Gracie, don’t!” Amy clapped her hands to her ears. “We are +frightened enough without having you say things like that.” + +“Suppose,” said Mollie, in a sepulchral voice, “he should come back +before the boys do?” + +“That’s just what I was thinking,” said a quiet voice behind them, and +they jumped and cried out in alarm. The next moment they saw it was +Mrs. Irving and felt ashamed of themselves. + +“I think you had all better come into the house till the boys come +back,” their chaperon continued. “I shall feel safer when we are behind +locked doors.” + +The girls shivered, but Mollie protested. + +“Suppose anything should happen to the boys?” she asked, but here Mrs. +Irving chose to exercise her authority. + +“We will talk about that when we are inside the house,” she said very +firmly, and Mollie had nothing else to do but obey. + +The girls did breathe a little more freely when the door was locked, +but they found themselves wishing even more ardently that the boys +would come back. + +The window against which the horribly distorted face had been pressed +seemed to hold a peculiar fascination for the Outdoor Girls and they +found themselves unable to turn their eyes away from it. + +“Oh, I wish the boys would come back,” moaned Amy, after a few moments +more had passed in strained silence. “If anything should happen to them +I’m sure I would die.” + +“Nonsense, Amy,” snapped Mollie. “What could one little mad old man do +to three big husky soldier boys?” + +The words had hardly been spoken when the sound of voices could be +heard coming toward the house, and a moment later the boys themselves +stamped up on the porch. + +“Not a sign of him,” said Will in response to the girls’ eager +questions. “I don’t see how he could have disappeared so completely in +such a short time.” + +“We all took different directions, too,” said Roy, taking a seat on the +couch again and staring fascinatedly at the window. “If all the rest of +you hadn’t seen it too, I should certainly think I had been mistaken.” + +“You weren’t mistaken,” Mollie assured him grimly. “I can vouch for +that.” + +“Didn’t one of you girls call out something about Professor Dempsey?” +asked Frank, abruptly. + +“Yes,” said Betty, going over to him, and putting an excited hand on +his shoulder. “That’s the thing that startled us so, Frank. We are sure +it was Professor Dempsey’s face. But, still, it was so wild and +distorted that we really wouldn’t feel like contradicting any one who +told us it wasn’t he,” she added slowly. “Do you understand what I +mean?” + +Frank nodded, and Will broke in excitedly: + +“But the poor old codger’s looks would naturally be changed,” he +argued, “after he had spent all this time wandering around the woods! +out of his mind at that. I am inclined to think that the girls are +right and that it is really Professor Dempsey.” + +“If only I could have gotten my hands on him!” mourned Roy. “We +wouldn’t have been in any further doubt.” + +“There is really no doubt, boys. We just want! oh, I don’t know what we +want!” exclaimed Mollie, who was excited and unstrung and nervous. + +Soon after that they all went to bed, having first decided to make a +more thorough search of the woods in the morning and take the postponed +trip to the head of the falls. + +They slept fitfully and were glad when at last they woke to find the +sun shining in their windows. For once Amy and Grace did not have to be +coaxed or wheedled or forced to get out of bed, but dressed quickly and +were ready almost as soon as Mollie and Betty. + +“You know I rather hated to leave the boys in that room last night,” +Betty confided to Grace, stopping before the mirror for one final +little pat of her hair. “I was afraid that! he! might come back!!” + +“Oh, Betty, what a horrid idea,” said Grace. “Come on, let’s see if +everything is all right.” + +But they found that their fears had been wasted. The boys were in the +kitchen hilariously helping Mrs. Irving get the breakfast to the +accompaniment of continual good-natured scolding from that flushed and +perspiring lady. It was Amy’s day to get the breakfast, but, as usual, +she was late in getting down. + +“You make a good deal more trouble than you mend,” Mrs. Irving was +saying as the girls came to the door, then added relievedly as she +caught sight of them: “For goodness’ sake, get these young ruffians out +of the kitchen, my dears, or we’ll not have any breakfast until noon.” + +So amid much fun and nonsense the boys were shooed forth into the +bright sunshine of the out-of-doors, and all the girls fell to to help +their chaperon, not wanting to put the extra work the boys made +entirely on Amy’s shoulders. + +Breakfast was good, but they ate hurriedly, anxious to get at the +business of the day. They wanted more than they had wanted anything in +a very long time to find Professor Dempsey and tell him the joyful news +that his sons were alive. + +“I’m horribly afraid of him at night,” Mollie confided, as they started +out at last, “but in the daytime I am only sorry for him.” + +“Do you think we shall find him, Will?” asked Amy, with a helpless +little look into Will’s self-reliant young face. “I do want to so +much.” + +Will looked down at her with an expression that said to any one who +would read it: “I would give you anything in the world you asked for, +if I only could.” + +But all he really said was: “That remains to be seen. He proved himself +a rather slippery customer last night, and the chase we put up may only +serve to put him on his guard. Crazy people are tricky, you know.” + +“Goodness,” said Grace, looking fearfully over her shoulder. “There is +nothing in the world I am so afraid of as a crazy person.” + +“That’s why she has always been so afraid of me, I suppose,” grinned +Mollie. + +“Afraid of you,” said Grace, her eyebrows raised in mock surprise. +“Little shrimp! who are you?” + +There followed a characteristic scene that somewhat lifted the +oppression they had all been feeling, and it was not till they had +nearly reached the river at the head of the falls that they became +serious again. + +“It was right about here,” said Betty soberly, “that we saw him the +night that he started to jump into the river! or I suppose it was the +same one,” she added. + +“Let us hope so,” said Mollie fervently. “I wouldn’t like to think that +there were two lunatics wandering round these woods. One is quite +enough.” + +As they came closer to the river they became more and more conscious +that they were not alone, that some one, hidden in the bushes, was +craftily watching them. + +So strong did this feeling finally become that once the boys separated, +thrashing the bushes in all directions. They did not find anything, and +finally continued along the path, a little ashamed of what they thought +was an attack of nerves. + +“Phew, this is getting a little hot for me,” said Frank, running his +hand through his shock of fair hair. “I don’t mind fighting anything in +the open!” He left the sentence unfinished, for at that moment they +broke through the bushes at the river’s edge upon a sight that struck +them speechless. + +Not twenty yards down the bank stood a ragged scarecrow of a man, so +unkempt, so wild, so abandoned in its crouching attitude as to appear +hardly human. + +Before they had time to utter a word or move a muscle, the man threw up +his arms in a gesture indescribably terrible, and with a hoarse shout +disappeared in the swirling waters. + +It all happened so quickly that for the space of a dazed second they +wondered if they had really seen it at all. Then they recovered their +powers of motion and rushed to the spot where the man had disappeared. + +Though they leaned far out over the water they could see no sign of +anything human, and with a creeping feeling of horror they began to +speak of what had probably already happened. + +“It’s certain death down there,” Roy muttered, as though to himself, +gazing into the rushing river. “The poor old fellow! He has got his, I +guess.” + +“Look here, fellows, here are some clothes,” Will called out suddenly, +and the boys rushed over to where he stood, a tattered old hat and an +equally ragged coat in his hands. “Maybe there will be something in the +jacket to tell us where the poor fellow has been staying and what he +has been up to.” + +They searched through the coat and finally pulled out a wallet. + +“Now if it only has some writing in it,” said Mollie breathlessly. + +There was a card, and the card bore the words which they expected, yet +dreaded, Arnold Dempsey, Ph. D. But there was nothing else, and +suddenly tears dimmed their eyes and they had to turn away. + +“It will be mighty hard on Jimmy and Arnold,” muttered Roy, gazing +somberly at the fast-flowing river. “To have their dad go that way! +They’ll take it mighty hard! those boys.” + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. +A MOONLIGHT APPARITION + + +“Let’s look around a little anyway,” Betty suggested. “He may possibly +have been swept up on the shore farther down the river.” + +“If such a thing were possible he would probably be dead anyway,” Frank +protested, but the girls paid no attention to him. The mere suggestion +that the professor might still be alive and in need of assistance was +enough for them, and they set about feverishly to scour the woods on +both sides of the river and for a considerable distance down its +shores. + +After an hour of vain search, however, they were forced to conclude +that the old man was indeed dead, and so reluctantly and with heavy +hearts they turned their steps back toward Wild Rose Lodge. + +They talked very little on the way back, for they were too occupied +with their own gloomy thoughts. Only once Betty spoke what was in the +minds of all of them. + +“It seems such a terrible waste! such a pity,” she said. “Just a +mistake on the part of the Government to have resulted in this tragedy. +Arnold and James Dempsey coming home, safe and well and hopeful to find +their father! dead!” + +The boys stayed on for several days at the lodge, and for all the +Outdoor Girls but Betty their stay was unmitigated joy. But in the +heart of the Little Captain, hard as she tried to fight against it, was +a little sense of injury to think that her chums had got their boys +back and she had been denied hers. + +To be sure, all the boys made much of her and petted her! for there was +not one of them who had not competed for her favor in the old days +before Allen had shouldered them all out! but no amount of attention +from any one else could make up for one little word from Allen. + +At each sunrise she awoke thrilling with the thought that perhaps Allen +would be with her before the sun went down. And as each evening came +without him she sighed and thought, “Perhaps to-morrow.” + +Since the tragic death of Professor Dempsey they felt that they need no +longer fear the woods, although they never ventured near the river or +the falls without a heartache and the fervent wish that they might have +reached the poor demented man with the glad news of his sons’ safety in +time to avert the tragedy. + +However, they did enjoy their liberty, and took long tramps with the +boys through the woods and picnicked with them beside little unexpected +brooks and streams, quite in the nature of old days. + +Then at last came the day when the boys announced that they would have +to return to town and to the military camp to obtain their formal +discharge from the army. + +“We may surprise you by coming back in ‘civies’ a week or two from +now,” Will laughed, as the girls prepared to spin them to the railroad +station in the cars. “So you had better be prepared for the shock.” + +“Maybe they won’t care for us any more when they see us out of +uniform,” grinned Roy, as he shook hands with Mrs. Irving. “You know +the old saying that a uniform has made many a hero of a bootblack.” + +“Goodness, I hope you aren’t a bootblack,” said Mollie from her car, +where she was “doing things” with the engine. + +“I’m not,” answered Roy, adding with a grin: “Nothing half so honest.” + +Although the girls knew that they were only saying good-bye to the boys +for a few days, the parting was hard just the same, and half an hour +later they watched the train wind serpent-like down the shining track +with a sinking feeling at their hearts. + +“Aren’t we a lot of geese?” said Grace impatiently, as they climbed +back into the cars. “We have done without the boys for a couple of +years, and now when they have just gone as far as Deepdale for a couple +of weeks, we are almost crying about it.” + +“I suppose it is just because we have had so much separation that we +can’t bear any more of it! even a little,” suggested gentle Amy, +feeling as if she had just awakened from a blissful dream. + +“Never mind,” said Mollie, putting an arm about Betty’s waist and +giving it a little squeeze. “Just think how lovely it will be to see +the boys in regular clothes again, and maybe,” with a sly glance at +Betty, “by the time they come back they will have added one to their +number.” + +“Goodness, I hope so!” said Betty, unashamed. + +In spite of some regret at not having the boys, the girls managed to +enjoy themselves in the days that followed. They motored and swam and +fished and hiked, and got as becomingly sunburned and tanned as young +Indians. It was not until two or three days before the boys returned +that anything untoward happened to disturb their peace of mind. + +Then one night the moon came out with such dazzling brilliance that +Betty was seized with a strong desire to be out in it. + +“Let’s go for a moonlight swim,” she suggested excitedly, as they all +stood on the porch of the lodge staring up through the trees to where +the moon shone glitteringly down. “We haven’t done it since we came, +and surely our vacation wouldn’t be complete without one.” + +“Or more,” said Mollie, seconding the plan with enthusiasm, “Come on. +Let’s tell Mrs. Irving where we are going. Maybe she will wish to go +along, but I doubt it.” + +Mollie was right: Mrs. Irving did not wish to go, and the girls rushed +upstairs to don bathing suits in preparation for the lark. + +A few minutes later they were racing like slim young ghosts through the +woods, laughing and calling to each other and entirely abandoned to the +joy of the moment. + +“Race you to the old swimming hole,” Mollie called out, as they neared +the river; and away they all raced in response to the challenge. + +Betty won, in spite of the fact that Mollie had had a short head start, +and the girls, wild in their exuberance, would have lifted her to their +shoulders had not Betty herself laughingly fought them off. + +“I have another challenge,” she cried. “My fresh box of candy to +whoever swims to the other side of the swimming hole first. Are you +on?” + +“We’re on!” yelled Grace enthusiastically, adding: “I’d swim from here +to Jericho for that box of candy, Betty.” + +As a matter of fact, whether it was really the thought of the candy or +whether it was because the other girls were tired from the last spurt, +Grace really did get to the other side of the swimming pool first, and, +pulling herself up on the other bank, dripping and triumphant, demanded +the prize. + +“You surely did win it, and you shall have that box of candy! much as I +hoped to keep it in the family,” laughed Betty, shaking the water from +her eyes and drawing herself up beside her chum. “Goodness, isn’t that +water delicious to-night?” she added, wriggling her toes luxuriously in +the rippling wavelets. “Just cool enough to be refreshing and not cold +enough to chill you!!” She broke off suddenly and sat staring, her eyes +widening and her body tense. + +“Girls,” she said in a queer voice, for Mollie and Amy had also drawn +themselves up on the bank, “have I gone crazy, or what is the matter +with me? Do you see! what! I see! up there?” + +Alarmed, the girls followed the direction of her strained gaze, and +suddenly they seemed to feel themselves congeal with momentary horror. + +Far above them on the bank near the falls and on the other side of the +river, stood the crouched-up, animal-like figure of! the “Thing!” + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. +RECOVERED + + +The sight was almost too much for the girls. What they felt was sheer +animal panic and they wanted to run away! anywhere! just so they put +distance enough between them and that figure on the bank. + +“Sit still,” Betty commanded them, recovering her presence of mind. +“That is Professor Dempsey up there, and if we make any sudden sound we +are sure of frightening him away.” + +“But he was killed! we saw it,” moaned Amy. “That must be his g-ghost.” + +“Don’t be ridiculous,” snapped Mollie, her thoughts working along with +Betty’s “You know you don’t believe in ghosts.” + +“But how!” Amy was beginning when Betty interrupted sharply. + +“Listen,” she said. “I came across an old derelict of a rowboat the +other day when we were exploring the upper river, but I didn’t say +anything to you girls about it because I thought it was too much of a +wreck to bother with. For all I know it isn’t even water tight + +“Betty,” Mollie broke in excitedly, “I see what you mean! We can row +across the upper river to where Professor Dempsey is! Were there oars +in the boat?” she broke off to ask. + +“A couple of old sticks that would serve for oars,” Betty answered. “Of +course it’s taking a big chance!!” + +“Say no more,” cried Mollie, jumping to her feet and wringing out her +bathing suit. “Big chance is our middle name anyway. Lead on, Betty. +Where do we find this craft?” + +“I’m not quite sure that I can find it,” said Betty, leading the way +into the woods, “but it was down this way somewhere. Don’t make any +noise, girls, and let’s hurry, or we won’t get there before he +disappears again.” + +Grace and Amy were now entering into the spirit of the thing, and they +followed at Betty’s heels eagerly, careful not to step on stick or +stone that might betray their presence. + +Luckily Betty managed to stumble directly on the old derelict rowboat +where it lay in ancient helplessness in the concealment of a thick +grove of bushes along the upper reach of the stream. + +“Goody! This is almost too much luck,” cried Betty exultantly. “You get +in the stern, Amy, and Grace in the bow. Mollie and I will do the +rowing.” + +“I only hope the old thing doesn’t take in too much water,” said Amy, +as she and Grace got gingerly into the rickety old craft and Betty and +Mollie pushed it off from the shore. + +“That remains to be seen,” answered the Little Captain as she handed +one of the ancient oars to Mollie. “There is one thing we shall have to +remember, Mollie,” she said, as they pushed clear of the bank and +glided out into the swift water of the river, “and that is to keep far +enough this side of the falls to guard against being swept over it. +Bear hard on your right hand, Mollie honey. It wouldn’t be much fun if +we upset here, you know.” + +“Oh!” gasped Grace, holding fast to the side of the boat and noting +with dismay how plainly the roar of the falls came to them. “I wish we +had another oar, I’d help!” + +“You can help most, Gracie,” cut in the Little Captain briskly, “by +keeping your nerve and helping us to keep ours. Mollie,” she called in +a whisper that carried the length of the boat, “can you see! It! yet?” + +“Yes,” Mollie telegraphed back in the same tense whisper. “It’s got its +back to us, I think.” + +“Good,” said Betty softly, adding as she threw all her weight against +her oar, “now let’s keep still and work.” + +It was queer how they referred to that presence at the head of the +falls as “It.” Some way, in the weird moonlight, under the more than +unusual circumstances, it seemed almost impossible to give the thing a +name. + +“Was it Professor Dempsey?” they kept asking themselves over and over +again. But he had committed suicide. Or at least they had seen him fall +into the river, and they could have vowed that he did not come out +again. They had searched both sides of the river. How could they have +missed him? And yet, if that motionless figure at the head of the falls +was really Professor Dempsey, he must have been washed ashore that day +and evaded them as he had succeeded in evading them so many times +before. + +And all the time the roar of the falls was growing louder and louder in +their ears and they knew that theirs was a race with life and death. + +Could they succeed in reaching the opposite bank before the deadly +current of the river should suck them over the falls; to almost certain +annihilation? + +The answer to the question came a moment later when, without warning, +the prow of the little boat struck on an unexpected projection of the +shore and they came to a standstill. + +“Thank heaven!” said Betty under her breath as Mollie jumped out and +pulled the craft further in to shore. “That was nearly the riskiest +thing you ever did, Betty Nelson.” + +Once on shore again, the girls’ confidence returned and they hurried +silently through the woods toward the spot where they had seen the +figure. Then Betty, who had taken the lead, suddenly motioned to them +to stop. + +She had caught a glimpse through the trees of the man, who resembled +more than ever a scarecrow in his crazy makeshift garments! and at the +sight of him her heart unaccountably skipped a beat. + +Her thoughts had not gone beyond this moment. Strangely enough all her +energy had been concentrated upon reaching the man before he +disappeared. But now that they had succeeded so far she was at a loss +what to do next. + +But at that moment she inadvertently stepped on a dry twig that snapped +sharply under her foot, and at the sound the man had turned fiercely, +like an animal at bay. Then he wheeled about and made as though to flee +for the shelter of the woods. + +In this emergency Betty followed impulse. She ran out into the open, +calling to him wildly that his sons were alive. Not to run away, +because his sons were safe and well. They were coming to him!! + +The pitiful wreck of a man paused in his flight as the import of the +words seemed to sink into his befuddled brain, but he turned upon the +Little Captain a look of ferocious hatred that would have terrified a +less courageous girl than Betty. But her whole heart was in her +mission, and she had utterly forgotten herself. + +“Won’t you please believe me?” she said, advancing toward him, hands +outstretched pleadingly. “I know what I’m talking about. Your sons, +Arnold and Jimmy!!” + +As though the names of his boys had released some cord in his brain, +the man cried out hoarsely: + +“Jimmy and Arnold! my sons, my little boys!” Then, turning fiercely to +Betty, he cried: “You’re not lying to me, are you? Because I’ll throw +you into the river! I’ll cut you into little pieces!” + +As the man advanced menacingly, Grace screamed and Mollie ran forward +with some wild idea of protecting her chum, but Betty waved them back. + +“I’m not lying to you,” she told the crazy man, looking straight into +his glaring eyes. “Your boys were wounded, but not seriously, and they +sailed a few days ago for this country on a hospital ship. They want to +see you more than anything else in the world,” she added, playing on +the sudden softness that had crept into his wild eyes. “And they sent +their love to their dad.” + +At sound of the old loving name all the fight went out of the old man +and he sank to his knees on the grass, sobbing horribly. + +They let him alone for a moment, then Betty motioned to Mollie, and +together they lifted him to his feet. The sight of his tear-stained, +unkempt old face, creased and lined with suffering, but with the +wildness gone out of the eyes, stirred a profound pity in the girls and +they wished more than anything in the world to make him happy again. + +“We are going to take you home, Professor Dempsey,” Betty told him +soothingly, as with Mollie’s help she half led, half carried, him +through the woods toward the spot where they had left the boat, Amy and +Grace following awed and silent behind them. “And as soon as your boys +reach home we will bring them to you. Be careful of this big rock. Ah, +here’s the boat.” And talking all the time, softly and soothingly as +one would to a child, Betty at last succeeded in seating the derelict +old man in the equally derelict old boat. + +The girls tumbled in after him, and with a prayer in her heart Betty +pushed off from shore. + +That ride back across the river was as weird and unreal as any +nightmare the girls had ever lived through. Their queer passenger, +seeming the most unreal of all, was quiet for the most part but +occasionally he would sit up and look about him wildly and could only +be soothed back to reason by Betty’s sweet voice telling him of his +boys! Jimmy and Arnold. + +Somehow they reached the opposite shore, and, after pulling the boat up +among the bushes once more, they started back, the old man with them, +to Wild Rose Lodge. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. +THE OLD CROWD AGAIN + + +Mrs. Irving, who had been worried by their prolonged absence, met the +girls at the door as they stumbled with the almost exhausted old man up +the steps of the porch. + +At sight of the latter she grew deathly pale, and leaned against the +door for support. She felt that all the world was growing black!! + +“Oh, please, please don’t faint!” she heard Betty’s young voice calling +to her desperately as it seemed from a long distance. “We’ve depended +upon you to help us.” + +With a great effort she fought off the dizziness and drew herself away +from Betty’s supporting arm. + +“It’s all right,” she said dazedly, “The shock, I guess. Betty what! +who! is that!!” + +“Oh, please don’t ask any questions now,” Betty begged feverishly. +“Just help us, and we will tell you all about it later. This is +Professor Dempsey,” she added, turning to the broken old man who stood +staring at them uncomprehendingly. “He can have Mollie’s and my room, +can’t he, Mrs. Irving? and we will bunk somewhere else.” + +Mrs. Irving nodded automatically, still too dazed by the suddenness of +the thing even to think, and they helped the old man into Betty’s room +and laid him on the bed. The tired, ragged, unkempt old head had hardly +touched the pillow before its owner had sunk into a heavy sleep. + +For a moment the girls were startled, for it almost seemed as though he +were dead, but Betty put her hand on the ragged old shirt above the +heart and found that the action was strong and regular. + +“Perhaps it is the very best thing that could happen to him,” she said +softly, and, laying a light cover over him, tip-toed from the room, +followed quietly by Mrs. Irving and the other girls. + +Once in the other room, with the need for action over, the girls felt +weak and spent, and it was only then that they realized that they had +been through a terrible ordeal. + +In broken sentences they told Mrs. Irving all that had happened and as +she listened she grew more and more appalled at the risk they had run +and the danger they had gone through. + +“Girls, girls,” she cried when they had finished, “I was half wild +about you as it was. But if I had known the truth I think I should have +gone crazy. Just the same,” she added and her eyes shone with pride in +them, “it was a glorious thing for you to do! an unselfish, wonderfully +courageous thing. I’m proud of you!” + +In spite of the fact that they were tired out, the girls insisted upon +standing watch and watch that night. They felt that some one should be +with Professor Dempsey all the time in case he should wake in the night +with his old madness upon him. + +It was the longest night any of them had ever spent, and the morning +dawned upon a hollow-eyed, worn-out set of Outdoor Girls. + +“I never,” said Betty, looking around at her white-faced chums wearily, +“spent such a terrible night in my life. How is the patient?” she +added, taking up the subject that had not left their minds for a +minute. “Who was in there last?” + +“I,” said Grace, brushing out her hair, listlessly. “He is still +asleep.” + +That report continued good all morning, and it was almost noon before +the ragged, unbelievably unkempt old man on the bed opened his eyes. + +The girls had been looking forward to, yet dreading, this minute. It +had been decided that only one of them should be in the room with him +when he awoke, but the rest were hovering close to the door ready to +give assistance if it should become necessary. + +But they need not have worried. The magic of his long sleep, together +with the glad news he had heard the night before, seemed to have +transformed the man overnight to his old gentle self. + +To be sure, he was amazed at his strange surroundings, and looked +uncomprehendingly into Betty’s face is she bent compassionately over +him. But all he said was: + +“I declare, this is all very strange, young lady! very strange. Would +you mind! er! telling me where I am?” + +At the tone, even more than the words, the girls felt a wild desire to +shout aloud their relief. For the tone was the same, gentle, polite one +that they remembered hearing that day when the little man had +entertained them in his cabin in the woods. + +Then Betty, as gently as she knew how, told him a little of what had +happened to him, and the girls could see by the surprise on his face +that he had no recollection whatever of the matters of which she was +speaking. + +“I declare it is most strange! most strange,” he declared when she had +finished, adding as he looked down and plucked distastefully at his +tattered shirt: “And this is the result of my! er! temporary +aberration, is it? Ah, but I remember,” he sat up suddenly, a gleam of +fear in his eyes. “It was when I read of the death of my boys. +Something snapped in my brain, I think. You say”! he turned to Betty, +grasping her hand imploringly! “you say that my sons are well! that +they are coming to me?” + +“Yes,” said Betty soothingly, pressing him back upon the pillow. “They +are well and safe and will be with you soon! in a few days, perhaps.” + +“Ah,” said the little man, submitting to Betty’s touch, a happy smile +on his lips, “that is good. That is very! very! good!” and with a sigh +like a tired child’s, he fell asleep again! + +“Did you hear what he said?” whispered Betty, her eyes shining as she +tip-toed from the room, closed the door softly behind her and faced her +awed and incredulous chums. “He’s well, girls. He’s completely sane +again.” + +“It’s a miracle,” said Mollie breathlessly. + +And so it came to pass that some little time later four good-looking +young fellows, recently in the service of the greatest country on the +earth, and one of them still wearing his regimentals, saw a rather +unexpected sight as they swung down the path toward Wild Rose Lodge. + +On the porch sat an elderly, contented looking man, clad in garments +that would easily have accommodated two men of his size! garments +belonging to Mollie’s Uncle John, and seated about him in attitudes of +lazy comfort were four young girls. + +These young girls who were, at least from the standpoint of the four +young men, exceedingly good to look upon, were engaged in doing some +sort of fancy work. All but one of them, that is; for the fourth, a +girl with wavy brown hair and bright brown eyes, pink cheeks, and a +dream of a mouth, was reading to the elderly man who sat in the chair +of state. + +“Gee, Allen,” whispered one of the tall youths to the one who still +wore the uniform of his country’s service, “I feel as though we were +crabbing your act. Can’t we fellows do the disappearing act!!” + +But just at the moment the girl with the brown eyes and the pink cheeks +looked up, gave one little startled cry, and dropped the book to the +porch. + +The other girls looked up and then followed a scene that very nearly +made the temporarily forgotten and neglected old man on the porch drop +out of his chair in surprise. + +“Allen!” screamed the girls, all except the brown-haired, pink-cheeked +one, who, for some unaccountable reason hung back behind the others. +“You perfect angel!” + +“Why didn’t you let us know you were coming so that we could have been +prepared?” + +“Oh, isn’t your uniform lovely!” + +“And look at the dressed-up leggings!” + +These and various other exclamations like them, coupled to the fact +that all the girls, except the one that he wanted to most, had kissed +him, rather overwhelmed young Lieutenant Washburn and took his breath +away. + +His three companions, however, finding themselves neglected and out in +the cold, interfered at this point and saved his life. + +“Betty, what are you hiding away back there for?” cried Mollie to the +Little Captain, whose cheeks were pinker than ever and whose eyes were +shining very brightly with a sort of mixture of joy and fright. “Don’t +you know Allen in his uniform?” + +“Aren’t you going to kiss him?” chimed in Grace wickedly. + +“We all did,” added Amy. + +But Betty had no intention of kissing Allen, although he begged her to +with his laughing eyes and she continued backing into the doorway, +until Mrs. Irving, coming up behind her, caught her up and pushed her +out upon the porch again. + +However, the chaperon monopolized Allen for a few minutes and gave +Betty time to catch her breath. She found Mollie introducing Professor +Dempsey to the astonished boys. These young soldiers wanted to ask a +hundred questions, but, catching a warning look from Betty, decided to +wait till later, when the little man himself was not present. + +Frank, who was perhaps more glad than any of them to see the father of +his chums alive and well, settled himself near the man and began to +pour into his starved and eager ears news of his sons and tales of +adventures in which they had figured. + +And while Betty was still smiling in sympathy with the look of absolute +happiness on Professor Dempsey’s face, Allen dragged himself away from +the group of his admirers and came over to her. + +Boldly he pulled her hand through his arm and led her past the laughing +boys and girls, down the steps, and along the path that led into the +woods. + +“Be back in time for supper,” Will called after them. “Something tells +me we are going to have some feed.” + +“Oh, don’t bother them,” they heard Mollie’s voice in laughing reproof. +“Remember, you were young yourself, once!” + +“And now,” said Allen, when they had gone just far enough for the trees +and bushes to screen them from the view of the people on the porch, “I +want you to look at me, Betty. You haven’t yet, you know.” + +“I c-can’t,” said Betty in a muffled voice. “I guess!” she added +whimsically, “I guess I’m a little afraid of you, Lieutenant Allen +Washburn.” + +With a glad laugh Allen put his strong young arms about her. + +“Do you think you can keep on all your life being afraid of me! like +that?” he asked. “Little Betty?” + +And Betty, with the radiant joy of all youth in her heart, slowly +nodded. + + +And what glorious days followed! The young folks never tired of their +tramps through the woods and walks in the vicinity of Moonlight Falls. +They gave themselves up to a good time and had it in full measure. + +“Gee, what an improvement over the trenches in France!” remarked Will +one day. “No more wars for me!” + +“So say we all of us!” sang out Frank. + +When they had to return to Deepdale the boys took Professor Dempsey +with them and Frank saw to it that the old man was made comfortable +until his wounded sons returned to him. Both of the hurt soldiers were +recovering, and the reunion of father and sons was most affecting. + +“Now for a final swim below the falls!” cried Mollie one day, when the +outing was coming to an end, + +“We ought to have a good time! now there is no ghost to disturb us,” +put in Amy. + +“A chocolate for the first one to enter the water!” exclaimed Grace, +waving her ever-present candy box in the air. + +“That settles it! I’m off!” burst out Betty; and then all made a wild +dash for the swimming pool. And here let us say good-bye to the Outdoor +Girls. + +THE END + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT WILD ROSE LODGE *** + +***** This file should be named 4988-0.txt or 4988-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/4/9/8/4988/ + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law 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. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part +of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +concept and trademark. 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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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you +are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the +country where you are located before using this eBook. +</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The Outdoor Girls at Wild Rose Lodge</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Laura Lee Hope</div> +<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>Release Date: April 7, 2002 [eBook #4988]<br /> +[Most recently updated: March 27, 2021]</div> +<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> +<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Jim Weiler, xooqi.com</div> +<div style='margin-top:2em;margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT WILD ROSE LODGE ***</div> + +<h1>The Outdoor Girls at Wild Rose Lodge </h1> + +<h4>or</h4> + +<h3>The Hermit of Moonlight Falls</h3> + +<h2 class="no-break">by Laura Lee Hope</h2> + +<h4>1921</h4> + +<hr /> + +<h2>Contents</h2> + +<table summary="" style=""> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap01">CHAPTER I. JUST FUN</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap02">CHAPTER II. THE FALLING TREE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap03">CHAPTER III. THE QUEER LITTLE MAN</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap04">CHAPTER IV. GOOD NEWS</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap05">CHAPTER V. BETTY TAKES A DARE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap06">CHAPTER VI. NEARLY WRECKED</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap07">CHAPTER VII. BAD TIDINGS CONFIRMED</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap08">CHAPTER VIII. PREMONITIONS</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap09">CHAPTER IX. A VISITOR</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap10">CHAPTER X. HURRAH FOR ALLEN</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap11">CHAPTER XI. THE HOLD-UP</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap12">CHAPTER XII. SHEEP!</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap13">CHAPTER XIII. THE ENEMY ROUTED</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap14">CHAPTER XIV. NOTHING HUMAN</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap15">CHAPTER XV. WILD ROSES</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap16">CHAPTER XVI. THE WHIRLPOOL</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap17">CHAPTER XVII. THE THING</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap18">CHAPTER XVIII. SURPRISED</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap19">CHAPTER XIX. LIKE OLD TIMES</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap20">CHAPTER XX. VERY MUCH ALIVE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap21">CHAPTER XXI. OUT OF THE DARK</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap22">CHAPTER XXII. TRAGEDY</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap23">CHAPTER XXIII. A MOONLIGHT APPARITION</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap24">CHAPTER XXIV. RECOVERED</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap25">CHAPTER XXV. THE OLD CROWD AGAIN</a></td> +</tr> + +</table> + +<hr /> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap01"></a>CHAPTER I.<br/> +JUST FUN</h2> + +<p> +“Did you ever see a more wonderful day?” +</p> + +<p> +The four Outdoor Girls, in Mollie Billette’s touring car and with Mollie +herself at the wheel, were at the present moment rushing wildly over a dusty +country road at the rate of thirty miles an hour. +</p> + +<p> +Grace Ford was sitting in front with Mollie, while Betty Nelson and Amy +Blackford “sprawled,” to use Mollie’s sarcastic and slightly +exaggerated description, “all over the tonneau.” +</p> + +<p> +“You look as if you had never done a real day’s work in your +life,” said Mollie, with a disapproving glance over her shoulder at the +girls in the tonneau. +</p> + +<p> +“We never have,” returned quiet Amy, with a grin. +</p> + +<p> +“And we are proud of it,” added Betty, as she defiantly settled her +feet still more comfortably on the foot rail. “Why should we be energetic +when it is so much easier to be lazy?” +</p> + +<p> +“There the proper spirit speaks,” applauded Grace Ford from the +front. “I think I shall have to change places with you, Betty. It’s +far too exciting up here with Mollie. She insists upon staging near collisions +every few feet! thus keeping me awake!” +</p> + +<p> +“Great heavens!” cried Mollie, pressing an impatient foot upon the +accelerator to which the great car responded with an eager purring, “did +any one ever give us the mistaken title of Outdoor Girls, I wonder? They should +have called us the Rip Van Winkle club, instead.” +</p> + +<p> +“Now she’s getting sour-castic,” commented Grace lazily. +“Have some candy, honey, and sweeten up.” +</p> + +<p> +She passed the ever-present box of delicacies over to Mollie, to which overture +the young driver responded with so indignant a stare that Grace quickly +withdrew the box, tucked it behind her, and strove to look unconscious. +</p> + +<p> +“Please, ma’am, I didn’t mean to do it,” she said +meekly. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, don’t do it again, that’s all,” returned Mollie, +uncompromisingly, her eyes once more on the road ahead. “I’ve eaten +so many chocolates this week that I’ve had indigestion and mother +threatened to cut down my allowance.” +</p> + +<p> +“Goodness, it’s my allowance that suffers,” retorted Grace, +ruefully, “since it is my candy that you eat.” +</p> + +<p> +“Stop quarreling, girls, and answer my question,” said Betty, +sitting up straight and regarding delightedly a vista of flying hills and +woodland greenery. “I asked you a few minutes ago if you had ever seen so +wonderful a day?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, plenty of ’em,” returned Mollie, as she took a sharp +curve on two wheels. “If you weren’t too lazy to notice anything, +Betty Nelson, you would see that there is a storm coming up. Look at those +clouds over there in the east.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, you’re a kill-joy!” cried Betty, cocking an optimistic +eye up at the sky. “It’s only one teeny little cloud anyway, and +who cares for clouds when the boys are coming home?” +</p> + +<p> +Both Amy and Grace felt a breathless little tug at their hearts at the joyful +challenge in Betty’s words, but Mollie, with a perverseness that was +sometimes characteristic of her, refused to be too happy. +</p> + +<p> +“Who says they’re coming home?” she asked. “Now +you’re only guessing.” +</p> + +<p> +“Guessing!” cried Betty indignantly. “What do you mean! +guessing? The war is over, isn’t it?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes; and has been for quite a while,” Mollie responded dryly. +“But that doesn’t say that the boys are coming home right +away!!” +</p> + +<p> +“We don’t care about the right away,” interrupted Amy, with a +quiet happiness in her face that made Betty hug her impulsively. “We can +wait patiently, now that we know they are safe.” +</p> + +<p> +“It’s all right for you to talk about patience, Amy,” +retorted Mollie, throttling her engine and sliding at breakneck speed down a +long hill without the thought of using a brake. A brake to Mollie meant +something to be used at the last minute when she couldn’t think of +anything else to do. “You’re an angel, but I’m not!” +</p> + +<p> +“No, indeed!” said Grace, so emphatically that the girls in the +tonneau chuckled and Mollie looked at her threateningly. +</p> + +<p> +“For goodness’ sake, don’t waste time looking at me,” +Grace pleaded, as they bounced into a hole in the road and out again, fairly +jouncing the breath from the girls’ bodies. “Keep your eyes on the +road, Mollie dear, We’re not ready to die yet.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, look out, or you may! ready or not,” threatened Mollie +darkly, as the car skidded around another precipitous turn and the girls saw +with relief a long stretch of flat road before them. +</p> + +<p> +“Just the same the boys must be coming home before very long,” said +Amy, quietly returning to the subject. “And when they do come we’ll +have to give them some sort of big party or something, girls.” +</p> + +<p> +“Of course we will,” said Grace, munching contentedly on a +chocolate. “Something that will make the people in Deepdale sit up and +take notice.” +</p> + +<p> +“We-el! I don’t know,” objected Betty thoughtfully. +“They say that the few soldier boys who have come home object to any sort +of fuss being made over them. They seem to want to forget everything that has +happened ‘over there,’ and any sort of celebration brings the whole +thing vividly before them again.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, that’s true, too,” Mollie agreed. “I remember our +doctor telling mother that if people only wouldn’t try to force +confidences from the boys and would try to keep all thought of the awful things +they had been through out of their minds, there would be fewer cases of nervous +breakdowns.” +</p> + +<p> +“Pop!” said Grace, snapping her finger resignedly. “There go +all our hopes of a good time, Amy. When the boys come home all we shall be +allowed to do will be to smooth their fevered brows and hold their hands +</p> + +<p> +“Well, we might do worse things even than that,” said Betty, with a +light laugh, and Mollie shot her a malicious glance. +</p> + +<p> +“Just watch Betty objecting to that,” she said wickedly. +“Before we know it she will be sighing that Allen has only one fevered +brow to smooth!” +</p> + +<p> +Amy and Grace looked at Betty mischievously! at Betty who could not for the +life of her look as unconcerned as she would have liked. +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t be so foolish,” she said hastily, at which the girls +only laughed the more. +</p> + +<p> +“Never mind, honey,” said Amy, putting an arm fondly about her +chum. “I guess we will all be crazy with joy to get the boys home +again,” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, you needn’t think you can hold hands with Will and smooth +his fevered brow all the time,” said Grace unexpectedly. “Because I +really have some share in him myself, you know. Remember, mine was one of the +three pictures he kept under his pillow.” +</p> + +<p> +Readers of previous volumes in this series may recall that joyful letter +written to Betty not so long ago in which Sergeant Allen Washburn! now +Lieutenant Allen Washburn! had spoken of the three pictures which Will Ford had +kept under his pillow during his long convalescence in one of the army +hospitals over there. These readers may also remember that one of the pictures +was of the boy’s mother, another of his sister, Grace, and the third of +shy little Amy Blackford, who now was blushing so furiously at the mere mention +of it. +</p> + +<p> +“How about poor Frank and Roy?” asked Mollie, mentioning the other +two boys who made up the quartette of the girls’ boy chums. “Who +will attend to their fevered brows?” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, you and Grace can take turns at that,” said Betty, lightly +adding, with a little sigh: “Try as we can, Amy and I never know quite +how to pair you four off. We can’t for the life of us find out which of +you likes Frank best and which inclines to Roy.” +</p> + +<p> +“That’s right, kid! keep ’em guessing,” said Mollie +slangily, as she turned on power and challenged a steep grade. “Grace and +I believe in scattering our favors! as ’twere. See that hill just ahead +of us? What do you bet I make it without changing gears?” +</p> + +<p> +“If you make it without changing our looks, I’ll be happy,” +said Grace ruefully, as they bumped and rumbled to the top of the steep grade. +“Look out, Mollie!” she added suddenly, indicating a big pile of +brushwood that jutted out almost into the center of the road. “For +goodness’ sake, slow down!” +</p> + +<p> +But Mollie did more than slow down. She stopped! and with such suddenness that +the girls were all but thrown out of the car and Betty bumped her nose on the +seat in front. +</p> + +<p> +They had scarcely regained their poise when they were startled by a shrill cry +from Amy. +</p> + +<p> +“Girls!” she almost screamed, clutching Betty’s arm in a grip +that hurt, “look at that tree. It’s going to fall! Oh, we’ll +be killed!” +</p> + +<p> +The girls followed the direction of her pointing finger and looks of horror +sprang to their eyes. Slowly, its descent retarded somewhat by the branches of +other trees, a towering giant of the forest tottered and crashed its +destructive way downward. And they were directly in its path! +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap02"></a>CHAPTER II.<br/> +THE FALLING TREE</h2> + +<p> +For a moment the Outdoor Girls sat fascinated, paralyzed, without the power to +move a muscle. Then suddenly Grace seemed galvanized to action, She leaned +toward Mollie, grasping the steering wheel of the motionless car frantically. +</p> + +<p> +“For heaven’s sake, Mollie, get out of the way! Start the +car!” she screamed. +</p> + +<p> +“I can’t!” Mollie answered, tight-lipped. +“Something’s wrong. The motor’s dead.” +</p> + +<p> +But with Grace’s scream, Betty had come to her senses and had scrambled +out of the car, dragging the still paralyzed Amy after her. +</p> + +<p> +“Grace, get out! Mollie, are you crazy?” she shouted wildly. +“You’ll be killed!!” +</p> + +<p> +Automatically Grace started to clamber to the road, but Mollie still fussed +with brakes and levers, her lips in a tight line, her eyes blazing. +</p> + +<p> +“Something’s wrong! but I’ll get her started,” she +muttered over and over to herself while Betty raged at her from the road. +</p> + +<p> +“Get out! get out!” fumed the Little Captain, “Jump, or +I’ll come after you and we’ll both be killed. Mollie!” +</p> + +<p> +Luckily for Mollie’s suicidal stubbornness, the great tree had been +halted far a moment in its downward plunge by some particularly heavy foliage +and branches, but the girls could see that it was only a matter of seconds +until the giant should tear itself loose and come plunging down upon them. +</p> + +<p> +And still Mollie fumbled with levers in a vain and foolish attempt to save her +beloved car at the risk of her own life. +</p> + +<p> +Betty had just jumped upon the running board in a wild attempt to drag her chum +from the car when suddenly help came to them from an unexpected quarter. +</p> + +<p> +An elderly man came running from the woods, evidently attracted by their +excited cries. He gave one look at the toppling tree, even now tearing itself +loose from the impeding branches, another at the machine with the two girls +still in it, and then, with a speed and decision which seemed to belie his age, +went to the rescue. +</p> + +<p> +“Come! help me push!” he cried to Amy and Grace, who were still +standing dumbly in the middle of the road. A moment later he had thrown himself +with all his might against the machine, striving to push it out of the path of +the falling tree. +</p> + +<p> +In an instant of time the girls had added their strength to his and the +automobile was moving slowly down the road. Luckily the car was on a down grade +or they never could have managed it. As it was, there was just time to got out +of the way when the great tree came crashing down, its outermost branches just +brushing Amy’s skirt. The giant had fallen on the very spot where the car +had been only a moment before! +</p> + +<p> +“Girls,” breathed Betty, with a shaky little attempt at a laugh, +“I guess we’ve never in our lives been nearer death than we were +just then.” +</p> + +<p> +And while the girls are marveling at their almost miraculous escape from a +terrible death, time will be taken to introduce the Outdoor Girls to those +readers who have not yet met them and also to review briefly a few of the +exciting and interesting adventures they have had up to the time of this +present narrative. +</p> + +<p> +There were four of them, Betty Nelson, or the “Little Captain” as +the girls often called her because she had such a decided talent for knowing +just the right thing to do at just the right moment, was eighteen, dark-haired +and dark-eyed. She had a fund of vitality and more than her share of sense and +good judgment! all of which went toward making her what she was, the most +popular girl in Deepdale. +</p> + +<p> +Grace Ford, tall, slender and willowy, was almost the same age as Betty, but +that fact and her love of the outdoors were the only things she had in common +with the “Little Captain.” Her father, James Ford, was a lawyer, +and her mother, Mrs. Margaret Ford, a rather dressy lady who spent a good deal +of her time at clubs, was quite a figure in the society of Deepdale. However, +all through the war Mrs. Ford had worked with an untiring enthusiasm for the +“cause,” a fact which had made her many more friends than her +social popularity could ever have done. +</p> + +<p> +Next in the little quartette came Mollie Billette. Mollie was seventeen, +French-American, and impulsive, with a quick temper that made more trouble for +herself than for any one else. She and Betty were alike in their splendid vigor +and vitality. Mollie, or “Billy” as she was sometimes called by her +chums, had a very lovely widowed mother and an extremely mischievous young +brother and sister, Paul and Dora (nicknamed “Dodo”), who were +twins and six. Although the twins were pretty nearly always in trouble, they +were really adorable children, whom everybody loved. +</p> + +<p> +Amy Blackford, shy, sweet, pretty, completed the quartette. There had been a +mystery about her past which had recently been cleared up, and it may have been +this mystery that caused the girls to treat her with a little more +consideration and gentleness than they did each other. Her guardian was a +broker in the city who knew very little of the past except through letters. +</p> + +<p> +The four boys who were close chums of the girls and had added to the interest +and excitement of more than one of their adventures were Allen Washburn, who +was very much interested in Betty, and in whom Betty was very much interested; +Will Ford, Grace’s brother, who had carried Amy Blackford’s picture +all through the war; Frank Haley, Will Ford’s closest chum, and Roy +Anderson who had not much distinction of any kind except that he was +“lots of fun” and a chum of the other three boys. +</p> + +<p> +In the first volume of this series the girls went on a camping and tramping +tour, tramping for miles over the country and meeting with many adventures on +the way. +</p> + +<p> +Later they had more fun at Rainbow Lake, in a motor car, in a winter camp, in +Florida, at Ocean View, then at Pine Island where the girls and boys together +had cleared up a mystery surrounding a gypsy cave. +</p> + +<p> +Later the girls and boys found themselves caught in the meshes of the great +war, as many hundreds of thousands of others had been. The boys responded +eagerly to the bugle call, and the girls, too, were eager for Army service and +finally went to a hostess house at Camp Liberty. Though the girls had never +worked harder in their lives, they found that the task had a stirringly +romantic side as well. +</p> + +<p> +Then in the volume directly preceding this, entitled “The Outdoor Girls +at Bluff Point” the girls had had perhaps the most exciting adventure of +all. +</p> + +<p> +The Hostess House at Camp Liberty having burnt down, the chums found themselves +forced to take a much-needed, although not entirely welcome, vacation and had +decided to spend it at a romantic spot near the ocean called Bluff Point. The +cottage on the bluff had been loaned to the girls by Grace’s patriotic +Aunt Mary, who declared that she owed something to the chums for having worked +so hard for the good old Stars and Stripes. Mrs. Ford, worn out with war work, +had gone with the girls to chaperon them. +</p> + +<p> +Bad tidings at first threatened to overwhelm the chums. The Fords received word +that Will was seriously wounded “somewhere in France,” and later +Mollie received a telegram from her mother saying that the twins, Dodo and +Paul, had disappeared. Still later, while everything was at its blackest, Betty +read Allen Washburn’s name among the missing. However, everything cleared +up later when the twins, who had been kidnapped, were recovered and their +kidnapper sent to justice. Still later Allen proved that the report that he had +been missing was an error by writing to Betty himself and in the letter he also +spoke of Will Ford and the fact that he was getting over his wound splendidly. +Of course there had been great rejoicing and the vacation had proved a happy +one after all. +</p> + +<p> +And now, at the time of this story, the war was over and the first regiments of +soldiers had arrived from the other side and the girls were expecting a joyful +reunion with the boys at any time. +</p> + +<p> +They had not yet made definite plans for the summer and were just in the +position of waiting for something to happen when something had happened with a +vengeance! but not at all the kind of something which the four girls had +expected. +</p> + +<p> +“I think you are right, my dear,” said the man who had saved the +lives of at least two of the girls, rubbing his hands fussily together and +peering out of small, near-sighted eyes, first at the tree and then at the +girls. “It was a close call! a very close call. I declare, it was very +nearly the closest call I ever saw!” +</p> + +<p> +For the first time the girls really looked at him. He was a rather small man, +slenderly built, with long sensitive hands and a very bald head, in the center +of which a tuft of hair stood comically upright. These characteristics, coupled +to the squinting eyes, gave the man a very odd appearance. +</p> + +<p> +He was so queer a figure standing there in the center of the road that the +girls found themselves staring unduly. Realizing something of this, Betty +jumped down from the running board where she was still standing and held out +her hand to the little man, thanking him in a voice that still trembled a +little for the great service he had done them. The other girls followed suit +and so overwhelmed their rescuer that he seemed quite embarrassed and looked +around nervously as if for some means of escape. +</p> + +<p> +Betty, seeing his embarrassment, was about to take pity upon him when something +happened that they had not bargained for. It began to rain, not gently, but in +a deluge, taking the girls completely by surprise. +</p> + +<p> +Instinctively they turned toward the car, but Mollie suddenly began to laugh in +a half-hysterical manner. +</p> + +<p> +“This is what I call fun,” she said. “Engine dead, caught in +the rain, and I’ve even left the side curtains at home! I guess +we’re in for it, girls.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap03"></a>CHAPTER III.<br/> +THE QUEER LITTLE MAN</h2> + +<p> +While the girls stood looking wildly at each other their unknown rescuer seemed +suddenly galvanized to action. +</p> + +<p> +“This won’t do at all!” he cried, raising both hands to his +bald head which was by this time very wet and more shiny than ever. “You +will get your death of cold, young ladies, you surely will. You must come with +me. Here, right along this path I have a cottage!” All the time he was +talking he was hustling them fussily ahead of him, for all the world like some +old hen with a brood of chickens. +</p> + +<p> +The girls, not knowing what else to do and being in rather a bewildered frame +of mind, allowed themselves to be hustled. The rain was sheeting down in a +terrific cloud burst, so that their clothes clung to them damply and they began +to shiver. +</p> + +<p> +They circled the fallen tree which had so nearly been their undoing, and a +moment later found themselves upon a narrow footpath which seemed to lead into +the very heart of the woods. +</p> + +<p> +“I wonder where he is taking us,” whispered Grace in Betty’s +ear. “Maybe he’s a murderer or something.” +</p> + +<p> +In spite of her discomfort, Betty giggled. +</p> + +<p> +“Did you ever see a murderer with a bald head like that?” she +asked. +</p> + +<p> +It seemed to the girls as if the path must be at least a mile long, but just as +they were despairing of ever reaching the end of it, they came out into a +partially cleared space and through the trees caught a glimpse of something +that looked like a house. +</p> + +<p> +Their new acquaintance, who up to this time had been bringing up the rear, now +took the lead and led them over tangled underbrush, stones and foot-bruising +rocks, to his strange little dwelling. +</p> + +<p> +“It’s a house, it’s a house!” cried Grace thankfully, +as they hurried after the little man. “I guess somebody will have to +wring me out when we get inside. I’m soaked through!” +</p> + +<p> +“Goodness, why don’t you tell us something we don’t +know?” grumbled Mollie, but nobody was listening to her. They had reached +the house and the man had swung the door open hospitably. +</p> + +<p> +“Step inside, step inside, do,” he urged with a nervous gesture +that reminded the girls once more of the proverbial hen. “You will find +it dry at least, and I will have a fire for you in a hurry. Just a moment till +I get some wood! just a moment!!” +</p> + +<p> +And while he rambled on, suiting his words with quick nervous action, the girls +crowded inside the cottage and looked about them curiously. +</p> + +<p> +The room they had entered was large and scrupulously neat. At first glance it +seemed a queer combination of hunting lodge and museum of natural history. The +rough clapboards and beams of the ceiling and walls had never been plastered, +and this very crudity seemed somehow to give the room an air of warmth and +homelikeness that was very inviting. +</p> + +<p> +Hung on the walls were several fairly large skins of animals, a gun or two, and +over the huge open fireplace, which very nearly covered one end of the room, +hung the magnificent head of a buck. +</p> + +<p> +On the wall opposite the fireplace was a set of rudely-erected shelves, one +beneath the other, and these shelves were covered with specimens of +butterflies, beetles and other bugs of every size and description. That the +specimens had been mounted by an expert even an inexperienced eye could see. +</p> + +<p> +The girls, who had been regarding the oddities of the room with growing +interest, were brought back to a realization of the discomfort of wet clothes +by the owner of the place himself. +</p> + +<p> +The latter had brought firewood from somewhere, and, with the aid of half a +dozen matches, had succeeded in getting a fairly good blaze. +</p> + +<p> +Then with a smile of satisfaction he turned to the girls, rubbing his hands +together genially. +</p> + +<p> +“Come nearer to the fire! come closer! do,” he urged in his quick +nervous way. “I am sure you are chilled through! quite chilled through. I +will bring chairs.” He stopped abruptly and looked about him with an +embarrassed air, his gaze coming to rest on the only chair which adorned the +room. +</p> + +<p> +Betty, seeing his confusion, was trying to think of something helpful to say, +when the little man suddenly found a way out of his quandary. +</p> + +<p> +“Ah, I have it!” he cried, seizing enthusiastically upon a long +bench that stood on one side of the room. “Four can sit upon this quite +easily, I am sure. A happy thought! a very happy thought!” and he pulled +and tugged at the bench until he succeeded in moving it close to the fire, +</p> + +<p> +Afterward it occurred to the girls that they might have helped him, for it was +a very heavy bench and he was rather a frail old man. But at the time they were +too interested in this unusual place and their rather extraordinary host, to +think of anything very rational. +</p> + +<p> +However, they seated themselves dutifully in a row upon the bench, “for +all the world like an orphan asylum out for an airing,” as Mollie said +later, and gratefully stretched out their sodden shoes to the blaze. +</p> + +<p> +They were cold and they were wet and they were fast becoming very hungry, all +of which might have been expected to form a very good reason why they should +have been miserable, But they weren’t miserable! not at all. To the +Outdoor Girls the thrill of an adventure always more than counterbalanced the +possible discomforts attending it. +</p> + +<p> +Their host started to draw up the one chair in the room, hesitated a moment +then, as though he had just thought of something, turned and darted through the +door, closing it with a little click behind him. +</p> + +<p> +For the space of half a second, the girls looked after him. Then they looked at +each other. Then they drew a long breath and let loose the flood of curious +questions which had been struggling for expression for the past twenty minute +</p> + +<p> +“Well, isn’t this a lark?” cried Mollie, her eyes dancing. +“Half an hour ago we were awfully bored, and now look at us.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, look at us,” said Grace with a little sniff. “I’m +sure we’re not very much to look at right now with our hair wet, and our +clothes!” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, for goodness’ sake, who cares about such things?” cried +Betty gaily. “I think this is a darling place and I’m having the +time of my life. I wonder who he is?” +</p> + +<p> +“He seemed kind of scared just now, didn’t he!” chuckled +Mollie, feeling her shoe to see if it was drying out any. “It was funny +the way he bolted out of the room.” +</p> + +<p> +“Poor old dear! no wonder he was scared,” commented Grace, as she +took off her hat and tried to do something with her hopelessly bedraggled +locks. “The way we look we’re enough to scare anybody. Oh, dear, +hasn’t any one a comb?” +</p> + +<p> +“Why, of course, we carry a complete beauty parlor outfit just for your +benefit, dear,” giggled Mollie. “The rest of us don’t need it +though. We are too beautiful naturally.” +</p> + +<p> +“You know I like him a lot, the queer little man, I mean,” said +Amy, evidently following out her own train of thought. “He seems kind of +fussy and peculiar but he has an awfully nice smile.” +</p> + +<p> +“Trust Amy to find the smile,” said Betty, putting an arm fondly +about the younger girl. “And of course we all like him,” she added +seriously. “If it hadn’t been for him we probably wouldn’t be +feeling so happy right now.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, we would probably be in some hospital with our unhappy relatives +weeping over our mangled remains,” said the irrepressible Mollie, and +laughed at the shriek that went up at her gruesome remark. “There +probably wouldn’t have been enough of us left to recognize,” she +added by way of good measure, and they shrieked again. +</p> + +<p> +“For goodness’ sake, let’s talk of something pleasant,” +said Grace, rising suddenly and going over to the window. “If you want to +sit on that old bench all day, you can.” +</p> + +<p> +It appeared that the girls had no intention of sitting on the bench all day. +They got up and sauntered about the room, examining the skins on the walls and +looking, but without much curiosity, at the rifles. They lingered longest +before the shelves of butterflies and beetles, for some of the specimens were +really beautiful and very rare. +</p> + +<p> +After they had examined everything in sight they began to grow restive. They +must have been in the place nearly an hour and it suddenly occurred to them to +wonder where their host had been keeping himself all this time. +</p> + +<p> +“I wish we could get started,” worried Mollie, looking out upon the +sodden landscape. The rain was apparently coming down just as hard as ever. +“I hate to leave the car all by itself out there. Somebody might steal +it.” +</p> + +<p> +“I wish I knew where that man was,” said Grace nervously. “I +never trust strange men. He may set the house on fire for all we know.” +</p> + +<p> +The words were hardly out of her mouth when the door opened and the topic of +conversation himself entered, carrying a tray so big and heaped so high with +sandwiches that one could scarcely discover the man behind it. +</p> + +<p> +Betty and Amy ran to his assistance, and between them they got the tray safely +to the bench. In one delighted glance the girls saw that not only sandwiches, +but a steaming pot of coffee and the remains of what had been a great, +three-layer chocolate cake were on the tray. +</p> + +<p> +At thought of the fussy little man taking all this time and trouble, for it +must have taken a good deal of work to make all that formidable array of +sandwiches! the girls were sincerely touched and regarded their host with a new +interest. +</p> + +<p> +“There, there,” he was saying, regarding the heaped-up tray with +evident pleasure, “you must sit down and eat at once. You must be nearly +starved! famished. I hope this will be enough.” +</p> + +<p> +He looked at them so anxiously that Betty felt like hugging him! and nearly did +it. +</p> + +<p> +“Enough! Well, I guess it is enough,” she said heartily, as the +other girls seated themselves on the bench either side of the tempting tray and +began enthusiastically to help themselves. “It would be plenty for an +army. We can’t thank you enough.” +</p> + +<p> +“Indeed we can’t,” added Mollie. +</p> + +<p> +“It’s awfully good of you,” said Grace, as she took a bite of +her ham sandwich. +</p> + +<p> +“Awfully good,” added Amy, like an echo. +</p> + +<p> +The little man waved aside their thanks and drew up the one chair in the room, +talking all the time in his quick, jerky fashion. +</p> + +<p> +“It was no trouble, I am sure,! no trouble whatever,” he said, +adding as though he wished to change the subject: “You didn’t tell +me your name!!” he hesitated, looking at Betty, who of course did tell +him her name on the spot. This proved a signal for mutual introductions, and +the girls learned that their new friend was a college professor, Arnold Dempsey +by name. They also learned that he had taken up woodcraft in the hope of +recovering his health. +</p> + +<p> +And while they contentedly munched sandwiches and sipped steaming coffee the +girls learned a good deal more about Arnold Dempsey, and the more they learned +of him the more they felt drawn to him. +</p> + +<p> +And when he started to tell them of his two sons who had fought so nobly in the +army of democracy, their eyes began to shine and they leaned toward him with an +interest that was intensely real. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, it must be wonderful to have two big soldier sons,” cried Amy, +forgetting her shyness in her enthusiasm. “Aren’t you dreadfully +proud?” +</p> + +<p> +A gleam came into Professor Dempsey’s eyes and his thin shoulders +straightened. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, yes,” he said. “Of course I’m proud of my boys! +very proud. And I hope,” a look of absolute happiness came into his eyes +and he smiled contentedly, “that before very long I shall see +them.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, I’m sure you will!” cried Betty eagerly. +</p> + +<p> +“That’s what we are all hoping for, anyway,” said Grace, +adding with a sigh: “The boys have been gone so <i>dreadfully</i> +long.” +</p> + +<p> +“Look,” cried Mollie presently, rising suddenly to her feet and +pointing toward the window. “We have been so busy talking that we never +noticed the sun had come out.” +</p> + +<p> +“And doesn’t it look good!” exulted Betty. +</p> + +<p> +In spite of their reluctance to leave their newfound friend, the girls were +anxious to be off, for they knew their parents would be worrying about them. +</p> + +<p> +Professor Dempsey insisted on seeing them safely back to the road although they +protested that there was absolutely no need of it. +</p> + +<p> +“There are two or three paths that lead to the road,” he explained, +as he flung wide the door, letting in a flood of sunshine, “and I +wouldn’t have you lose your way for the world! not for the world!” +</p> + +<p> +The woodland was beautiful after the rain, and the girls sniffed the fragrant +air eagerly as they followed Professor Dempsey along the path. It was not till +they had almost reached the road that Mollie had a disquieting thought. +</p> + +<p> +“How do we know but what we’re stuck here for good?” she +asked the girls. “The car stopped dead, you remember, just under that +horrible tree, and I’m sure I don’t know what in the world made it. +If I can’t find out the trouble!!” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, but you’ve got to find it,” protested Grace, while Betty +and Amy looked worried. “We can’t stay here all night, and it may +be a dozen miles to the nearest garage.” +</p> + +<p> +“I know that just as well as you do,” grumbled Mollie. “But +if I can’t, I can’t, that’s all.” +</p> + +<p> +By this time they had reached the road and Mollie went straight to the car. +While she and Betty were trying to find out what was wrong the other two girls +and Professor Dempsey looked on anxiously. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, as far as I can see there is absolutely nothing wrong with +it,” snapped Mollie at last, lifting a face flushed with exertion. +“Get in, girls, and I’ll start the engine! or try to. Then if she +won’t go we’ll have to make up our minds to stay here all night or +walk to the next garage.” +</p> + +<p> +Accordingly the girls got in and Mollie pressed the self-starter. To her great +surprise, the engine purred a response, and as she shifted her gears the car +moved slowly forward. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, goodie, we’re going,” cried Amy, and the faces of the +other girls showed relief. +</p> + +<p> +“Must have been a drop of water in the gasoline,” hazarded Mollie, +and then she throttled the engine once more while she and her chums turned to +say good-bye to Professor Dempsey. The latter was still standing in the road, +looking up at them rather wistfully. +</p> + +<p> +“I’m glad that I had an opportunity of helping you, young ladies! +very glad,” he answered, in response to their repeated thanks. “You +conferred a great favor on me also, for I have little company. Good-bye! and +good luck to you.” +</p> + +<p> +The girls responded gayly, and as they started forward Betty leaned far out of +the machine to call back an encouraging: “Keep hoping hard for your boys +to come home. I am sure they will be back soon.” +</p> + +<p> +“Thank you, young lady, thank you,” said Professor Dempsey, but the +words were too low for Betty to catch and she was too far away to see the mist +that sprang suddenly to his eyes. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap04"></a>CHAPTER IV.<br/> +GOOD NEWS</h2> + +<p> +Deepdale, the home of the four Outdoor Girls, is a thriving little city with a +population of about fifteen thousand people. It is situated on the Argono +River, a pleasant stream where a great many of the young folk of Deepdale, and +some of the older ones too, keep motor boats and canoes and various other types +of pleasure craft. +</p> + +<p> +Farther on, the Argono empties into Rainbow Lake, which is picturesque in the +extreme. It has several pretty and romantic looking islands, chief of which is +Triangle Island! so called because of its shape. +</p> + +<p> +There is a boat running from Deepdale to Clammerport at the foot of Rainbow +Lake, and this boat is almost always crowded with pleasure seekers. In addition +to this Deepdale is situated in the heart of New York state and is only a +hundred-and-fifty-mile run from the city of that name. Thus one can easily see +that Deepdale is a very desirable place in which to live. +</p> + +<p> +At least that is what the four Outdoor Girls thought. And since they had spent +most of their lives there, they certainly ought to know! +</p> + +<p> +On the morning of this day, some ten days or so after their strange encounter +with Professor Dempsey, the girls were gathered on Betty’s porch, talking +over their plans for the summer. +</p> + +<p> +“I am only waiting to hear from Uncle John,” Mollie was saying, as +she swung lazily back and forth in the couch swing. “The last time I saw +him he said that he was almost sure to go north this summer and he told me that +as soon as he made definite plans he would let me know.” +</p> + +<p> +“You told us that two weeks ago,” Grace reminded her. “And we +haven’t heard from him yet.” +</p> + +<p> +“It does seem to take him a long time to make up his mind,” sighed +Amy. +</p> + +<p> +Betty, who had been trying to read a novel, closed the book and turned to them +with a laugh. +</p> + +<p> +“Goodness, you all sound doleful,” she told them. “It seems +to me that we ought to be able to live through it, even if we don’t get +Wild Rose Lodge for the summer. There are plenty of other things we can +do,” +</p> + +<p> +Mollie turned upon her indignantly. +</p> + +<p> +“How you talk, Betty Nelson,” she scolded her. “As if we +could possibly have as good a time anywhere else as we could at Wild Rose +Lodge. Think of being in a real hunting lodge out in the woods away from +everybody! Why, it will be a real adventure!” +</p> + +<p> +“All right. I surrender! don’t shoot,” laughed Betty, coming +over and perching on the railing beside Mollie. “I admit we should +probably have more fun at the lodge than we could anywhere else. I was only +trying to look on the bright side of things in case our plans should fall +through. Hello! who’s this?” +</p> + +<p> +“This” proved to be Mollie’s little sister Dora, or +“Dodo,” as she was called by almost everybody. With a sigh of +relief, the girls saw that Dodo’s twin brother, Paul, was not with her, +for together the children were a simply unconquerable pair. +</p> + +<p> +The twins had been spoiled by their widowed mother, Mrs. Billette, even before +the time when they had been kidnapped and spirited off by a hideous Spaniard. +But since their recovery, their joyful mother had indulged them in every way +until they had become well nigh unmanageable. +</p> + +<p> +Yet in spite of everything, the twins were very lovable, and every one loved +them, even those whom they annoyed most. +</p> + +<p> +And now as Dodo tore up the street toward them, waving something white in her +hand, the girls instinctively glanced about to see what they ought to put out +of sight before the cyclone struck them. +</p> + +<p> +“Thank goodness, Paul isn’t with her,” murmured Grace. +“Then we would be in for it.” +</p> + +<p> +“Dodo,” cried Mollie as the child started up the walk, +“scrape some of that mud off your feet before you come up, You will get +Betty’s porch all dirty.” +</p> + +<p> +“Name’s Dora! not Dodo,” the little girl answered, paying not +the slightest heed to Mollie’s caution about the mud. “Dodo’s +a baby’s name! don’t like it. Got something for you.” +</p> + +<p> +She stumbled heedlessly up the steps, leaving a trail of mud behind her, and +almost breaking her neck in the bargain. +</p> + +<p> +“Now just look at Betty’s porch,” Mollie was beginning in +exasperation when Betty laughingly interfered. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, let her alone, Mollie,” she coaxed. “The porch was dirty +anyway and! what’s that you have in your hand, Dodo?” +</p> + +<p> +“Sumfin’ for Mollie,” answered Dodo, leaning sulkily against +the rail while the girls regarded her anxiously. “An’ if Mollie +aren’t nice to me she can’t have it.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, for goodness’ sake be nice to her and get it over with, +Mollie,” urged Grace, uneasily conscious of the candy box she had shoved +hastily behind her. She was afraid one corner of it might show. +</p> + +<p> +So Mollie got down from her perch on the railing and went over coaxingly to the +little girl. +</p> + +<p> +“Give it to Mollie, honey,” she begged. “I’ll even call +you Dora, if you will.” +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Always</i> Dora! <i>never</i> Dodo?” asked Dodo eagerly, for +she was growing out of babyhood just enough to resent being called by her baby +name. +</p> + +<p> +“Always Dora,” Mollie promised. +</p> + +<p> +For answer Dodo held out the white thing she had waved at them from the street, +and with a little cry of excitement Mollie saw that it was a letter addressed +to her in her Uncle John’s firm hand. +</p> + +<p> +At her exclamation the girls crowded round her eagerly. She hastily tore open +the envelope and devoured the contents. Then she turned to the girls with a +glowing face. +</p> + +<p> +“It’s all right, it’s all right!” she cried, waving the +letter round her head like a flag and nearly upsetting her chums. “Uncle +John says it is settled. He is going to Canada for a couple of months and we +can have the lodge for the whole time he is away or a part of it, just as we +wish. Hooray! How’s that for luck?” +</p> + +<p> +The girls were so excited over their good fortune that they forgot all about +Dodo. She, finding herself unobserved, had slipped around the girls to the +swing, snatched the box of candy which Grace had exposed when she got up, had +taken the steps two at a time and was flying off down the street before the +girls saw what she was up to. +</p> + +<p> +Then it was Grace who, with a dreadful premonition, thought of her candy. She +turned quickly, saw that the box was gone, and uttered a wail of woe. +</p> + +<p> +“That little Turk of a sister of yours has done it again,” she +cried, turning to Mollie, while Betty and Amy began to laugh. “You just +wait till I catch her. I’ll get my candy back if I have to! spank +her,” this last with a fierce scowl. +</p> + +<p> +Betty put an arm about her excited chum, led her over to the swing and put her +down in it. +</p> + +<p> +“By the time you caught Dodo there wouldn’t be any of your candy +left,” she said, adding soothingly: “Never mind, honey. We will get +you some more if we have to take up a collection.” +</p> + +<p> +“Makes me feel like an orphan’s home,” grumbled Grace, but +she laughed nevertheless with the rest and immediately forgot both her candy +and Dodo in renewed excitement over Wild Rose Lodge. +</p> + +<p> +“Just where is this place, Mollie?” asked Amy. “What is it +called?” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, that’s the very best part of it,” said Mollie, with a +mysterious smile. “It has the most wonderful, most romantic name. Come +closer while I whisper it! Moonlight Falls. There, isn’t that a real name +for a place?” +</p> + +<p> +“Wild Rose Lodge at Moonlight Falls,” sighed Grace ecstatically. +“If we don’t have a wildly romantic time in a place with a name +like that, it will be our own fault.” +</p> + +<p> +“But we will have to have a chaperon!” Amy was beginning when Betty +interrupted her eagerly. +</p> + +<p> +“I have fixed that,” she said, and while they all looked in +astonishment she went on quickly to explain. “I met Mrs. Irving in the +street the other day! you know she has been away ever since that last time she +was with us on Pine Island! and I asked her then if she would chaperon us this +summer.” +</p> + +<p> +“But you didn’t even know then that we were going to Wild Rose +Lodge, Betty,” Mollie interrupted. +</p> + +<p> +“I knew we were sure to go somewhere. We always!” Betty was arguing +when Grace cut in impatiently. +</p> + +<p> +“Never mind about that,” she said. “Did Mrs. Irving say she +would go?” +</p> + +<p> +“She said she was very sure she could manage it,” Betty answered. +“She seemed awfully surprised and said it would be great fun to be with +us girls again.” +</p> + +<p> +“It will be great fun for all of us,” said Amy happily. +“I’ll never forget the wonderful time we had on Pine Island with +Mrs. Irving and the boys.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes! and the boys,” Betty repeated a little wistfully. She was +thinking of Allen Washburn and the wonderful time they had had that +never-to-be-forgotten summer! before the war had come to separate them and make +their hearts ache. Oh, it would be unbelievably happy to have the boys back +again! Will, Roy, Frank and! her Allen. The old crowd together once more. She +looked around at the girls, who had also fallen into a thoughtful mood, and +suddenly she smiled, the old bright, happy smile that was peculiarly +Betty’s own. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, cheer up, everybody,” she cried gayly. “How do we know +but what the boys will be home in time to join us at Wild Rose Lodge? Then +think of the fun!” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, Betty, if we could only believe that!” they cried. +</p> + +<p> +“Well,” said the Little Captain stoutly, “you never can tell. +Stranger things have happened, you know.” +</p> + +<p> +“But nothing so joyful,” added Mollie. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap05"></a>CHAPTER V.<br/> +BETTY TAKES A DARE</h2> + +<p> +It would be a week or two before Wild Rose Lodge would be ready for the +girls’ occupancy, and as a relief for their impatience they filled in the +time in hiking, motoring and put-putting up and down the Argono in their natty +little motor boat. +</p> + +<p> +But whatever it was they were doing, their conversation almost invariably +returned to one of two subjects! the return of the boys and the good time they +would have at Moonlight Falls. +</p> + +<p> +They spoke often of Professor Arnold Dempsey. They took a real interest in the +queer little old man, both because of the service he had done them and the fact +that he was watching and waiting for his two big sons, even as they were +anxiously awaiting the return of their boys. +</p> + +<p> +“It must be dreadfully lonely for him in that little cabin or house or +whatever you call it in the woods,” Amy said one day as she and the girls +sauntered down to the dock where their motor boat was anchored. “And he +said he hardly ever had company.” +</p> + +<p> +“Goodness, I should think he would go crazy,” Mollie commented. +“Why, I go almost mad when I don’t have any one to talk to for an +<i>hour</i>.” +</p> + +<p> +“I wonder if he lived in that little house all during the war,” +said Betty thoughtfully. They had reached the dock and were walking slowly out +upon it. “If he did, it must have been dreadfully hard for him. It makes +me shiver to think of him sitting there all alone, reading the casualty list, +terrified for fear the next name would be that of his son!!” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, Betty,” cried gentle Amy, all her sympathy quickly roused by +the picture Betty had drawn, “what a dreadful thing to think of!” +</p> + +<p> +“But he never did find their names among the missing or killed,” +Mollie reminded them soberly. “We know that because he said he expected +to see them soon.” +</p> + +<p> +“Of course, And all we can do is hope with all our hearts that he gets +his wish,” said Betty brightly, adding with a sudden change of subject: +“But away with dull care. The sun is shining and here’s our fairy +ship waiting to carry us off to fresh adventure. What more could any one want, +I’d like to know.” +</p> + +<p> +“Humph,” grunted Mollie, eyeing critically the trim little boat in +which they had had so much fun and adventure, as the other girls tumbled +aboard. “I’d say she didn’t look very much like a fairy boat +just now. She needs considerable polishing and scrubbing. Why don’t you +girls get busy, anyhow?” +</p> + +<p> +“Just hear who’s talking,” yawned Grace, disposing herself +lazily in a comfortable chair on deck. “I haven’t noticed you +waving a broom and mop frantically around these parts lately, Mollie +dear.” +</p> + +<p> +“In fact,” Betty added with a mischievous twinkle in her eye, +“I think I remember suggesting that the <i>Gem</i> needed grooming the +other day. Whereupon some one who shall be nameless suggested a motor ride +instead.” +</p> + +<p> +“She’s got you there, old dear,” drawled Grace, taking the +inevitable box of chocolates from her pocket and opening it lovingly. “I +remember the incident pre-zactly as it has been described.” +</p> + +<p> +Mollie, who was still standing on the dock, regarding them frowningly, started +to reply but Betty interrupted her with a shout. She had started the engine and +the boat began to move slowly away from the dock. +</p> + +<p> +“Better hurry up,” suggested the Little Captain wickedly. +“We’d rather not leave you behind, but if you insist. +</p> + +<p> +However, Mollie had not the slightest intention in the world of being left +behind. With a gasp of mingled surprise and dismay she made a jump for it, +cleared the foot of space between the dock and the boat and landed square in +the middle of Grace’s astonished and outraged lap. She would have sat on +the candy box, too, and would, in all probability, have ruined it and her dress +as well, had not Grace, with rare presence of mind, whipped the box out of +danger just in the nick of time. +</p> + +<p> +“Well,” said Mollie, too surprised and indignant to move for a +moment, while, at the comical picture she made, both Betty and Amy laughed +merrily, “I surely like this!” +</p> + +<p> +“You do, do you? Well, I don’t!” cried Grace, recovering both +her breath and her dignity at the same moment. “If you don’t stop +sitting on my lungs this minute, Mollie Billette, I’ll! I’ll! stick +this pin into you.” +</p> + +<p> +With a yell Mollie stumbled to her feet and shook out her dress belligerently. +</p> + +<p> +“You had better not. I’m stronger than you, Grace Ford, and +I’ve a good mind to let you see what the bottom of the river looks +like.” +</p> + +<p> +She advanced toward her prospective victim, and Betty stopped laughing long +enough to call to her. +</p> + +<p> +“You’d better change your mind, Mollie,” she cautioned +merrily. “You can’t give Gracie a ducking without ruining her dress +and she might charge you damages. Reconsider! I beg of you, reconsider!” +</p> + +<p> +Mollie condescended to reconsider and plumped herself down cross-legged on the +deck, disdaining a chair. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, very well,” she said, adding as she glared darkly at Grace: +“You will probably never know, woman, how near to death you were.” +</p> + +<p> +To which Grace replied with unexpected ferocity. +</p> + +<p> +“And you may never know, woman, just how near to death you are this +minute. Look at what you have done to my best sport skirt. I don’t +believe I will ever be able to get those wrinkles out.” +</p> + +<p> +“If you two will stop quarreling just long enough to tell me where you +want to go,” Betty requested, “I should be very much obliged. Up or +down the river?” +</p> + +<p> +“Anywhere,” answered Grace, still regarding her crumpled sport +skirt gloomily. “We are just trying to kill time this afternoon anyway, +so I don’t see that it makes much difference where we go.” +</p> + +<p> +“Suppose we take her up to the Point,” suggested Mollie, getting up +from the deck and going over to Betty who still had the wheel. “Maybe we +can get some ice-cream and a drink of ice water. I am getting dreadfully +thirsty already.” +</p> + +<p> +Betty looked tempted but a little doubtful. +</p> + +<p> +“You know it is pretty dangerous to run in there, Mollie,” she +protested. “There are so many other boats driven by Percy +Falconer’s crazy lot who don’t care whether they capsize you or +not!” +</p> + +<p> +“Goodness, Betty, it isn’t like you to be afraid,” Mollie +started, but stopped at the look in the “Little Captain’s” +eye. +</p> + +<p> +“I’d rather you didn’t ever say that again, Mollie,” +she said. “I’ll take you in there since you want it, but if +anything should happen remember that I warned you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Goodness, Mollie, I don’t see why you ever wanted to go and +suggest that for,” said Grace nervously. “We all know there is +danger of a collision over at the Point, and I’m sure I don’t want +to spoil my clothes, even if you do.” +</p> + +<p> +“Your father said that he would rather we kept to this side of the river, +Betty,” urged Amy. “Please don’t go over to the Point +now.” +</p> + +<p> +“There’s no use talking to her,” snapped Grace. “You +ought to know Betty well enough by this time to know that she would take us +over to the Point now, after what Mollie said, if she knew we would all die of +it. Might as well save your breath.” +</p> + +<p> +Mollie said nothing, but down in her heart she was more than a little bit +anxious and was beginning to regret that she had deliberately egged Betty on. +</p> + +<p> +Percy Falconer, of whom Betty had spoken, had once been a rather dudish, +affected boy and had later developed into an exceedingly fast young man. He had +an immensely rich father and a mother who denied him nothing so that he had +been able to gather together a few kindred spirits among whom he was the +leader. All the regular boys and girls in town thoroughly disliked “the +set,” but there were a few girls who were willing to put up with Percy +Falconer and his crowd for sake of the long motor rides, dances, dinners and +motorboat picnics that the boys were able to give them. +</p> + +<p> +There were always some of this wild crowd over at the “Point,” and +it was for this reason as well as the very real danger of a collision with a +recklessly driven boat that Betty’s father had rather discouraged the +chums going over to that side of the river. +</p> + +<p> +However the day was fine, the water of the river was as calm as a lake and the +<i>Gem</i> flew across the sparkling water like a gull, bringing a flush of +pure excitement and pleasure to the faces of the girls. Danger! what danger +could there be in this staunch little craft, with Betty at the wheel? +</p> + +<p> +They were half way across the river, now! three quarters. The gay pleasure +craft flaunting up and down the river were becoming more numerous and Betty +slackened speed. Her breath came more quickly and her hands tightened on the +wheel. She could drive a boat as well as any boy, but here, she knew, was a +situation to test her greatest skill. +</p> + +<p> +Craft of all sizes and descriptions seemed to the excited girls to be piling up +about them. Most of the boats were being navigated carefully, but now and then +a small, fast speed-craft would shoot out from behind another so suddenly that +Betty would be forced to swerve sharply to one side, fairly grazing the stern +of the racing boat. +</p> + +<p> +On one of these occasions, when it had seemed impossible to avoid a collision, +Amy called out sharply: +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, Betty, don’t you think we had better go back?” +</p> + +<p> +And Betty replied with a queer little laugh: +</p> + +<p> +“Might just as well go ahead as back now. We’ll be there in a +minute. Don’t worry.” +</p> + +<p> +The words were scarcely out of her mouth when two craft running neck and neck +and driven recklessly slipped out from behind a sailboat and drove directly +down upon the <i>Gem</i>. It seemed impossible that the Outdoor Girls could +escape disaster. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap06"></a>CHAPTER VI.<br/> +NEARLY WRECKED</h2> + +<p> +The girls did not scream. Perhaps they were too frightened or perhaps it was +just natural pluck. +</p> + +<p> +They did jump to their feet though as if with some wild thought of leaping +overboard. But there they remained, staring with fascinated eyes at the fate +that was bearing down upon them. +</p> + +<p> +As for Betty, after one breath-taking minute when all the blood in her body +seemed to rush to her head, she simply sat there and tried in the second that +was given her to think what to do. +</p> + +<p> +Almost automatically, she wrenched the wheel around, nearly capsizing the boat +with the sudden turn. At almost the same second, as though the thing had been +prearranged, the boys in the racing craft swung around in the opposite +direction. +</p> + +<p> +A slight scraping as the side of the <i>Gem</i> slid along the side of the +nearer of the racing craft, and they were safe, with no harm done with the +exception of a little paint scraped from the side of the boat. +</p> + +<p> +It was a moment before the girls could realize what had happened to them. Then +a voice hailed them from the boat alongside. In a glance the girls perceived +that the voice belonged to no other than Percy Falconer himself. +</p> + +<p> +“Hello,” called Percy, adding boisterously as he recognized the +girls: “Well, by all that’s holy, if it isn’t the Outdoor +Girls! Thought you never came over to this side of the river.” +</p> + +<p> +“We don’t,” Betty answered, the hand that still gripped the +wheel shaking nervously now that the danger was over. “And I don’t +believe we ever will again, either!” +</p> + +<p> +“I say, your teeth are chattering,” cried Percy, looking at Betty +in open admiration. In the old days, Percy had tried hard to win favor in +Betty’s eyes, but the latter had always treated him with a good-natured +indifference not unmixed with contempt that had been very hard for the young +dude to bear. During the years he had still admired Betty from afar and hated +Allen Washburn for being the “lucky one.” So now he hastened to +make the most of what he thought was an opportunity. +</p> + +<p> +“Come on over to the Point with me and Derby here,” indicating the +young fellow in the other racing craft who had drawn his boat up close to them +and was looking on with interest. “We will get you something to steady +your nerves a bit. We had a pretty narrow squeak that time, and it’s no +wonder it upset you a little.” +</p> + +<p> +He was supposedly addressing all the girls, but his eyes were only for Betty. +As for her, she suddenly had a startlingly clear mental picture of what her +father would think were some one to tell him that his daughter and her chums +had been seen at the “Point” with Percy Falconer and a friend of +his. +</p> + +<p> +In days gone by Percy had been very insipid, his mind entirely on his clothes; +now he had become a sport, and the report was that he caroused around not a +little. +</p> + +<p> +Betty turned to the youth with a decided little shake of her head, though her +eyes were smiling. +</p> + +<p> +“I think we shall have to go right back,” she said. “It looks +as though it were going to rain. Thank you just as much,” and she began +to ease her motor boat gently away from the other craft, +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, I say,” Percy cried, disappointedly and a little angrily, for +out of the corner of his eye he could see that his friend was laughing at him, +“we would only keep you for a moment or two. You needn’t be afraid +of us. We won’t bite, you know.” +</p> + +<p> +“We don’t know you well enough to be sure even of that,” said +Mollie, coming suddenly and flippantly into the conversation. +</p> + +<p> +But Percy took not the slightest notice of her and, as Betty was slowly but +surely widening the distance between the <i>Gem</i> and his boat, he leaned +forward eagerly. +</p> + +<p> +“Betty, let me see you some time. How about to-morrow night?” +</p> + +<p> +And because Betty was always kind to every one and was sorry for Mollie’s +flippant speech, she said, quite unexpectedly, even to herself, “All +right.” +</p> + +<p> +Then she turned the <i>Gem</i> around and started for home, conscious that her +chums were gazing at her in speechless amazement. +</p> + +<p> +“Betty!” cried Grace, horrified. “You are never going to let +Percy Falconer come to see you, are you?” +</p> + +<p> +But Betty turned on her irritably. She was tired and nervous and angry at +herself for having anything to do with that conceited dude, Percy Falconer. +</p> + +<p> +“You heard me say he could come, didn’t you?” she said in +response to Grace’s incredulous question, Amy’s wide-eyed stare, +and Mollie’s grin. “And if you are going to ask me why I said +so,” she added desperately, “I’m not going to tell you. And +if anybody speaks to me before I get back to the dock, I’ll! wreck +’em, that’s all.” +</p> + +<p> +The girls exchanged glances and wisely decided to change the subject, for the +present at least. For the time they had plenty to do anyway, just watching out +that somebody else did not run into them! +</p> + +<p> +By the time they reached comparatively clear water they were all tired and they +were glad for once when the <i>Gem</i> scraped against the home dock and the +“cruise” was over. +</p> + +<p> +“Well,” said Mollie as they climbed on to the dock, “we +surely did have some excitement, but we didn’t get what we started out +for after all.” +</p> + +<p> +“What’s that?” asked Grace, as she tied the ribbon round her +candy box and adjusted her hat at a more becoming angle. +</p> + +<p> +“Ice-cream and a drink of ice water,” said Mollie ruefully. +“I’ve just remembered that I am dying of thirst.” +</p> + +<p> +“Come on around to my house,” Betty invited. Her wrist was lame +from gripping the wheel so hard and she felt it gingerly. “Mother said +she would make a big pitcher of lemonade for us and leave it in the +refrigerator.” +</p> + +<p> +“Whew,” whistled Mollie, taking Betty’s arm and hurrying her +forward. “By any chance did you girls hear what I heard? <i>Me</i> for +<i>it</i>, Betty Nelson.” +</p> + +<p> +The girls talked little an their way to Betty’s house, but they thought a +good deal. They were tired and disgruntled, and it seemed to them in their +pessimistic mood that everything they had tried to do that day had gone wrong. +And the climax of it all was their meeting! if it could be called a meeting! +with Percy Falconer. Worst of all, Betty was going to allow him to call! +</p> + +<p> +With something of this in her mind, Mollie glanced sideways at her chum and, +curiosity getting the better of her discretion, ventured to remark upon it. +</p> + +<p> +“I wonder what Allen will say,” she said, “when he learns +about Percy.” +</p> + +<p> +It was an unfortunate remark, as Betty very soon showed by turning upon her +chum angrily. +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know that Allen has a right to say anything at all about +what I do,” she said. “And as I don’t intend ever to see +Percy Falconer after to-morrow, I think we had better forget about him. But +there,” she added, bringing herself up short and giving Mollie’s +hand a little conciliatory squeeze, “I didn’t mean to be cross. +I’m just kind of mad about the whole thing! and tired, and hot!!” +</p> + +<p> +“I know,” said Mollie generously. “I guess we all are! tired +and hot, I mean. We will feel better after we have had something cold to +drink.” +</p> + +<p> +Betty’s mother had left not only the lemonade but some sandwiches of +chopped nuts and cream cheese. Jubilantly the girls carried these delicacies +out on the front porch and proceeded to devour them without further delay. +</p> + +<p> +As they ate and drank, their ill-humor vanished and they began to feel once +more like their cheerful, optimistic selves. They even began to laugh a little +about the close shave they had had with Percy and his friend. +</p> + +<p> +“It was mighty clever work of yours, Betty, swerving around like +that,” Mollie said reminiscently, as she patted the Little +Captain’s hand approvingly. “I’m sure I would have been so +scared I’d have gone right ahead and then there would have been a nasty +smash.” +</p> + +<p> +“I do hope the folks don’t hear about it,” worried Grace. +“It would only make them nervous and they might even refuse to let us go +out in the <i>Gem</i> any more.” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t see how the folks are going to know anything about +it,” said Amy calmly. +</p> + +<p> +“Unless our dear friend Percy blabs it all over town,” added Grace. +</p> + +<p> +“I think we ought to tell the folks,” Betty spoke up suddenly. +“I know they would rather hear about it from us than from any one else. +Hello,” she broke off, as her eye lighted on a newspaper lying on the +table, “this looks like the evening edition. Maybe it has some news of +Allen’s division.” +</p> + +<p> +“My, just listen to her,” yawned Grace. “Allen’s +division, indeed. As though he were the only one we were interested in!!” +</p> + +<p> +But her words were cut short by a startled exclamation from Betty. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, girls, look here!” she cried. “Look at these names. Oh, +I hope it isn’t true! I hope it isn’t!” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap07"></a>CHAPTER VII.<br/> +BAD TIDINGS CONFIRMED</h2> + +<p> +“I wish I knew what you were talking about,” said Mollie, pausing +with a sandwich half-way to her mouth, while Amy and Grace regarded the Little +Captain with astonishment. “What names? Where?” +</p> + +<p> +But Betty was paying no attention to them. She was reading hastily the column +that had caught her startled attention. +</p> + +<p> +“Listen to this,” she said, reading out loud. “Among those +who were killed in the last great Allied offensive are the names of these brave +soldiers. James Browning of Columbus, Ohio! No, that isn’t what I mean! +Look, here they are! James Dempsey and Arnold Dempsey, Junior. Girls, do you +suppose!” and she looked at them with widening eyes. +</p> + +<p> +“Arnold Dempsey, Arnold Dempsey,” repeated Mollie, searching in her +memory, but Amy interrupted excitedly. +</p> + +<p> +“That was Professor Dempsey’s name, wasn’t it?” she +asked. “Oh, Betty, do you suppose it could be his son?” +</p> + +<p> +“Why, of course it is his son! how could it be any one else?” cried +Grace, the excitement beginning to communicate itself to her. “Arnold +Dempsey, Junior! and the professor said his sons were over there.” +</p> + +<p> +“Didn’t it say something about James Dempsey, too, Betty?” +asked Mollie, fairly snatching the paper from her chum. “Yes, here it is. +Do you suppose that can be his other son?” +</p> + +<p> +Betty shook her head soberly. +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know,” she said. “Of course he didn’t +tell us the name of his other son, but it might easily be James. Oh, I hope it +isn’t so!” she added, her heart aching for the lonely old man whose +one big interest in life was his boys. “I do hope there has been some +mistake.” +</p> + +<p> +“I guess we all do,” said Amy gently, adding with a sigh: +“But I’m afraid there isn’t very much hope of it. The +Government is usually right when it comes to things like that.” +</p> + +<p> +“Not always,” Mollie retorted quickly. “Look at the time they +reported that Allen was among the missing and he wasn’t at all. That is +the only mistake we happen to know about, but I fancy there are plenty of +others.” +</p> + +<p> +At mention of that dreadful time when she had read Allen’s name in the +long list of the missing, Betty experienced again something of the emotion she +had felt at that time. +</p> + +<p> +She saw again in imagination the dark room where she had gone to be by herself, +she heard the thunder of the surf on the rocks outside and the rumble of the +thunder overhead. She saw once more the vision of Allen as she had seen it +then. Allen stretched out cold and dead perhaps on some shell-ridden +battlefield or perhaps, more terrible still, a prisoner in the hands of the +Hun, suffering unspeakable torture!! +</p> + +<p> +“But this is not as bad as though the boys were missing,” she said +suddenly, speaking her thought aloud. “At least the professor will know +that his sons are dead.” +</p> + +<p> +The girls started and looked at Betty queerly. +</p> + +<p> +“I was thinking of Allen,” she explained in response to their +rather startled glances, “and the time when we thought he was missing. If +this thing is true about Professor Dempsey’s sons I think I shall be able +to sympathize with him, almost better than any of you.” +</p> + +<p> +“I guess you will, honey,” said Mollie soberly, putting an arm +about her chum. “It was a terrible time for us all! there at Bluff Point. +But it was almost worth the suffering when we found out that Allen was alive +and well and never had been missing at all. Do you remember how happy we all +were then?” +</p> + +<p> +“Happy,” Betty repeated, shaking off her depression and smiling at +the memory. “I’ll say we were the happiest girls on earth! +especially after we recovered the twins. But what,” she said, coming back +to the present subject, “are we going to do about Professor Dempsey? We +ought to do something, you know.” +</p> + +<p> +“I suppose we ought,” said Grace, a little vaguely, “but +I’m sure I don’t know just what.” +</p> + +<p> +“I think,” suggested Amy practically, “that the best thing +would be to try to find out first of all whether these poor boys who were +killed are really Professor Dempsey’s sons or not.” +</p> + +<p> +“Humph, that sounds all right,” observed Mollie. “But has any +one here any suggestion as to just how we will go about it? I’m sure I +don’t know any one who is acquainted with Professor Dempsey! or his +family either.” +</p> + +<p> +“I’ve got it,” said Betty, leaning forward eagerly. “It +may not be much of an idea, but then again it may.” +</p> + +<p> +“Speak up, speak up, what’s on your mind?” urged Mollie +slangily. +</p> + +<p> +“Well,” said Betty, “there is Mr. Haig, principal of Deepdale +High. He knows pretty nearly every one at the university where Professor +Dempsey used to teach and he is more than likely to know whether the professor +has any sons and what their names are.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, that is all right as far as it goes,” broke in Mollie +impatiently. +</p> + +<p> +“We all know Mr. Haig!” Amy began, but this time it was Grace who +interrupted. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, we all know him,” she said. “But I’d like to know +if there is any one of us! except Betty perhaps! who would have the nerve to go +to him and ask him a question like that!!” +</p> + +<p> +“Say, who’s telling this story I’d like to know,” broke +in Betty impatiently. “I’m not asking any one to go to Mr. Haig +with that question or any other! although I would be perfectly willing to brave +the lion in his den if there were no other way. My plan is this. Dad knows Mr. +Haig, you know! went to school with him! old college chums and all that. +I’m sure that if we asked him real pretty he would go to Mr. Haig and +find out about Professor Dempsey for us.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then suppose we find out that Professor Dempsey hasn’t any sons by +the name of James and Arnold?” suggested Grace. +</p> + +<p> +“Then we shall be mighty glad we took the trouble to find out and set our +minds at rest,” answered Betty soberly. +</p> + +<p> +“And if we find out that they are really his sons, what then?” +queried Grace, and this time Betty looked puzzled and Mollie and Amy completely +beyond their depth. +</p> + +<p> +“Why then,” said Betty hesitatingly, “I’m sure I +don’t just know what we ought to do. But don’t you think,” +she added, brightening, “that it might be a good idea to wait until we +have found out definite facts before we try to solve any more problems?” +</p> + +<p> +Rather reluctantly the girls agreed and, after making Betty promise that she +would let them know the very first minute she found out the names of Arnold +Dempsey’s sons, they said good-bye and started for home. +</p> + +<p> +Of course Betty had already told her father and mother about Professor Dempsey +and the part he had played in actually saving their lives; so when she told +them that night of what she had read in the paper and begged her father to help +her find out whether the dead soldiers were really Arnold Dempsey’s sons +or not, he readily consented to do what he could. +</p> + +<p> +“I’ll drop in and see Haig to-morrow,” he promised. “I +have often heard him speak of Professor Dempsey as being one of the best +professors of zoology up at the university and I am sure I will be able to find +out what you want to know. I hope you have been mistaken in your conclusions, +for it would be a horrible blow to a man to lose both his grown sons at once +and like that. Now run off to bed and tomorrow I may have some news for +you.” +</p> + +<p> +With this Betty was forced to be content. She went to bed of course, there was +nothing else to do, but she tossed restlessly all night and what sleep she got +was checkered with horrid dreams and she woke up in the morning feeling as +though she had not been to sleep at all. +</p> + +<p> +The next day was a long one to live through, even though the girls did keep +calling her up at frequent intervals to see if she had any news for them yet. +She became so tired of hearing the telephone bell ring at last that she stuffed +a handkerchief between the bell and the clapper and sat down to read a novel +and while away the time as best she could till her father came home. +</p> + +<p> +Luckily for her! and him too, perhaps! Mr. Nelson did get home early, and he +was no sooner inside the door than Betty grabbed him by the arm, led him over +to a divan in the corner of the living room, and let loose upon him a flood of +questions. +</p> + +<p> +“Did you see him? What did he say? Why didn’t you let me know +sooner?” +</p> + +<p> +These and various other queries were hurled at Mr. Nelson so fast that it is no +wonder the poor gentleman appeared slightly bewildered. But knowing his +impetuous young daughter of old, he merely pinched her cheek fondly and waited +for her to give him a chance to speak. +</p> + +<p> +“If you will wait just a moment I will try to tell you about it,” +he said at last, mildly. +</p> + +<p> +“There’s only one thing I really want to know, Dad,” said +Betty soberly. “And that is the name of Professor Dempsey’s +sons.” +</p> + +<p> +Her father shook his head slowly, regretfully. +</p> + +<p> +“I am afraid it is as you have feared, dear,” he said, +“Professor Dempsey has two sons! or rather, had! and their names were +James and Arnold.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, Daddy!” Betty was quiet for a minute, letting the full +consciousness of what her father had said sink into her heart. Then her lips +trembled and her eyes filled with tears. “I! I was pretty sure it was +true. But, oh, I was hoping so hard that it wouldn’t be!” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap08"></a>CHAPTER VIII.<br/> +PREMONITIONS</h2> + +<p> +Betty kept her promise and called up the girls to tell them the news. Like the +Little Captain, they had felt almost sure of the identity of the two Dempsey +boys who had been killed in France, yet the confirmation of their fears came as +a distinct shock. +</p> + +<p> +They waited for a couple of days, undecided what to do, if indeed it was their +place to do anything at all. Vaguely they felt the need of comforting the queer +little professor in his hour of greatest trouble, and yet they were at a loss +to know just how to go about it. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile, the occupations that had ordinarily filled their days to overflowing +with fun, seemed dull and uninteresting and they found their thoughts reverting +again and again to the bereaved father in his lonely little cabin in the woods. +</p> + +<p> +Percy Falconer had called at Betty’s house the day after the incident on +the river as had been arranged, and Betty had conceived the plan of having all +her chums there to meet him. +</p> + +<p> +Her hope was that the gay Percy, seeing four, where he had expected only one, +would be overwhelmed with numbers and would flee the premises early! to return +no more. +</p> + +<p> +Her faith in her plan was more than justified. Percy had always been a little +afraid of the Outdoor Girls! Betty in particular! but it is probable that if he +had been able to meet them one at a time, he might have come off victorious. As +it was, he was routed, completely and ignominiously, leaving the girls to laugh +at his discomfiture. +</p> + +<p> +“There, I guess that is the end of <i>that</i> pest,” Mollie had +said when she had recovered a little from her mirth. “I imagine we +won’t see him around these parts again.” +</p> + +<p> +“I hope not,” Betty had answered with a satisfied little yawn. +“Wasn’t he too funny in that checked suit and awful green necktie? +Poor old Percy! I suppose he can’t help it. He probably just grew that +way,” +</p> + +<p> +She had been comparing him all evening with her splendid, upstanding Allen, and +poor Percy had certainly not gained by the comparison. +</p> + +<p> +The amusing incident served to divert their minds somewhat from the thought of +Professor Dempsey, but the picture of him haunted their minds so continually +day and night that the Outdoor Girls finally decided that something must he +done about it. +</p> + +<p> +“I can’t stand it any longer,” Betty confided to them one +morning when they stood on Mollie’s porch discussing what course of +action it would be best to take. “I have a queer feeling that the poor +professor is in desperate need of friends, and I don’t believe I’ll +be able to sleep another night until I find out something definite about +him.” +</p> + +<p> +“Won’t he think we are sort of ‘butting in’?” +asked Grace, hesitating a little. “He might think we came just out of +curiosity.” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t think he would,” said Mollie. “You know he +invited us to come back some time when we could stay long enough for him to +tell us something about those bugs and butterflies and things he sticks pins +into +</p> + +<p> +“That’s the idea!” exclaimed Betty quickly. “We +won’t have to tell him we know anything about his trouble. If he tells +us! why, all right, but if he doesn’t, of course we won’t try to +force a confidence. Anyway,” she finished soberly, “we’ll +have the satisfaction of knowing we have done our best for him whether it +really helps him any or not.” +</p> + +<p> +“And we owe him a very great deal,” spoke up Amy softly. “He +really saved our lives, you know.” +</p> + +<p> +So it was settled, and while the other three girls ran home to put on coats and +hats and get ready for the drive, Mollie ran around to the garage and brought +her big car to the front of the house. +</p> + +<p> +She waved good-bye to her mother, who was trying rather wildly to keep Dodo and +Paul from running under the wheels of the car and getting killed, and purred +off down the street in the direction of Betty’s house. +</p> + +<p> +When she arrived there she was a little surprised to see that Betty was backing +her fast little roadster down the drive. +</p> + +<p> +To Betty the little car was almost alive, and she talked to it as she would +have to some loved horse or dog. She scrubbed it and scoured it and shined it +so that it always looked like a brand new car. +</p> + +<p> +“Hey, look out!” cried Mollie, for Betty, not noticing her and +being a little worried about the sound of the engine, had backed the small car +down the drive and almost into Mollie’s big one. “What kind of +driving do you call that? Do you want to buy me a new mudguard?” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, pardon me,” said Betty, laughing back at her. “You were +so small and insignificant, I came near not seeing you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, you would have <i>felt</i> me in another minute,” grumbled +Mollie, as she shut off the engine and got out of the car. “What’s +the idea of your little peanut, anyway? Thought you were going to ride in a +regular car.” +</p> + +<p> +“That’s why I chose mine,” Betty laughed back impishly, still +intent on the sound of the engine. +</p> + +<p> +It was part of their fun to be always throwing insults at each other’s +car but the thrusts were invariably good-natured. +</p> + +<p> +Only once had there threatened to be any trouble between the chums on account +of rivalry over the cars. That had been when Mollie had taken Betty’s +“dare” to a race and Betty’s little roadster had won the day, +racing like a streak of light along the country road and leaving Mollie’s +high-powered but more clumsy car far behind. +</p> + +<p> +But Mollie had taken her defeat like the little sport she was! even though it +must be admitted she had been considerably disappointed and taken aback by her +failure! and in her ever since there had been a great respect for Betty’s +car. +</p> + +<p> +But now she eyed with impatience the bent figure of the Little Captain as she +still leaned over the wheel, her ear tuned to the purr of the engine. +</p> + +<p> +“For goodness’ sake, what’s the matter with you?” she +cried. “I thought you were the one who was in a hurry to be off and now +look at you! sitting there like!!” +</p> + +<p> +“Engine is missing,” Betty informed her briskly. “Guess I had +better have a look!” +</p> + +<p> +“If you start fussing with bolts and screws now, you can count me +out,” said Mollie, resolutely climbing back into her car. “It is +ten o’clock already, and we won’t be home before night if we +don’t hurry.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, all right,” laughed Betty. “But if the car gives out +before we get back don’t blame me, that’s all.” +</p> + +<p> +“It would give me the greatest of pleasure,” said Mollie with a +diabolical chuckle as her machine moved off down the street, “to have +every one in Deepdale see me towing your poor little flivver through the +town.” +</p> + +<p> +“Huh,” sang back Betty scornfully as the roadster responded eagerly +to her touch, “they will have a great deal better chance of seeing me in +the lead with your great big jumbo tottering feebly at the end of a +rope.” +</p> + +<p> +They picked up Amy and Grace on the way and were soon flying swiftly down the +road in the direction of Professor Dempsey’s tree-surrounded home. +</p> + +<p> +They were in rather good spirits at first, for now that they were really on the +way to doing something, though they were not quite sure what, they felt +relieved and almost gay. +</p> + +<p> +But as the distance shortened between them and their destination, a strange +depression that they could neither explain nor brush away settled down over +them. +</p> + +<p> +Once, Grace, who sat beside the Little Captain in the roadster, sighed rather +dolefully and Betty looked at her out of the corner of her eye. +</p> + +<p> +“Do you feel that way too, Gracie?” the latter asked. +</p> + +<p> +“What way?” asked Grace uncertainly. “That sigh, do you +mean?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” nodded Betty. “You sounded rather mournful and that is +exactly the way I feel. What’s the matter with us, anyway? Where are our +spirits?” +</p> + +<p> +“I suppose we couldn’t expect to feel joyful,” said Grace +after a little pause. “We aren’t going, so far as I can see, on a +very happy errand, you know.” +</p> + +<p> +“But I don’t think it is that alone,” said Betty, with a +shake of her head. “I feel as if we were going to see something perfectly +dreadful!” +</p> + +<p> +“Betty,” Grace looked at her in sudden alarm, her eyes wide, +“you don’t suppose that the professor could have done anything! +anything rash, do you?” +</p> + +<p> +“You mean!!” said Betty, hesitating before the ugly word. +“Oh, Grace, you don’t mean! suicide, do you?” +</p> + +<p> +Grace nodded and tried hard not to look as frightened as she felt. +</p> + +<p> +“No, I! I don’t think so,” said Betty, grasping the wheel +with hands that somehow seemed suddenly weak. “If I thought anything like +that had happened I wouldn’t have the courage to go on.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, I don’t believe I have! the courage, I mean,” said +Grace, irresolutely. “Don’t you think we had better go back, Betty? +It’s so lonesome here and! and! everything!!” +</p> + +<p> +Her voice was rising to something like a wail, and Betty, striving to throttle +her own misgivings, spoke in a voice that was intended to be reassuring. +</p> + +<p> +“We wouldn’t think very much of ourselves if we turned back +now,” she said. “And probably we are worrying a great deal about +nothing. He didn’t seem like the kind of man who would do a thing like +that.” +</p> + +<p> +Grace said no more about turning back, and they were silent for the rest of the +way. But instead of lightening, the cloud of depression became deeper and more +foreboding until even the stout Little Captain began almost to wish that they +had not come. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap09"></a>CHAPTER IX.<br/> +A VISITOR</h2> <p> +When they came to the scene of what was so nearly a terrible accident a week or +so before they found that the big tree which had extended clear across the road +was gone and that the underbrush also had been cleared away. +</p> + +<p> +They stopped the cars a little the other side of the path that led into the +woods and slowly stepped down into the road. +</p> + +<p> +When they caught sight of each other’s faces they began to laugh shakily. +</p> + +<p> +“We certainly look as if we were going on a ghost hunt,” Mollie +said. At this Grace uttered a little cry of protest. The thought had struck too +near her own disquieting thoughts to be comfortable. +</p> + +<p> +“For goodness’ sake, somebody say something cheerful,” she +begged. “I’ve got to get up my courage some way.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, I haven’t any to lend you,” grumbled Mollie, as she +linked her arm in Betty’s and the two went along toward the path. +“I don’t like this job a little bit.” +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t you think,” suggested Amy, holding back a little, +“that somebody ought to stay here and take care of the cars?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, you don’t!” said Mollie, catching her by the hand and +pulling her along after them. “If one of us goes we are all going.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, come along,” urged Betty, eager to get the thing over with. +“I think we are all acting like a lot of geese. It might help some if we +tried to remember that we are Outdoor Girls.” +</p> + +<p> +This challenge did a great deal toward bolstering up the girls’ courage +and they hurried along the path more confidently, +</p> + +<p> +Their pace slowed a bit, however, when they reached the cleared space where the +little cottage stood and they paused for a moment in the shelter of the trees +to discuss what to do next. +</p> + +<p> +“Do you think we had all better go?” asked Grace nervously. +“Perhaps the four of us would frighten him!!” +</p> + +<p> +“No, we will all go together,” said Betty decidedly. “There +is nothing to be gained by standing here talking about it. Come on, +girls.” +</p> + +<p> +She started across the cleared space and the girls followed slowly. The little +cottage looked deserted and forlorn and the dreary aspect of it served to +increase the girls’ uneasy sense of disaster. +</p> + +<p> +Betty knocked gently on the door which had, upon that other occasion not so +very long ago, been hospitably opened to them. But, though they waited +breathlessly for a response, none came! the house was as silent as a tomb. +</p> + +<p> +“Do it again, Betty. He might be asleep or something,” suggested +Mollie, with a glance over her shoulder at the quiet woodland. “Knock +harder this time.” +</p> + +<p> +Betty obeyed, but with no better success than the first time. Everything was as +silent as before. +</p> + +<p> +“Isn’t there a bell, I wonder?” suggested Amy, wishing +ardently that they were back on the road once more. “Perhaps your knock +isn’t loud enough for him to hear.” +</p> + +<p> +“We might tap on the window,” suggested Grace. “If I use my +ring on the window pane he surely ought to hear that.” +</p> + +<p> +She started to suit her action to the words when an exclamation from Betty made +her pause. The latter had tried the door and found to her surprise that it gave +to her touch. +</p> + +<p> +“The door is unlocked,” she said. “I don’t believe the +professor is in here at all and if he has gone into the woods to hunt his +butterflies and beetles I am sure he wouldn’t mind our going inside. What +do you think?” +</p> + +<p> +She was about to push the door open, but Grace detained her with a nervous hand +on her arm. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, I don’t think we had better go in, Betty!” she cried. +“You know what we were speaking of in the car. Suppose we should find +that he has! that he has!!” +</p> + +<p> +“That he has what?” asked Amy, her eyes wide. “For +goodness’ sake, what do you mean, Grace?” +</p> + +<p> +Betty tried to stop her, but Grace hurried on heedlessly. +</p> + +<p> +“He may have committed suicide,” she cried, adding, in response to +Mollie’s and Amy’s cry of horror: “You know he must have been +desperate enough to do anything, poor old man, out here all alone.” +</p> + +<p> +At the conviction in Grace’s tone, Betty felt her own nerve slipping. She +did not want to go into that silent house any more than the other girls did. +Every instinct in her commanded that she run from the place to the commonplace +safety of the road. She was afraid of what she might find on the other side of +that unlocked door. And yet!! +</p> + +<p> +“I’m going in,” she cried, and, suiting the action to the +word, pushed the door quickly open and stepped over the threshold. +</p> + +<p> +Emboldened by her example, the other girls followed and stopped short with a +cry of dismay. They had not found what they feared! but something almost as +bad. +</p> + +<p> +The room, which had been so neat and orderly when they had last seen it, was +now the scene of such utter confusion as one might only hope to see depicted in +a cubist’s nightmare. +</p> + +<p> +The animal skins which had adorned the walls had been torn down and lay in a +tattered heap upon the floor. The shelves upon which had rested the +professor’s botanical specimens had been swept clean and their contents +also were scattered about the floor. +</p> + +<p> +The bench upon which the girls had sat and partaken of the queer little +man’s hospitality was overturned and the one chair in the room was upside +down on top of it. The whole room looked as though a cyclone! or a maniac! had +been at work. +</p> + +<p> +The girls stared for a minute and then drew closer together as if seeking +protection from some unseen menace. They had some vague conception of what had +taken place here in this lonely little cottage. The elderly and already nervous +professor, reading the tragedy of his sons’ death, all alone perhaps, +with no one to comfort or restrain him, had lost his mind, temporarily at +least, and had found an outlet in ruthlessly destroying everything which came +within reach of his hand. +</p> + +<p> +And if this were so, might he not even now be hiding about somewhere, watching +them, perhaps? +</p> + +<p> +This thought seemed to strike the girls at the same time, for after peering for +a second about the room, they turned and made a concerted dash for the door. +</p> + +<p> +Once outside the room, in the reassuring sunshine, they turned and looked at +each other sheepishly. Then Betty wheeled about and started for the door again. +</p> + +<p> +“Betty, you are never going back into that place again?” cried Amy +wildly, holding to her skirt. “I won’t let you! Do you hear me? +Come back here!” +</p> + +<p> +But Betty had no intention of coming back. She turned and faced the girls +calmly, though inwardly she was trembling. +</p> + +<p> +“Of course I am going back,” she said. “Professor Dempsey may +be in one of the other rooms and he may be sick. If nobody will go with me, +I’m going in alone.” +</p> + +<p> +Of course the three girls could not let her go in alone, so they trailed back +at her heels into the house, being very careful, however, to leave the door +wide open behind them, in case a hasty retreat became necessary. +</p> + +<p> +Cautiously Betty opened the door at the other end of the room and stepped into +what had evidently been a sort of rough kitchen. Now it was nothing but a +nightmare like the other room, and she shuddered as she looked about at the +desolate confusion. +</p> + +<p> +There was a door at the farther end of this room, and after some hesitation and +an inward struggle Betty crossed hastily to it and flung it wide open. +</p> + +<p> +What she half expected and feared to find there nobody but Betty herself ever +knew, but whatever it was, she gave a great sigh of relief at not finding it +there. The room was upset, though not quite as badly as the other two, but +there was no sign of human occupancy anywhere. +</p> + +<p> +She turned to the girls who had come up behind her and were eagerly and half +shudderingly peering over her shoulder. +</p> + +<p> +“There’s nothing here,” she announced, the relief she felt +showing in her voice, “and as there doesn’t seem to be any other +room in the place, I suppose we might as well go back.” +</p> + +<p> +Echoing her suggestion heartily, the girls started to retrace their steps when +a slight sound in the other room made them stop short in a panic. +</p> + +<p> +“What was that?” Amy questioned, but Mollie held up her hand +impatiently. +</p> + +<p> +There came the sound of some one stumbling over something. This was followed by +a muttered exclamation. +</p> + +<p> +While the girls looked about them wildly for a means of escape Mollie began to +laugh hysterically. +</p> + +<p> +“We have a visitor,” she announced in a strangled voice. “And +he is between us and the only door in the place. Come on, girls, let’s +see who it is.” +</p> + +<p> +They stepped out into the cluttered living room and came face to face with a +young man who seemed more startled at seeing them than they had been at sight +of him. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, I’ll be jiggered!” he exclaimed, and at sound of the +commonplace phrase the girls could have hugged the speaker in relief. Also they +felt a rather hysterical desire to laugh long and foolishly. +</p> + +<p> +As it was, the stranger stood staring at the girls and the girls at him so long +that the funny side of the situation struck Betty and she really did begin to +laugh. +</p> + +<p> +“We haven’t the slightest idea who you are,” she told the +astonished young man. “But I am sure of one thing, and that is that we +were never so glad to see any one in all our lives as we are to see you.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap10"></a>CHAPTER X.<br/> +HURRAH FOR ALLEN</h2> + +<p> +The young man stared for a moment longer. Then the humor of the situation +seemed to strike him too, and he smiled pleasantly. +</p> + +<p> +“It surely is a pleasure to be as welcome as all that,” he said +pleasantly, and the girls noticed that he was a well set up young fellow and +that he wore his uniform easily, as if he had been used to wearing it for a +long, long time. “I am Wesley Travers,” he went on. “I live +in a cottage down the road and I came over this way to see if the old professor +had come back yet. I saw the door open! came in! and found you.” +</p> + +<p> +He smiled again pleasantly and looked as though he considered that he had +fallen into rather good luck. But at his mention of the professor Betty had +sobered instantly. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, then you know something about Professor Dempsey?” she +questioned eagerly. +</p> + +<p> +“Please tell us what happened to him,” added Amy breathlessly. +</p> + +<p> +“Did he do this?” asked Mollie, with a comprehensive sweep of her +hand about the cluttered room. +</p> + +<p> +“I’m afraid he did,” answered the young fellow, sobering +instantly. “You see, I just returned from overseas about a week ago and a +couple of days later my dad read in the paper about the death of this queer old +man’s two sons. The pater had always been interested in the lonely old +boy, so he sent me over to see if I could do anything for him. I found the +place like this and! the bird had flown. Went dopy I suppose about the bad news +and tore things up a bit.” +</p> + +<p> +Though the boy’s words were slangy, there was real sympathy in his tone +and the girls liked him the better for it. +</p> + +<p> +“And you haven’t heard anything from him since?” asked Betty +softly. +</p> + +<p> +“Not a word or a sign,” answered the boy, with a shake of his head. +“Just clean cleared out, that’s all. Pretty hard luck, I call it. +Just at the end of things too! when he had a right to expect the fellows home. +Pretty tough luck. I wish I could find the poor old duffer and do something for +him.” +</p> + +<p> +The girls heartily echoed the wish. Before leaving the place for good, they +looked about the rooms once more for some sign or message that might give them +a clue to the whereabouts of the professor. They found nothing, however, and +finally were forced to give up the search. +</p> + +<p> +As the young people stepped outside once more and closed the door after them +upon the desolate house a great wave of pity swept over Betty. Somehow it did +not seem right to go off like this as though they were abandoning the old man +to his fate. Yet what could they do more than they had done? +</p> + +<p> +“Girls,” she said, a little quiver in her voice, “I would +give almost everything I own to find the poor old professor and help him back +to happiness. If I only could,” she added after a pause. +</p> + +<p> +“Well,” said Wesley Travers, as he looked admiringly at +Betty’s flushed, sympathetic little face, “I imagine if any one +could find him and bring him happiness, you would be that one.” +</p> + +<p> +The young soldier accompanied them back to the road. After thanking him for the +information he had given them, the girls climbed into their cars and headed +toward home, leaving Wesley Travers still standing in the road and looking +after them thoughtfully. +</p> + +<p> +“A mighty nice bunch of girls,” thought the latter. +“Especially the little brown-haired one. They seemed rather interested in +that dotty old professor too. Lucky fellow to have four girls like that +interested in him!” After this remark he started off toward home. +</p> + +<p> +Luckily for the girls, the next few days were so crowded with preparations for +the trip to Wild Rose Lodge that they had not much time to dwell on the poor +old professor and his misfortunes. +</p> + +<p> +Only at night would they sometimes dream queer dreams in which wild-eyed men +went around smashing everything in sight and a little cottage stood lonely and +desolate and ghostlike amid a silent forest of trees. +</p> + +<p> +After a night like this the girls were always glad to awake and find the +sunshine streaming cheerfully in their windows. And they would throw themselves +with more than usual energy into the activities of the day. Yet try as they +would, they could never quite blot the tragedy from their minds. +</p> + +<p> +On the afternoon of the day before they were to start for Moonlight Falls, the +girls were gathered in Betty’s garage at the back of the house, where the +Little Captain was giving her car one last overhauling to make sure that it was +in perfect condition for the trip. Mollie suddenly espied the postman coming +down the street. +</p> + +<p> +Now the postman was a very popular man with the girls, for the reason that he +brought almost daily some message from the boys on the other side. He +sympathized with the chums so fully in their desire for letters with the red +triangle in one corner that he actually confessed to a guilty feeling when he +had no missive of the sort for them. +</p> + +<p> +So now, as Mollie ran toward him with outstretched hand, he held up to her +delighted gaze not only one letter, but four. +</p> + +<p> +“One for each of you,” he said beamingly, as Mollie reached him. +“I thought that probably I would find all four of you at one place, so I +kept the letters together.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, thanks, it is awfully good of you,” said Mollie +absent-mindedly, as she took the welcome letters and hurried with them back to +the garage. “One for each of us, just think of that!” she cried to +the questioning girls. “It looks as if the boys had all written at the +same time. Put down your duster, Betty, for goodness’ sake, and read what +Allen has to say. Maybe,” she added hopefully, as she ripped her envelope +open, “they will tell us something definite about coming home.” +</p> + +<p> +So down the girls sat in the midst of dust cloths and more or less dirt to find +what the boys had written. For a moment only the crackling of paper broke the +silence. Then Grace gave a little joyful cry. +</p> + +<p> +“Will says he is almost sure to be home soon!!” +</p> + +<p> +“And he has been made a sergeant,” Amy interrupted, or rather +added, her eyes shining with pride. “Just think of that! Will, a +sergeant!” +</p> + +<p> +“I was just going to tell them that if you had waited a minute,” +said Grace, rather crossly. There was quite a little jealousy between Grace and +Amy over Will. Grace had declared more than once that whereas she had known her +brother all her life, Amy had only known him for a couple of years! or! or +more. Grace loved her brother devotedly and once in a while she resented +Amy’s place in his affections. +</p> + +<p> +So now to change the subject and avert a possible quarrel, Mollie jumped into +the breach. +</p> + +<p> +“Listen to this,” she said. “Roy and Frank have been made +corporals and Allen! oh, look at Betty blush!” She looked gleefully +across at the Little Captain and Amy and Grace followed her glance. +</p> + +<p> +Betty was not blushing, but she felt as uncomfortable as though she had been. +</p> + +<p> +“Tell us what Allen says,” Mollie dared her wickedly. “Come +on, honey! dare you to.” +</p> + +<p> +“You can go on daring all you like,” said Betty defiantly. This +time she was blushing! from the fact that she knew she could not, or would not, +tell the girls what Allen had said in his letter. Not for anything in this +world! +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t mean what you mean,” said Mollie, enjoying her +confusion immensely, while Grace and Amy looked on laughingly. “I just +thought that maybe you would like to be the one to tell us about his +promotion.” +</p> + +<p> +“His promotion!” cried Amy and Grace together, and Betty looked +quite as bewildered as any of them. +</p> + +<p> +“Mollie, for goodness’ sake tell us what you mean,” she +demanded. +</p> + +<p> +“But didn’t he tell you about it, Betty?” Mollie insisted. +</p> + +<p> +“Wait a minute,” said the Little Captain as she hastily scanned the +pages of her long letter. Then, down near the end of the last page she found +it, just a little paragraph, put in as though it had been an afterthought. +“Why,” cried Betty, her eyes beginning to shine with excitement, +“girls, listen to this. Allen <i>has</i> been promoted. He’s an +officer now! a lieutenant! Think of it! leather leggings and all!” +</p> + +<p> +It was too much for the girls. They laughed and cried and hugged each other and +tried to imagine Allen in his new uniform to their hearts’ content, for +the young new-made officer was a favorite with them all. +</p> + +<p> +“Goodness,” said Amy happily, “I suppose when he gets home he +will be altogether too high-toned to notice common folk like us.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, I don’t know,” said Grace happily, adding with a sly +little glance at Betty, “I imagine he will make an exception of one of us +at least.” +</p> + +<p> +“I wonder,” drawled Mollie as she picked up her unfinished letter, +“which one of us you can mean.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap11"></a>CHAPTER XI.<br/> +THE HOLD-UP</h2> + +<p> +The girls were glad that the letters had come from the boys just as they had, +for it helped them to bridge over the tediously long wait till the next +morning. +</p> + +<p> +They read the missives with the little red triangles in the left hand corner +over and over again and! whisper it!! at least two of them slept with the +precious letters under their pillows. +</p> + +<p> +And then! the morning was upon them. It was a beautiful morning too, and as the +girls dressed hurriedly they were glad that they had arranged to start early. +In that way they could take their time and enjoy to the full the glorious ride +to Moonlight Falls. It was only fifty-five miles, but by driving slowly they +could make it seem like twice that. +</p> + +<p> +It was barely half past nine when Betty, having finished breakfast and put the +last finishing touches to her new white hat, ran around to the garage to get +the car out. +</p> + +<p> +Ten minutes later she had drawn up in front of Mollie’s house, her ears +still ringing with the hundred and one instructions of her anxious mother, and +was tooting the horn of her little car furiously. +</p> + +<p> +The summons had the desired effect. Mollie came running from the house, +straightening her hat with one hand and lugging a valise in the other while the +twins trailed at her skirts. +</p> + +<p> +“For goodness’ sake, let go of me, Paul. Dodo, if you touch that +bag again, I’ll spank you. Mother,” she wailed, looking back +pleadingly over her shoulder, “won’t you please make these little +pests go into the house?” +</p> + +<p> +Whereupon Mrs. Billette suddenly appeared at the door, smiled at Betty, grabbed +Paul with one hand, Dodo with the other, while the twins roared a protest. +</p> + +<p> +Released, Mollie dropped her bag, sped round to the garage, and in a moment +more was backing the big car round to the road. +</p> + +<p> +The girls had decided to about live in their khaki tramping suits on this trip, +merely packing in a good dress or two to wear on dress-up occasions. In this +way they had to take less luggage and could have more space to “spread +out” as Mollie said. +</p> + +<p> +“Put your grip in here, Betty,” Mollie suggested, as she slung her +own grip into the tonneau of the big machine. “There is more room, and +Mrs. Irving said she wouldn’t mind in the least being entirely surrounded +by suitcases.” +</p> + +<p> +Betty laughed, did as she was bid, and a moment later they were off, speeding +down the road to Grace’s house where they were to pick up the other two +girls and Mrs. Irving. +</p> + +<p> +They found the three waiting for them, and it took scarcely any time at all to +add the extra grips to the growing pile in the tonneau of Mollie’s car. +Amid great fun, Mrs. Irving, who was rosy-cheeked and matronly and as jolly as +the girls, was wedged into the remaining space, Amy climbed to the front seat +beside Mollie and Grace took her seat with Betty. +</p> + +<p> +They were off! The sting of the wind was in their faces, and the sun beat +warmly down upon them as they rolled along, passing familiar houses, and +sometimes familiar people, to whom they waved, and so on and on till they left +the town behind them and started out on the open road. +</p> + +<p> +“My, this is something like,” commented Grace, stretching her feet +out before her for all the world like a lazy, comfortable cat. “I feel +awfully sorry for all the poor people who haven’t cars to ride in to-day +and Wild Rose Lodges to visit. By the way, why is it called Wild Rose Lodge, +Betty?” +</p> + +<p> +“Because they say there are lots of wild roses around it, of +course,” Betty responded, her hands resting easily on the wheel, her eyes +bright with the joy of the moment. Grace, stealing a sideways glance at her, +could not help thinking that Betty looked not unlike a wild rose herself. +</p> + +<p> +“You look awfully pretty, honey,” she said then, for Grace was +always generous with praise where her friends were concerned. “I would +give the world to have a color like yours.” +</p> + +<p> +“Goodness,” remarked Betty, turning to look at her chum, her face a +little brighter pink because of the honest compliment, “you have a lovely +color! as you very well know. Mine is too red sometimes.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nobody thinks that but you,” said Grace, squeezing Betty’s +hand affectionately while she dived down in her pocket for some candy. +“The only time I have noticed you get very red,” she added, +“is when some one happens to mention a certain young gentleman by the +name of Lieutenant Allen Washburn.” +</p> + +<p> +Betty could feel that her face was burning, but she did not care. She was +awfully proud of Allen and desperately fond of him and for the moment she did +not care if the whole world knew about it. +</p> + +<p> +“Isn’t it wonderful, Gracie?” she cried, her heart pounding +joyously. “About Allen being an officer, I mean. I have to pinch myself +several times a minute to make myself realize that it is really true.” +</p> + +<p> +“It surely is great,” Grace answered slowly, adding after a moment, +while a faraway expression crept into her eyes, “I don’t blame you +for being crazy about him, honey. I could almost be foolish myself. Oh, +don’t worry,” she went on quickly as Betty turned amazed and rather +startled eyes upon her. “I’m no fonder of Allen than I am of any of +the other boys. I just said that I didn’t blame <i>you</i>, that’s +all.” +</p> + +<p> +Betty turned her eyes to the road once more, but in her heart she was troubled. +There had been a note in Grace’s voice that she had never heard before. +Could it be possible that she really cared for Allen? But she pushed the +thought from her mind resolutely. If such a thing could have been possible, she +certainly would have discovered it before this. The mere thought was nonsense +of course. And yet she was troubled. +</p> + +<p> +“Have some candy,” Grace invited, breaking in upon her thoughts. +“You needn’t stick up your nose at it to-day for I bought this +fresh from the store this morning.” +</p> + +<p> +“Who said I was going to stick up my nose?” said Betty, helping +herself to a chocolate that looked as if it might contain a nut and thankful +for the break in her not-too-pleasant reflections. “If you will think +back just a little, I think you will admit that I have been guilty very seldom +of sticking up my nose at anything +</p> + +<p> +“Except Percy Falconer,” finished Grace drolly, and they both +laughed merrily. +</p> + +<p> +“Poor Percy!” said Betty, chewing her candy contentedly. “I +suppose he will hate us more heartily than ever now.” +</p> + +<p> +They were running some eight or ten miles from the town along a quiet stretch +of road, never dreaming of danger, when Betty’s little racer nosed around +a bend in the road and came smack into it! Not twenty feet ahead of them a man +sprang into the middle of the road and leveled a revolver at them! In one +electrified instant they saw that the fellow wore a mask and a slouch hat and +looked for all the world like a brigand straight out of some sensational moving +picture. +</p> + +<p> +Betty, more surprised at first than alarmed, put on her brakes and came to a +standstill, at the same time putting out a hand to warn the car behind them. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, Betty, we are being held up!” moaned Grace, who evidently was +frightened enough for both of them. “For goodness’ sake, hold up +your hands. He may shoot.” +</p> + +<p> +Still feeling rather dazed with the suddenness of the thing, Betty raised both +hands above her head, at the same time feeling a rather hysterical desire to +laugh. It was so absurd, being held up by a masked stranger in broad daylight, +</p> + +<p> +Nevertheless, she gave a little gasp of fright as the man waved his big +revolver menacingly and came close to the car. She wished frantically that he +would not point that firearm at her. Suppose it should go off! +</p> + +<p> +“Come on, hand over what you got,” the robber demanded in a gruff +threatening voice. “The quicker you move, the better it will be for +you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Wh-what do you want?” asked Betty, in a weak little voice that did +not sound like her own at all. She had thought of her pocketbook beside her in +the pocket of the car. The purse contained a whole month’s allowance. She +was sparring desperately for time! help in some form or other might come at any +moment. But the ruffian in the road was evidently in no frame of mind to be +fooled with. +</p> + +<p> +He waved his revolver once more, eliciting a terrified gurgle from Grace and +commanded roughly that they get out of the car. +</p> + +<p> +“No funny business,” he snarled. “Get out!” +</p> + +<p> +Betty was about to obey when she had a brilliant thought. Her pepper gun! She +had bought it the day before from the son of her father’s chauffeur, +thinking it was an undesirable plaything for a nine-year-old boy and had put +it, as the most convenient place, in her car. And the pepper gun was filled! as +it should have been! with good red cayenne pepper! +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap12"></a>CHAPTER XII.<br/> +SHEEP!</h2> + +<p> +For a moment Betty hesitated, almost afraid of what she was going to do. The +pepper gun might work, but if she were not quick enough or clever enough, her +little trick might also result in a tragedy. +</p> + +<p> +Her hesitation was only momentary, however, for Betty was a born fighter. +Suddenly she cried out as if in joyful greeting to an unexpected arrival. +</p> + +<p> +“Here they come! here they come!” she called, and in the moment +that their captor turned his startled eyes from her to the road ahead, Betty +acted. +</p> + +<p> +She snatched the pepper gun from its hiding place in the car and as the man +once more turned furiously upon her let him have the full contents directly in +the face. +</p> + +<p> +It was a dreadful thing to do. Choking and sputtering, the ruffian dropped his +revolver and raised both fists to his tortured eyes. +</p> + +<p> +“I’ll get you for this!” he cried between great sneezes that +threatened to tear him apart. “You just wait!!” +</p> + +<p> +But Betty refused to wait. As soon as the fellow had dropped his weapon she had +started the engine, and now she guided the car past the stuttering robber and +raced off down the road. +</p> + +<p> +Mollie, who had only half understood what was going on but who had caught +enough of it to be considerably alarmed did not stop to ask questions, but sped +off down the road after Betty. +</p> + +<p> +It was half a dozen miles farther on that Betty finally slowed the car and +waited for Mollie and the others to catch up with her. Grace, who had been +gradually recovering from her fright, had not yet recovered enough to ask any +questions. She had been too much concerned in putting miles between them and +the scene of their adventure. +</p> + +<p> +As Mollie came up alongside, Betty drew her first free breath. +</p> + +<p> +Of course Mollie and Amy and Mrs. Irving wanted to hear all about it, and Betty +told them what had happened, her account interrupted by hysterical laughter. +</p> + +<p> +But when she came to the pepper gun, the girls’ expression of utter +bewilderment changed to admiration of Betty’s quick thought and quicker +action. +</p> + +<p> +“Why, Betty,” cried Amy, incredulously, “I don’t see +how you ever had the courage to do it. Why, that man might have shot +you!” +</p> + +<p> +“He probably would have if I hadn’t got him first,” said +Betty, half-way between laughter and tears. “It was taking an awfully big +chance, but,” with a flash of spirit, “I wasn’t going to sit +there calmly and have him take away all our money. Not if I could help +it.” +</p> + +<p> +“Betty, I think you were simply wonderful,” said Mollie in +heart-felt admiration. “Why, if he had taken our money it would have +completely spoiled our trip.” +</p> + +<p> +“How they talk,” said Grace hysterically. “Any one would +think it was only the trip that mattered when we might very easily have been +<i>killed</i>.” +</p> + +<p> +This remark served to bring Mrs. Irving to a realization of the present, and +she suggested that they start on again. +</p> + +<p> +“Not that I am particularly nervous,” she hastily added, as the +girls looked at her suspiciously. “Only I will feel just as well when we +have put a dozen miles between us and that highway robber, instead of only half +that. I wish there was a town handy where we could notify the +authorities.” +</p> + +<p> +They started on again, and as the miles slid past them they became less nervous +and even began to laugh a little at thought of the robber’s consternation +when he received the contents of Betty’s pepper gun full in his face. +</p> + +<p> +“He was probably the most surprised crook ever,” commented Grace +with a chuckle. “He never will get over cursing you, Betty. How did you +ever happen to have it? The pepper gun, I mean,” she added curiously. +</p> + +<p> +Betty explained how the gun had come into her possession. “I didn’t +know,” she added ruefully, her foot on the accelerator as they sped up a +steep hill, “when I bought it, that it would come in so handy. How much +further do you suppose we have to go?” she asked, changing the subject +abruptly. +</p> + +<p> +“Why,” said Grace, looking at her wrist watch and realizing +suddenly that she was getting rather hungry, “we have been riding since +ten o’clock and it is now after noon. We must be very nearly there by +this time. Goodness, I hope there will be something to eat around Wild Rose +Lodge. I’m getting famished.” +</p> + +<p> +“Mollie’s Uncle John said he would attend to that! stocking the +cabin with good things, I mean,” said Betty, herself suddenly conscious +of a disturbingly hungry feeling. “He said we would find enough canned +things to last us at least a week.” +</p> + +<p> +“Canned things, yes,” pouted Grace. “But who in the world +wants to live on canned things? I don’t see why we didn’t bring a +chicken along, at least.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, maybe we can manage to run over one,” chuckled Betty, as +they passed a farmhouse and several chickens scuttled squawking across the +road. “Then we can have one good and fresh. For goodness’ sake, +what is Mollie tooting that horn for?” she added, as the raucous signal +came from the car behind them. “Has she stopped the car, Grace? Look and +see.” +</p> + +<p> +“It’s stopped deader than a door nail,” said Grace, +obligingly screwing about in her seat and fixing on the road behind them a +disapproving eye. “Now what do you suppose can be the trouble this time? +If she has had a blowout or something, I’m not going to help fix the old +thing!!” +</p> + +<p> +“You couldn’t fix the blowout, dear, but you might help with the +tire,” Betty said, with a laugh, as she stopped the roadster and jumped +to the road. “Come on, she seems to be excited about something!!” +</p> + +<p> +“Goodness, I hope it isn’t another highway robber,” said +Grace anxiously, stopping in the middle of the road at the dreadful thought. +“I don’t see any, but!!” +</p> + +<p> +“You don’t see any because there <i>isn’t</i> any,” +Betty assured her, taking her by the arm and leading her decidedly forward. +“You don’t suppose there is a whole Robin Hood’s band in this +woods, do you?” +</p> + +<p> +Mollie and Amy and Mrs. Irving came running to meet them excitedly! or at +least, Mollie and Amy did the running, while their chaperon followed more +slowly. +</p> + +<p> +“There are blackberries in there, whole bushels and bushels of +them!” Mollie called. “You could see them from the road, and there +you girls passed right by them without even looking.” +</p> + +<p> +“Blackberries!” repeated Grace resignedly, as she felt in her +pocket to see if she had any candy left. “Just listen to her speaking of +blackberries when what I’m dying for is a good big steak with onions on +top of it!” +</p> + +<p> +“Stop it,” cried Mollie indignantly, while the others felt their +mouths begin to water. “The idea of mentioning steak! But here,” +she broke off, seizing Grace’s hand and dragging her toward the woods, +“come with me and pick berries if you value your life. Lucky we brought +those tin pails along.” +</p> + +<p> +“But why,” protested Grace patiently, as she was dragged along, +“should we want to pick berries?” +</p> + +<p> +“To eat,” replied Mollie, attacking a bush that was fairly black +with the luscious ripe fruit. “And besides,” she added, lowering +her voice to a confidential pitch, “Mrs. Irving said that if she could +find some flour and baking powder in the lodge she would make us a steamed +blackberry pudding for supper.” +</p> + +<p> +Grace stared for a moment then, without another word, set to work on the loaded +bush. +</p> + +<p> +“You might have told me that before,” she grumbled, her mouth full +of berries. “You always did have a mean disposition, Mollie.” +</p> + +<p> +To which Mollie’s only reply was a chuckle and a sly wink at Betty, who +was working close at her side. +</p> + +<p> +They worked on happily for a few minutes, then suddenly Amy straightened up and +stood quiet as though she were listening to something. +</p> + +<p> +The girls, whose nerves were still a little on edge from their recent +adventure, demanded to know in no uncertain tones what was the matter with her. +</p> + +<p> +“N-nothing,” Amy answered a little sheepishly. “I thought I +heard a little rustling among the leaves, that’s all.” +</p> + +<p> +“Probably a breeze coming up,” said Betty matter-of-factly, and +they went on with their berry picking. +</p> + +<p> +But it was not long before a second disturbance came, and this time they all +heard it. It was, as Amy had said, a rustling sound. However, it was louder +this time, as though several heavy bodies were pushing through the underbrush +on the other side of the road. +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps we had better go and see what is making all the noise,” +said Mrs. Irving, her light tone successfully hiding an undercurrent of +nervousness. “I guess we have picked enough berries for our pudding, +anyway.” +</p> + +<p> +The girls picked up their pails and started for the road, Betty in the lead. +But when the latter reached the outer fringe of bushes she started back, almost +treading on Mollie’s toes and causing her to drop her pail in alarm. +</p> + +<p> +“It’s sheep!” cried the Little Captain. “Dozens and +dozens of them! Come and look!” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap13"></a>CHAPTER XIII.<br/> +THE ENEMY ROUTED</h2> + +<p> +Mrs. Irving pushed forward beside Betty, and the girls stared unbelievingly +over her shoulder. Then they saw that she was right. +</p> + +<p> +While they had been picking berries in the woods a flock of sheep had wandered +down to the road from the other direction and had completely surrounded their +two cars. +</p> + +<p> +The big-eyed, innocent looking animals were circling around and around the +machines as if examining them with a sort of ovine interest and curiosity. +</p> + +<p> +But to the girls the sheep had a rather terrifying aspect. There were so many +of them and they had so completely taken possession of their automobiles! How +in the world were they ever to get back their property? +</p> + +<p> +“Goodness!” Grace whispered plaintively in Betty’s ear, +“I expect they will try to climb into the cars next. What ever are we +going to do?” +</p> + +<p> +“Sh,” cautioned Amy fearfully, as some of the flock, attracted by +the noise in the bushes, turned their heads in the direction of it. +“Suppose they should come in here?” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, they are not lions, you goose,” said Mollie, coming out of +the trance into which surprise had thrown her. “They are only sheep, and +they couldn’t hurt you if they tried.” +</p> + +<p> +“Not unless they stampeded,” said Betty quietly. “In that +case I wouldn’t care to be in the way.” +</p> + +<p> +“But we can’t stay here all night,” Mollie protested +impatiently. +</p> + +<p> +“Held up by a lot of silly old sheep,” added Grace, still more +uncomfortably conscious of a growing appetite. +</p> + +<p> +“It must be almost two o’clock,” added Amy with a sigh. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, if things keep on this way it will be night before we reach the +lodge,” said Mollie, adding with decision, “I vote that we get some +sticks and stones and scat ’em out of the way.” +</p> + +<p> +“I think I have a better suggestion than that,” put in Mrs. Irving, +speaking for the first time. “I think we had better wait for a short time +before we do anything. The sheep will probably get tired in a little while and +wander off of their own accord.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, all right,” said Mollie, with rather bad grace as she seated +herself on a convenient rock. “But all the time we are waiting for them +to be tired, we will be getting tired ourselves and, goodness, Mrs. Irving, +I’m being starved to death.” +</p> + +<p> +At the desperation in her tones the girls had to laugh, though they were as +reluctant to sit with folded hands and wait as she was. Still, Mrs. Irving was +their chaperon and probably knew best. +</p> + +<p> +So with admirable resignation they disposed themselves beside Mollie on the big +rock and settled down to watch for developments. +</p> + +<p> +But after waiting for an everlasting five minutes they decided that there were +to be no developments. The foolish sheep continued to circle lazily about the +cars, nibbling now and then upon the grass by the roadside but showing not the +slightest intention in the world of moving from there for some time to come. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, what shall we do?” moaned Grace, moving restlessly on her +uncomfortable seat. “My foot is going to sleep and I’m trying to +sit on a pointed stone or something.” +</p> + +<p> +“And it looks as though those crazy sheep were going to stay there all +night,” added Betty, herself growing restive at the apparent futility of +waiting for something to happen. “Can’t we do something, Mrs. +Irving?” +</p> + +<p> +“Wait just a few minutes more,” begged the lady, who was afraid of +the sheep, but was reluctant to confess her fear to her young charges. +“Look, there seems to be a movement among them now,” she added +hopefully, as one sheep pressed against another and sent it scampering a few +feet along the road. “We won’t have to wait much longer, I am +sure.” +</p> + +<p> +And so, loth to break their chaperon’s authority, the girls fidgeted and +fumed, getting more impatient and hungrier with every leaden minute that +dragged itself by until almost three-quarters of an hour had passed. +</p> + +<p> +Then, when they began to think that they must scream if they were forced to +wait another minute, their chaperon rose of her own accord and with a decided +movement flicked the dust from her skirt. +</p> + +<p> +“I think we have waited long enough,” she hazarded, to which each +girl said a fervent though silent “amen.” “I suppose we shall +have to follow Mollie’s suggestion and gather sticks and stones. Perhaps +we can scare them away.” +</p> + +<p> +“Hooray!” shouted Mollie, jumping to her feet with relief. At the +unexpected sound the sheep in the road started and looked about them uneasily. +“Come on, girls, I’m mad enough to attack ’em single-handed. +All who are with me, say Aye.” +</p> + +<p> +“Aye!” they yelled, scurrying about to find sticks and stones. +</p> + +<p> +Betty, flourishing a branch at the frightened flock, yelled: “We are +wild, wild women, old sheep. You had better get out while the going’s +good. We eat little fellers like you alive!” and with a whoop of wild +spirits she danced down to the edge of the wood waving her stick wildly about +her head. +</p> + +<p> +Her fun was contagious and, smothering their laughter, the girls waltzed after +her, throwing sticks and stones and all sorts of improvised weapons into the +midst of the now thoroughly frightened flock. +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Irving strove to caution them, but her voice was lost in the babble, and +for once in her life at least she found herself utterly ignored. With a little +sigh she picked up a stick of her own and followed after the girls. +</p> + +<p> +For a moment it looked as though the panic stricken sheep would rush straight +for the shouting girls, and in that moment what was little more than an +exciting game to the girls might have turned into a rather dreadful tragedy. +</p> + +<p> +But, luckily, half a dozen sheep broke through and, led by an old ram, started +down the road and the rest of the flock, as is the habit of sheep, followed +after. +</p> + +<p> +In a moment the entire flock was galloping off down the road with the excited +girls in pursuit. There is no telling how far they might have followed the +sheep had not Betty become suddenly possessed of a grain of common-sense. +</p> + +<p> +Panting and laughing, she came to a standstill while the girls rushed past her. +</p> + +<p> +“Come back here!” she cried, her voice choked with laughter. +“There’s no use of our being as silly as the sheep. Mrs. Irving +will think we have deserted her.” +</p> + +<p> +So reluctantly the girls abandoned the chase and started back to rejoin their +much relieved but slightly dazed chaperon. +</p> + +<p> +“Now if we had only done that an hour ago,” said Mollie, as they +climbed back into the machines determined to make up for lost time, “we +would have been that much nearer the lodge and! something to eat.” +</p> + +<p> +“Goodness, it will he almost dark when we get there now,” wailed +Grace, as she slipped into the seat beside Betty. “And we haven’t +had anything to eat since breakfast.” +</p> + +<p> +“What with highway robbers and sheep,” laughed Betty, as she +started the engine, “we shall be lucky if we get there at all.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, Betty, if you love me don’t mention that awful highwayman +again,” begged Grace, looking uneasily into the shadows of the wood. +“I don’t want to have any more thrills like that as long as I +live.” +</p> + +<p> +“Let’s hope we won’t,” said Betty fervently. +</p> + +<p> +“It’s a pity there is no telephone along this road! we could notify +the folks at Deepdale,” remarked Mollie. +</p> + +<p> +“Humph, if we did that they might get so scared that they’d send +for us to come home,” came from Amy. +</p> + +<p> +“That’s so!” came from the other Outdoor Girls quickly. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, as I said before, no more thrills like that for yours +truly,” repeated Grace. +</p> + +<p> +But little did the girls know that in the weeks to follow they would have more +and more startling thrills than they had ever experienced before. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap14"></a>CHAPTER XIV.<br/> +NOTHING HUMAN</h2> + +<p> +They might have reached Wild Rose Lodge before dusk, in spite of Grace’s +gloomy prediction, if everything had gone well then. But it seemed that the +evil genius of bad luck was not yet through with them. +</p> + +<p> +They were scarcely five miles from their destination when, bang! went a report +that made the girls clutch at each other wildly. At first they jumped to the +conclusion that they were being held up again, but close on the heels of the +first thought came the conviction of the truth. Mollie had had a blowout! +</p> + +<p> +Betty, looking behind, saw the big car stop and brought her own little roadster +to a standstill once more. +</p> + +<p> +“There is nothing wrong with our tires, is there?” she asked of +Grace. “Look over your side, Gracie, and see.” +</p> + +<p> +Finding nothing amiss, they jumped out and ran back to Mollie to offer +assistance. Mollie was eyeing the flat tire gloomily and saying things under +her breath that none of the girls could catch. Then as Betty spoke to her she +seemed to come to life and ran around to the back of the machine. +</p> + +<p> +“Of course you can help,” she answered, working to release the +extra tire. “I would like to see you get out of it. Lucky I bought an +extra tire before we started, though I did hope,” here she glared at the +girls as if it were all their fault, “that I wouldn’t have to use +it so soon. We’ve had more trouble on this ride than any I can remember. +A hold-up, sheep and! this!” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, there is no use talking about it,” Betty reminded her +cheerfully. “The less we talk, the harder we can work and the sooner we +shall get started again.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, that’s all very well,” grumbled Mollie, as she fumbled +for her tools; “but you don’t know this place as well as I +do.” +</p> + +<p> +“You talk,” said Amy, her eyes widening, “as though there +were wild animals or something in the woods. I didn’t know they came as +far east as this.” +</p> + +<p> +“They don’t, goose,” said Mollie grumpily, as she pulled at +the tire. “I didn’t say anything about wild animals, did I? Only we +have to ride about two miles through the woods before we get to the lodge and I +must say I didn’t want to do that in the dark.” +</p> + +<p> +“But there is some sort of road, isn’t there?” asked Grace. +</p> + +<p> +Mollie, bending over the lifting jack, shot her a withering glance. +</p> + +<p> +“Of course there’s a road,” she said shortly. “How else +could we expect to use the cars?” +</p> + +<p> +“It must be a sort of wagon road,” suggested Betty as she deftly +helped her chum. “And I don’t blame you for not wanting to try it +at night, Mollie. I don’t much like the idea myself.” +</p> + +<p> +“I believe if we hurry that we can get there before dusk,” said +Mrs. Irving confidently, though it might have been noticed that she kept her +eyes rather anxiously on the fast sinking sun. +</p> + +<p> +At last, after what seemed an eternity to the impatient girls, the new tire had +replaced the old one, the old one was safely strapped on the back of the car, +the tools were put away, and they were ready to start once more. +</p> + +<p> +“Give her plenty of gas this time, Betty,” Mollie sung after her as +the Little Captain climbed into her car. If we can manage to get to the woods +before dark we will be doing good work. Let her go.” +</p> + +<p> +With which advice she settled herself behind the wheel of her own car and they +were off once more. +</p> + +<p> +Betty did “give her plenty of gas,” the result being that they +succeeded in reaching the wagon road that led into the woods to the lodge just +on the edge of dusk. +</p> + +<p> +However, when they started along the road they were dismayed to find that what +was only dusk outside on the road became almost dark in here, and Betty had all +she could do to keep to the road at all. +</p> + +<p> +“Hadn’t you better put on your lights?” Grace suggested +uneasily. “We might run into a ditch or something. Betty, I’m half +scared.” +</p> + +<p> +For answer Betty switched on the lights and the woods and the road ahead of +them were suddenly flooded with a weird radiance. It brought out branches and +leaves and stones in such sharp contrast to the dark background that the effect +was startling. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh,” gasped Grace, “turn them off again, do, Betty. It is +positively ghastly.” +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t be foolish,” said Betty, striving to make her voice +sound matter-of-fact, her eyes glued to the road ahead of them as it twisted +and turned through the woods. “I don’t see why lights should make a +perfectly harmless wood look ghastly. And, anyway, I couldn’t turn them +out now. I don’t believe I could find my way. You don’t want me to +run into something, do you?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, of course not,” Grace said more firmly, rather ashamed of her +fears. “I didn’t mean to act in a silly fashion. But,” she +turned to Betty quickly, “that hold-up and all! don’t you feel a +little queer yourself, Betty? Tell the truth.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” said the Little Captain truthfully. “I feel,” +she added slowly, as though searching for words, “I feel as though the +woods belonged to somebody and that we were sort of! sort of! intruding.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why, Betty!” said Grace, staring at her, “what a funny thing +to say.” +</p> + +<p> +“I suppose it is,” said Betty, shaking off the illusion with a +shrug of her shoulders. “I am getting foolish in my old age I guess. We +shall all feel better when we get something to eat.” +</p> + +<p> +“If we ever do,” said Grace gloomily, adding as a sudden turn in +the woods shot them deeper into the gloom of it: “Do be careful, Betty. I +feel as though we were going over a precipice.” +</p> + +<p> +But Betty was too busy keeping the road to listen to her. +</p> + +<p> +“Look behind,” she directed Grace, “and see if Mollie is +following close to us.” +</p> + +<p> +“She is right behind,” reported Grace, as two eyes of light shot +their glare in her eyes. “She is following us closer than a poor +relation.” +</p> + +<p> +Betty giggled at this, and then for a long time! or at least it seemed a long +time to their strained nerves! they went on in silence, following the winding +road wherever it led and getting deeper into the forest with every moment. +</p> + +<p> +Then suddenly something loomed up dark against the shadows only a few hundred +feet ahead of them, and with a great feeling of thankfulness they realized that +they had reached their destination. Directly ahead of them stood Wild Rose +Lodge. They had arrived! +</p> + +<p> +But just as they were about to break into wild jubilation something happened +that tightened Betty’s hand on the wheel and made Grace cry out with +dismay. +</p> + +<p> +Out from the shadow of the lodge a second shadow detached itself, a hunched up, +bulky, fearful shadow that seemed neither beast nor man, but a combination of +both of them. +</p> + +<p> +For a moment, while the girls watched, paralyzed with fright, the thing seemed +about to spring into the path of the moving car. But in another instant it +turned, wheeled, and disappeared into the thick bushes about the house. +</p> + +<p> +Then and only then did Betty recover presence of mind enough to stop the car. +</p> + +<p> +“Betty! Betty!” cried Grace in a horrified whisper, grasping +Betty’s hand as it clung to the wheel. “What was it? Oh, what was +it?” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know,” Betty answered mechanically. “I only +know it was horrible.” +</p> + +<p> +Then quite suddenly and without warning Grace broke down and cried. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap15"></a>CHAPTER XV.<br/> +WILD ROSES</h2> + +<p> +“We will go into the house,” Mrs. Irving answered to their +concerted cry of “What shall we do?” “Whatever it was that +has frightened us has disappeared now, and we shall certainly be safer inside +the house than out here. Come on, girls, I have the key.” +</p> + +<p> +And so, leaving the cars where they were, the girls approached the house with +shaking knees and hearts that hammered their fear aloud. The Outdoor Girls were +ordinarily afraid of nothing real and human, but to be held up at the point of +a pistol would unnerve almost any one, and the struggle the girls had made not +to give way to their fears at the time had made them more nervous still. And +this thing that had startled them now, added to what had gone before, seemed a +little more than could be borne. It seemed, in fact, like nothing human. +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Irving turned the key in the lock, opened the door and stepped inside the +dark place, motioning to the girls to follow her. +</p> + +<p> +Fearfully the chums obeyed and Betty and Mollie pulled out their electric +pocket torches, filling the place with a weird light. Mollie, being acquainted +with the place, naturally took charge of the situation. +</p> + +<p> +“There are matches over there,” she said, “and candles over +the fireplace. For goodness’ sake, let’s get a regular light, +folks. Perhaps that will make us feel more natural.” +</p> + +<p> +“So say all of us,” echoed Amy. “The dark makes everything +worse, when you are not well acquainted with a place.” +</p> + +<p> +Mollie touched a match to the candles, and in the answering flare turned to +face her chums. +</p> + +<p> +“Girls,” she said, determinedly, “I don’t know how you +feel about it, but I vote that before we do anything else we get something to +eat. We all look like ghosts just now and I’m sure we feel much worse +than that. But a little food makes a monstrous lot of difference.” +</p> + +<p> +“You know it does,” cried Grace, relaxing into one of the big +chairs that were scattered about the room and covering her face with her hands. +“I think if I don’t get something to eat soon, I’ll die, +that’s all.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, we are none of us going to die,” said Mrs. Irving +vigorously, as she threw aside her coat and hat. “Show us the way to the +kitchen, Mollie, and if there is anything there to eat, we will get it.” +</p> + +<p> +Accordingly Mollie took one of the candles and led the way into a little room +beyond while all the girls but Betty crowded in after her. +</p> + +<p> +For the Little Captain slipped back for a moment and very quietly closed the +door, shutting out definitely the shadow beyond it. +</p> + +<p> +“I suppose it is foolish,” she said to herself, “because if +there is anything out there that really wants to get in there are plenty of +ways that it can do it, without coming in through the door. But,” and she +turned the key in the lock, “it certainly makes one feel more comfortable +to have the door closed.” Then she followed the girls into the other +room, and the sight that met her eyes was certainly more cheering than anything +she could have imagined. +</p> + +<p> +Mollie’s Uncle John had surprised them. In the exact center of a table +set for five lay a young pig, roasted whole and browned to a turn! Nor was this +all. The table was littered with covered dishes of all sizes and descriptions, +and as the contents of each one of these dishes was disclosed, the girls became +more and more excited and hilarious. +</p> + +<p> +There was apple sauce in one, salad in another, mashed potatoes that had become +quite cold in another, and a boat of gravy which had also become quite cold. +</p> + +<p> +“But we don’t mind,” cried Mollie joyfully, as she took the +gravy-boat in one hand, the dish of potatoes in the other, and ran with them +over to a great stove in one corner of the room. “We need only some +matches to have this blazing hot in a minute. No, not that way, Grace,” +as the latter tried to help by lighting the burner. “This isn’t a +gas stove, you know; it’s an oil stove and you had better look out or you +will blow us all up. +</p> + +<p> +It is small wonder if Betty was so dazzled by this joyful scene that she could +neither move nor speak for the space of two seconds or so. Then, recovering her +powers of locomotion, she went over to the table and picked up a note that, in +their excitement, the girls had overlooked. +</p> + +<p> +“See what this says,” she called to them, and they looked at her +rather impatiently. Just at that moment the only thing they cared to consider +was food! and more food! and then some more! +</p> + +<p> +But as Betty read they became more interested, and even stopped long enough to +hear her through. It was a brief note. This is what it said. +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +“My dear young ladies:<br /> + “I am a neighbor of Mr. Prendergast,” (this was the dressed-up +name of Mollie’s Uncle John) “and he axed me to get your dinner +ready fer you. I tried to keep it hot but you wus so long comin’ I had to +go home to get dinner fer my old man. Hope things is all right. +</p> + +<p class="right"> +“L<small>IZZIE</small> D<small>AVIS</small>.” +</p> + +<p> +“So she is the one who has done all this,” said Betty, looking +around at the good things with dancing eyes. “I bet she is nice and plump +and has rosy cheeks.” +</p> + +<p> +“Lizzie Davis? Lizzie Davis?” repeated Mollie, bringing the +steaming gravy back and plumping the dish triumphantly down on the table. +“Rather a funny name for a fairy godmother, but she sure does know how to +cook. Don’t forget the potatoes, Grace. Come on, girls! let’s sit +down.” +</p> + +<p> +So down the girls sat and acted like ravenous pigs! or so Grace described their +conduct afterward, Mrs. Irving set to work carving the delicious pork, but they +could not wait for her. +</p> + +<p> +They seized slices of bread, spread apple sauce and butter on them, and ate +like what they were, four famished girls and one equally famished chaperon who +had been out in the open all day and had had nothing to eat since morning. +</p> + +<p> +It was some time before they showed any considerable signs of slowing up. Then +Grace put down her fork, leaned back lazily, and called for dessert. The latter +was a huge cherry pie, and before the girls were through with it there was not +enough left to color a robin’s egg. +</p> + +<p> +After the pangs of hunger had been satisfied they found to their great surprise +that they were dead tired and sleepy. +</p> + +<p> +“We will get the dishes out of the way and then Mollie can show us where +we sleep,” said Betty. “Oh, girls, did you ever in your life taste +such a dinner?” +</p> + +<p> +It was not till the dishes had all been cleared away and Mollie took up her +candle to show them their quarters that the unwelcome thought of the thing that +had so frightened them again crept terrifyingly into their minds. Try as they +would to forget it, they could not. +</p> + +<p> +There were three small sleeping rooms in the lodge, but, small as they were, +they were comfortable and contained beds that seemed the height of luxury to +the tired girls. +</p> + +<p> +Because of the indistinct and flickering candle light the girls could make out +very little of what the rooms really looked like, and they postponed any close +examination until the morning. Back of the lodge was a shed for the cars. +</p> + +<p> +The bedrooms were all joined by doors, which gave the girls a safe and sociable +feeling. Mrs. Irving, of course, had one room to herself, Betty and Mollie +slept together and Grace and Amy paired off. +</p> + +<p> +They wasted little time in getting ready! Betty and Mollie had appointed +themselves a committee of two to bring in the grips from Mollie’s car! +and before long they tasted the exquisite restfulness of comfortable beds after +a long nerve-trying day in the out-of-doors. +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t believe I shall close my eyes all night,” said Amy +with conviction. “I’m too horribly nervous.” +</p> + +<p> +But three minutes later she was sound asleep! +</p> + +<p> +The sun had been up a good two hours before any one stirred in Wild Rose Lodge. +Betty was the first to awake, and in fifteen minutes she had the rest of the +sleepy-eyed and protesting girls up and nearly dressed. +</p> + +<p> +“What’s the idea, anyway?” yawned Grace lazily. “I +could have slept at least a good two hours more.” +</p> + +<p> +“On a day like this?” sang Betty, breathing in deep breaths of the +wood-scented air. “And isn’t this just the dearest room you ever +saw?” she added, wheeling about and regarding the apartment delightedly. +They were in Grace and Amy’s room, for, as usual, Mollie and Betty had +been the first dressed and had gone into their chums’ room to hurry them +up! if such a thing were possible. +</p> + +<p> +Betty’s summing up of the room they were in was indeed well deserved, for +the place was charming. There was a dresser, a bed, and three chairs, and all +of these articles of furniture had been rough-hewed out of logs, giving the +place a delightfully rustic appearance. There was a grass rug on the floor and +in one corner a little table covered with books. +</p> + +<p> +“Isn’t it darling?” cried Mollie, following Betty’s +glance about the place. “Uncle John built the lodge and made all of the +furniture himself, you know. And he bought the grass rugs from the +Indians.” +</p> + +<p> +They were still exclaiming about the place when Mrs. Irving called to them that +breakfast was ready. With a whoop of delight they answered the summons, and a +moment later sat themselves down to a most satisfying meal of omelet and toast +and coffee with real cream in it. Also Mrs. Irving set on the table a +yellow-topped pitcher of milk fresh from the cow. +</p> + +<p> +“Our friend, Lizzie Davis, brought it,” their chaperon answered +with a smile, in response to the girls’ curious questions. “Also +some fresh butter and eggs, I have an idea,” she added, as she got up to +refill the butter plate, “that we shall live on the fat of the land while +we are here.” +</p> + +<p> +“Lizzie Davis,” repeated Betty, pausing in the act of filling her +glass with fresh milk and regarding Mrs. Irving with dancing eyes. “Tell +me, chaperon dear, Didn’t she have nice red cheeks, and wasn’t she +delightfully plump?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” said Mrs. Irving, smiling at Betty’s flushed +prettiness. “She was all of that, my dear. I don’t believe I ever +saw a more cozy looking person in my life.” +</p> + +<p> +“I knew it!” cried Betty triumphantly, adding with a suspicious eye +on Grace: “Hand over that plate of toast, Gracie. You needn’t think +you can eat it all up!” +</p> + +<p> +After breakfast they sallied forth to “view the country +o’er.” They would have stayed and helped Mrs. Irving clear up, but +that good woman declared that she could do better by herself on this first +morning. After she had become better acquainted with the place they could help +her all they liked. Finally, after some protest, they had to let her have her +way. +</p> + +<p> +As they stepped out on the porch, Betty paused and held up her hand for +silence. +</p> + +<p> +“Listen,” she said. “That murmuring sound and the splash of +water!!” +</p> + +<p> +“It’s the river and the falls,” explained Mollie. +“Let’s go down and have a look at them.” +</p> + +<p> +But Amy, giving a little gasp of delight, fairly tumbled down the steps and +into a riot of gorgeous pink wild roses. The lodge was fairly surrounded by +them. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, you darlings!” cried Amy, putting both arms around a bush of +the fragrant flowers as though she would gather in all their beauty at once. +“I never saw anything so wonderful in all my life! Oh, girls, I’m +glad I came!” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap16"></a>CHAPTER XVI.<br/> +THE WHIRLPOOL</h2> + +<p> +All the spirit and joy of the woods seemed to have entered into the Outdoor +Girls. For the next half hour they romped in the woods and the beautiful +flowers for all the world like little children whose first glimpse it was of +the country. +</p> + +<p> +They took down their hair and made wreaths of wild roses for crowns, and when, +faces flushed with exercise and fun, they had finished, one might easily have +mistaken them for real fairies come to life. +</p> + +<p> +“But I want to see the river,” Betty called to them, stopping once +more to listen to the rhythmic sound of splashing water. “Come on, girls. +It can’t be more than a few hundred feet away, even though we can’t +see it for the bushes. Lead on, Mollie Billette, I wouldst hie me hence.” +</p> + +<p> +But when Mollie laughingly obeyed and started into the woods, Amy held back. +</p> + +<p> +“What’s the matter?” Grace asked, turning to her curiously. +</p> + +<p> +“I! I was just thinking,” stammered Amy, ashamed of her own +weakness, “about last night.” +</p> + +<p> +“About last night,” Betty prompted, still at a loss. +</p> + +<p> +“You haven’t forgotten, have you?” she asked, incredulously. +“That! thing! on the porch.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh!” they said, and a shadow fell over their bright faces. +</p> + +<p> +“Why, yes,” said Betty, slowly, adding as though she could not +quite explain the phenomenon herself: “I suppose we did forget all about +it.” +</p> + +<p> +“Or if we didn’t, we should have,” said Mollie, +ungrammatically but decidedly. “Come on, girls, we aren’t going to +let any silly old thing like that frighten us out of a good time.” +</p> + +<p> +“It seems,” said Grace thoughtfully, while Amy still held back, +“almost as if we had dreamed the whole thing. The memory of it is so +vague! and indistinct.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, it isn’t vague to me! or indistinct either,” said Amy, +feeling rather abused because the girls did not seem to share her feelings. +“I hardly slept all night long just thinking about it.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, Amy Blackford!” said Grace accusingly, while Mollie and Betty +turned twinkling eyes upon her. “If that isn’t the biggest one I +ever heard. Why, I woke up once or twice in the night and each time I found you +almost snoring.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, I did not,” protested Amy, flushing indignantly, but here +Mollie and Betty stepped laughingly into the fray and peremptorily put an end +to it. +</p> + +<p> +“Let’s not fight about it,” said Betty, when she could make +herself heard. “We don’t care whether Amy snored or not. What we +want to know is this: Who is coming with us for a look at the falls?” +</p> + +<p> +“Now you’re talking, Little Captain,” said Mollie +approvingly. “All in favor please say Aye.” +</p> + +<p> +Amy still showed some inclination to hold back, but Mollie and Betty each took +an arm and hurried her willy-nilly with them into the woods. +</p> + +<p> +“You had better take the lead, Mollie,” Betty suggested after they +had gone some little distance along the path. “I can manage Amy alone +now, I guess. She seems pretty well tamed.” +</p> + +<p> +“Tamed, but scared to death,” Amy came back, with a wry smile. +“Really, Betty,” she turned to look at the Little Captain closely, +“aren’t you the least little bit nervous about what happened last +night?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, I don’t think I am now,” said Betty, adding candidly, +“I must say I was last night though! just frightened to death. It seemed +so awfully uncanny! coming upon that thing in the dark after what we had gone +through with that bandit. But then,” she added more lightly, +“everything seems so much worse in the dark, you know.”. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” said Amy slowly and looking very serious. “That all +may be very true. But I think that as long as we are sure we didn’t dream +it last night and that the skulking thing really dodged out from the corner of +our porch that we ought to be on our guard against it. And how,” she +finished most reasonably, “can we be on our guard in the woods?” +</p> + +<p> +Betty was at a loss to know just how to answer such a question. By this time +Mollie and Grace were some little distance ahead of them and Amy’s +nervousness was beginning to communicate itself to her against her will. +</p> + +<p> +She felt again the creeping sensation that had traveled up and down her spine +at sight of that crouching, sinister figure that had sprung out from the shadow +of the porch. +</p> + +<p> +It had disappeared into the bushes last night, and, for all she knew! and the +thought made her tingle weirdly! it might still be hiding in them, crouching, +ready to spring +</p> + +<p> +With an effort she shook off the mood and turned to Amy brightly. +</p> + +<p> +“There is no use in our making a mountain out of a mole hill,” she +said, plucking a wild rose as they swung by and smelling of its delicious +fragrance. “Last night, I admit, it seemed very terrifying to us, but +that was probably because we couldn’t see what it was that frightened us. +It may just have been a large dog or something.” +</p> + +<p> +“Humph,” sniffed Amy, sceptically, “it must have been a +monster dog. Sort of a ghost hound.” +</p> + +<p> +“Goodness, that’s going from bad to worse,” laughed Betty, as +they rejoined the other girls. “Let’s hope it isn’t anything +like that, Amy dear. Hello, what are you waiting for?” she hailed the +girls cheerfully. “We almost fell over you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Watch your step,” cautioned Mollie, adding as she cleared aside +some bushes and motioned Betty to a place beside her: “We’ve +reached the river, Betty, and a little farther up is the falls. Isn’t it +beautiful?” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, it is beautiful,” rejoined Betty, a sentiment which Amy +heartily echoed, and for a few minutes they stood there, drinking in the beauty +of the scene, entirely unmindful of the lovely picture they themselves made +with their loosened hair and wreaths of wild flowers. +</p> + +<p> +The river was not very wide, but the water was deep and clear and swift and the +continual swish-swish of its passage over rocks and between foliage-laden banks +made a pleasant, even sound that was deliciously restful and refreshing. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, if we could only get down right into the very middle of it and let +those little ripples wash over us forever and forever!” sighed Grace +ecstatically. +</p> + +<p> +“She would a little mermaid be!” sang Betty, as she slipped down to +the very edge of the water and leaned over to catch her reflection in the +bright depths of it. “But honestly, Mollie, isn’t there any place +in the river where we can swim?” +</p> + +<p> +“It looks too swift for good swimming to me!” began Grace, but +Mollie stopped her with a mysterious finger to her lips. +</p> + +<p> +“Hush, my pretty one, not a word,” said the latter, beginning to +pick her way daintily along the river bank. “Follow me and you will wear +diamonds, or seaweed, or whatever it is that mermaids wear. And don’t +fall over, whatever you do,” she turned around to caution them, +“The river is so swift here that I don’t believe even the strongest +swimmer would have a chance.” +</p> + +<p> +Accordingly the girls “watched their step,” and for some distance +followed Mollie uncomplainingly. Then, as there seemed no sign of their getting +anywhere, Grace started to protest. +</p> + +<p> +“Say, do you suppose she has any idea where she is going?” the +latter asked of Betty in a tone that was designed to reach Mollie’s ear. +But before she could say anything more, Mollie herself swung jubilantly round +upon them. +</p> + +<p> +“Here we are, girls!” she cried. “Now see if you ever saw +anything so pretty in all your lives.” +</p> + +<p> +Once more the girls stood spellbound by the natural beauty of the scene. As +they walked they had become more and more conscious of the roaring noise made +by rushing water, and now, ascending a small rise of ground, they came full +upon the majestic beauty of Moonlight Falls. +</p> + +<p> +The falls fell full thirty feet, and at the foot of it the river was churned +into swirling, liquid foam that whirled around and around again in a sort of +mad race and then went rushing off down the river in a shower of lacy spray. +</p> + +<p> +It was wildly inspiring, exhilarating, and the girls thrilled with a strange +new emotion as they watched. It was so free, so gloriously unchained! +</p> + +<p> +“There is our swimming pool over there,” Mollie said, raising her +voice to make it heard above the roar of the water. “You see there is a +sort of little back eddy below the falls and to one side of it, and right there +we’ll find the best swimming of our lives. But,” she added, and her +voice was impressively solemn, “heaven help any one of us who gets in the +path of the falls.” +</p> + +<p> +“Look!” cried Amy suddenly, her voice ringing out full and clear +and startled above the uproar. “That! thing! over there. It is going into +the falls! no, under them!” +</p> + +<p> +“Where?” cried Mollie eagerly, leaning far forward. “Oh, yes, +I see what you mean. Oh, girls, I’m slipping!” Her voice rose to a +terrified wail. “Betty! Catch me!” +</p> + +<p> +But Betty was too late. She sprang forward just in time to see Mollie slide +down the slippery bank and plunge into the maddened water of the river! +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap17"></a>CHAPTER XVII.<br/> +THE THING</h2> + +<p> +It took the girls a moment to realize the extent of the awful thing that had +happened. Then Betty, obeying her first impulse, raised her hands above her +head as though to dive, but Amy screamed to her to stop. +</p> + +<p> +“You will only be lost too!” she cried frantically. “Look! +that flat stick! the long one!!” +</p> + +<p> +Instantly Betty saw what she meant and stooped to pick up a long broken branch +that was lying at her feet. At the same instant Mollie came to the surface +several feet away from the spot where she had fallen and threw her strength +desperately against the rushing might of the river. +</p> + +<p> +Betty ran along the river bank, Amy and Grace at her heels, shouting +encouragement to Mollie as she ran. +</p> + +<p> +“Hold tight!” she cried, adding with fresh dismay as she saw that +the girl was being swept further from the shore: “Over this way, honey, +Swim to your right! to your right!!” +</p> + +<p> +Blinded, chilled to the bone with the cold water, her hair in her eyes and her +skirts clinging tight about her legs, Mollie struggled wildly, unable to hear +the shouts of her chums above the ringing in her ears. +</p> + +<p> +It was taking all her strength to hold her own against the rush of the river! +and now she was not even doing that! Slowly, very slowly, she was being pushed +backward; in a little while more she would be sucked downward, and then!! +</p> + +<p> +She closed her eyes, and then, as though the obliteration of one sense made +more clear the other, she heard Betty calling to her above the roar of the +falls. +</p> + +<p> +“Mollie! Mollie!” it came, faint but distinct, “take hold of +the stick and we’ll pull you in. Mollie, do you hear me?” +</p> + +<p> +The girl in the water was still struggling hard against the current that was +dragging at her cruelly, and at the sound of Betty’s words she shook the +water from her eyes and looked about her dazedly. She had forgotten the girls. +</p> + +<p> +Then she saw something that sent a tingle of renewed hope through her tired +body. What she saw was a long branch bobbing on the water not two feet from her +outstretched hand, and at the other end of the stick was! Betty. +</p> + +<p> +With a sigh that was half a sob she struck out for it, reached it, and clung to +it as only the drowning know how to cling. +</p> + +<p> +Then she felt herself being drawn through the water, and once more she closed +her eyes. When she opened them again she was on a warm grassy bank with Amy +chafing one hand, Grace the other, while Betty was busy unfastening the clothes +about her waist. +</p> + +<p> +As Mollie was never under any circumstances expected to act as people thought +she should act, so this occasion was no exception to the rule. She pushed Amy +and Grace aside, glared at Betty, and sat up with a little jerk. +</p> + +<p> +“For goodness’ sake, stop undressing me, Betty Nelson!” she +said. “I’m not dead yet.” +</p> + +<p> +“So we see,” said Betty, while her eyes lost their anxious +expression and began to twinkle instead. “But you might have been, you +know, if we had left you to yourself.” +</p> + +<p> +Mollie looked down at her dripping clothes ruefully and then out at the rushing +water. +</p> + +<p> +“I guess you are right,” she said with a little grimace, “It +wasn’t very pleasant while it lasted, either. Whew, but that water was +cold!” She shivered involuntarily and Betty sprang to her feet. +</p> + +<p> +“We had better be getting back to the lodge,” she said. “You +can put on some dry things, Mollie, and we girls will get you some hot soup. +You are chilled to the bone.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nonsense,” denied Mollie grumpily. “I’m beginning to +feel fine and warm. Besides,” she added, trying to cover a chill that +fairly made her teeth ache, “I want to stay and find out about that thing +that got us into all this fuss.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nonsense,” Grace put in. Up to this time Grace had been made +speechless by Mollie’s sudden recovery. “You are shivering so you +can’t sit still.” +</p> + +<p> +“It makes me cold just to look at you,” added Amy, +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t be foolish, honey,” said Betty impatiently. “You +can’t sit there all day in dripping clothes, and besides you will really +get cold.” +</p> + +<p> +“Humph,” grunted Mollie, getting to her feet rather unsteadily and +shaking out her sodden skirts. “I guess this isn’t the first time I +have taken a dip in cold water. And besides,” she added impatiently; +“I don’t know about you girls, but I would like to know just what +that thing was that we saw dart beneath the falls.” +</p> + +<p> +“That was what made you fall into the water, wasn’t it?” +asked Betty, her forehead wrinkling thoughtfully. “You leaned so far out +to see!!” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, yes,” Mollie interrupted impatiently, all her curiosity +revived. “That was what made me fall into the water all right. But what I +want to know is! what was it?” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know,” said Betty, shaking her head. “I +didn’t see it.” +</p> + +<p> +“Neither did I,” Grace added. +</p> + +<p> +Mollie looked from one to the other of them open-mouthed. Then she turned to +Amy, +</p> + +<p> +“You saw it, didn’t you?” she asked. “You screamed, you +know.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” said Amy, nodding her head very solemnly, “And it +looked to me a lot like what we saw last night.” +</p> + +<p> +“Thank goodness, you saw it too or the girls would surely think I had +been dreaming or was crazy,” said Mollie, with relief. Then she suddenly +turned and started off into the woods. “I’m going all alone to find +out what that was,” she told her stupefied chums. “I’ve got +to clear up the mystery before I’m an hour older.” +</p> + +<p> +But this time Mollie found that there was some one stronger than she, and that +was Betty. The Little Captain ran after her and brought her back, protesting +but captive. +</p> + +<p> +“We are going back to the house now and get you something hot to +eat,” said Betty, as they rejoined Amy and Grace and started off toward +home. “Afterwards if everybody’s willing we will hunt this strange +beast that jumps out from porches and leaps into rivers just for the fun of the +thing. But just now, Billy Billette, you are going home.” +</p> + +<p> +But Mollie had been more severely shocked than she was willing to admit by her +experience, and it was some time before the girls visited the falls or the +river again. Meanwhile they contented themselves with exploring the country +about the lodge, taking short trips in the cars and wondering whether the boys +would really be home before the summer was over. +</p> + +<p> +Their days were not altogether happy, however, for the thought of that weird +thing prowling around in the woods and ready, for all they knew, to spring out +at them at every turn, refused to be banished from their minds. +</p> + +<p> +Then, too, they thought a great deal about poor Professor Dempsey and the +little ruined cottage in the woods. Somehow, they had an uneasy feeling that if +they had gone to him at the very first minute they had heard of his trouble +they might have helped him. Whereas, they had waited and! he had fled. +</p> + +<p> +For a while the idea of a dip in the swimming pool was naturally not very +attractive to Mollie, but at last there came a day when she herself suggested +it and the girls enthusiastically seconded the motion. +</p> + +<p> +More than the prospect of a good time, was the hope, unexpressed, that they +might see again that strange thing which Amy and Mollie had only glimpsed the +time before. Perhaps, they thought, if the mysterious thing were faced in the +open and in broad daylight, it might prove to be no mystery at all but +something ordinary and commonplace enough to do away with all their vague and +weird imaginings. +</p> + +<p> +But in this expectation they were most completely disappointed. Nothing at all +unusual occurred and although they enjoyed their swim in the warm back eddy of +the pool, they came away disgruntled and with a curious feeling that they had +been cheated out of something. +</p> + +<p> +“I only wish the boys would come,” sighed Amy, as they turned in +once more at the lodge. +</p> + +<p> +After that the “Thing” became almost like an obsession with them. +They must find out definitely what it was that was spoiling all their fun. They +began to haunt the river, especially at the foot of the falls, in the hope of +seeing something, anything that would put an end to their curiosity and +uneasiness. +</p> + +<p> +For a long time they had not got up courage enough to visit the place at night, +but at last they became curious enough to brave even that. +</p> + +<p> +“We have simply got to find out something,” Mollie whispered to +Betty as on this particular night they stood on the porch and waited for Mrs. +Irving to join them. “We can’t go on this way any longer, Betty. +Why, I am getting so nervous I jump if you look at me.” +</p> + +<p> +“I know,” said Betty soberly. “It really is getting on our +nerves too much. Amy and Grace are feeling it even worse than we are.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” agreed Mollie grumpily. “Last night was the third +night in succession that Amy got us all out of bed to listen to some fool noise +outside. I’m just about sick of it.” +</p> + +<p> +The other three came then and they had no further chance for conversation. As a +matter of fact, they talked surprisingly little on the walk to the river. +</p> + +<p> +High above them a wonderful full moon sent its silvery light filtering down +through leaves and branches, making of the woods a fairyland. Somehow, the very +beauty of it filled the girls with a strange dread. To them the patches of +moonlight were weird, unreal, the shadowy woods held a sinister menace. +</p> + +<p> +By the time they had reached the river’s edge they were almost ready to +turn and run, But they conquered the impulse and pressed on. Then suddenly they +saw what they had hoped, yet dreaded, to see. +</p> + +<p> +On the opposite bank, staring down into the rapids with a terrible intentness, +stood a man, or something that resembled a man. In one awful, breath-taking +minute they realized that here at last was the “Thing.” +</p> + +<p> +As they watched, the hunched-up crouching figure on the opposite bank made a +lumbering movement forward as though about to throw itself into the water at +the foot of the falls. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh!” screamed Betty, the words wrenched from her dry throat. +“Don’t do that! You mustn’t do that! Go back! For +goodness’ sake, go back!” +</p> + +<p> +With a hoarse cry that answered her own, the “Thing” flung back +from the water’s edge and disappeared into the darkness! +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap18"></a>CHAPTER XVIII.<br/> +SURPRISED</h2> + +<p> +The Outdoor Girls could hardly have told how they got back to the lodge after +that, Blindly they stumbled through the underbrush, expecting they knew not +what horrible thing, thankful for the moonlight that made it possible for them +to hurry. +</p> + +<p> +They did reach home somehow and there they sat until late into the night, +trying to find some explanation for the thing they had seen, striving to think +up some plan for hunting it down until finally Mrs. Irving sent them to bed. +</p> + +<p> +That did not do very much good, for they lay awake and talked until the first +rays of sunlight crept into the windows. Then they said goodnight and sank into +a sleep of exhaustion. +</p> + +<p> +For three days after the episode the girls never went far from the house on +foot. They would take the cars and spin down the open road, but a sort of +horror of the supernatural kept them from venturing into the woods again. +</p> + +<p> +But when the fourth day dawned the fright of their moonlight experience had +begun to wear off and they were beginning to feel ashamed of their fear. +</p> + +<p> +Having a little of this in her mind, Mollie gave voice to it at the breakfast +table. +</p> + +<p> +“I must say,” she began, buttering a piece of bread energetically, +“that it isn’t like us Outdoor Girls to let anything scare us into +staying near the house. Why, I declare, I don’t believe there is one of +us who would dare poke her nose past that rose bush in front of the porch after +sundown. That’s a pretty state of affairs, isn’t it?” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, you needn’t glare at me as if it were all my fault,” +retorted Amy with spirit. “I’m sure I didn’t wish the +horrible old thing on us.” +</p> + +<p> +“I only wish I knew who did,” sighed Grace, adding, with a sudden +burst of ferocity: “I would wring his neck.” +</p> + +<p> +“Suppose somebody suggests something we can do about it,” said +Betty reasonably. “I’m sure that after the other night nobody could +blame us for being frightened.” +</p> + +<p> +“No. But there is one thing I can blame you for,” said Mollie, +glaring morosely at her chum. “And that is for not letting the horrible +old thing drown itself when it so very evidently wanted to. If that had +happened all our worries would have been over.” +</p> + +<p> +“Goodness, Mollie, what a horrible idea!” Betty protested. +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t think it was a horrible idea,” Grace put in. +“I think it was just about the finest idea I ever heard of.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” added Amy with a deceptive mildness, “if you +hadn’t called out just then, Betty, the whole thing would have been over +and the Thing would have been drowned. And then,” she added plaintively, +“we would have been able to enjoy our summer.” +</p> + +<p> +“It really wasn’t any of our business, you know,” Grace +finished, moodily. +</p> + +<p> +For a moment Betty sat and stared at them, undecided whether to be amused or +indignant. However, the latter emotion won and she turned upon the girls with +flashing eyes. +</p> + +<p> +“I think you are all perfectly horrid,” she said. “And I +would think you were worse if I weren’t perfectly sure that you +don’t really mean what you say. Why, just suppose,” she went on +earnestly, “that we had willingly permitted that man to commit suicide? +Why, we would have been just as guilty as if we had murdered him!” +</p> + +<p> +“But he may have done it since anyway,” muttered Mollie stubbornly. +“He didn’t have to wait to ask our permission, and there are plenty +of times that he can commit suicide when we are not around! if he really wants +to do it.” +</p> + +<p> +“What he or anybody else does when we are not around, is not our +business,” answered Betty. “We can’t help what happens in our +absence.” +</p> + +<p> +“You seem to take it for granted that it is a man,” Mollie +continued, still stubbornly argumentative. “But I am not so sure about +that. The several times that we have seen the! the! Thing! it has looked as +much animal as human to me.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, we won’t argue that point,” said Betty, rising and +beginning to clear away the dishes, “because we don’t know anything +about it.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is just exactly what I am getting at,” said Mollie earnestly, +leaning forward and resting her elbows on the table while the girls watched her +interestedly. “We don’t know anything about it, but that is no +reason why we should sit back and twiddle our thumbs and start at +shadows.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, for goodness’ sake, tell us what’s on your +mind,” prompted Grace impatiently. “We haven’t sat back and +twiddled our thumbs and started at shadows because we enjoyed it, you +know.” +</p> + +<p> +“Now my plan is this,” said Mollie, ignoring Grace, who shrugged +her shoulders and reached for her candy box. “Suppose we take a tramp +through the woods to the head of the falls? It is a beautiful hike and the +scenery at the falls is magnificent. But aside from that we will have a chance +to find out something about this thing that will do away with the +mystery.” +</p> + +<p> +“If it doesn’t do away with us at the same time,” said Amy so +ruefully that they had to laugh at her. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, what do you say?” asked Mollie, looking around the circle of +thoughtful faces! her glance a dare. +</p> + +<p> +For a moment it looked as if they all might refuse to go, but then their +sporting blood came to the fore and they decided for the adventure. +</p> + +<p> +But when they told Mrs. Irving about their project and begged her to say yes to +it, she looked very doubtful and only consented at last on the proviso that she +was to go with them. This they were only too glad to have, and a few minutes +later the lodge hummed with excitement and preparation once more. To the +Outdoor Girls, active and fun-loving by nature, to be quiet for a few days was +nothing short of torture. So now, even though there was still more than a +little fear of the “Thing” in their hearts, they found relief in +the promise of adventure. +</p> + +<p> +They put up some sandwiches and fruit in a basket in case they were not able to +get home by noon. Then they locked the door of the little lodge and started +down the steps. They hesitated before starting into the woods, and Mollie had a +happy thought. +</p> + +<p> +“We can go part of the way along the road,” she said. “And +then there is a path that leads directly through to the head of the +falls.” +</p> + +<p> +The celerity with which they accepted this suggestion seemed funny to them +afterward, but at the time they had other things to think about. Mostly they +were wondering if they would realty be able to hold on to their nerve long +enough to see the adventure through. +</p> + +<p> +“I wish,” said Betty wistfully, as she had wished so many times of +late, “that the boys were here. They could help us out so +beautifully.” And she sighed, for when she spoke of “the +boys,” she always thought of one boy most! and that one was Allen. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, there’s no use wishing for what can’t possibly +happen,” Grace was saying, when there came a whistle so clear and +penetrating that it made them jump! then another, and another. Was it just that +they were nervous or was there really something peculiarly familiar in the +sound? At any rate they stopped and turned around to see who the whistlers +could be. +</p> + +<p> +There were three soldiers coming down the road, broad-shouldered, vital looking +fellows who swung along toward the astonished girls as though they owned the +world. +</p> + +<p> +“Betty, oh, Betty!” whispered Grace in a tense voice, grasping +Betty’s arm so hard it hurt. “It can’t be, oh, it can’t +be the boys!” +</p> + +<p> +But Mollie had broken away from the group and was rushing toward the soldier +lads like the wild little tomboy she was. +</p> + +<p> +“Girls, it’s the boys! it’s the boys! it’s the +boys!” she yelled. “They’re all tanned and they’re at +least ten inches taller, but it’s the boys just the same.” +</p> + +<p> +And before any of the other girls knew what she was about she had kissed each +one of them twice and was hanging on the tallest one’s arm, who happened +to be Frank, laughing and crying at the same time. +</p> + +<p> +Then the girls seemed to decide that she had had the lads to herself long +enough, and they immediately entered the contest, all laughing at once, all +crying at once, and all talking at once, until it was a wonder the boys did not +lose their heads entirely. +</p> + +<p> +The only one who was not absolutely and completely and deliriously happy was +Betty. For the other three boys were there, but Allen had not come! +</p> + +<p> +As though reading her thought, Will, who was much handsomer and more manly than +when he went away, put an arm about the Little Captain’s shoulder big +brother fashion and drew her aside from the rest. +</p> + +<p> +“You are wondering about Allen,” he said, and Betty nodded eagerly. +“You see,” continued Will, his face lighting up in a smile that +would always be boyish, “since Allen became one of the big bugs! which is +another name for officer, you understand! he had to pay the penalty and stay +over there with them for a little while longer. He will probably be over on the +next transport, although of course you can never be sure about that. Oh, and I +forgot,” he put his hand in his pocket and drew forth a pocketknife, a +wad of string and! a little three-cornered note. “He asked me to give +this to you as soon as I saw you. So now you can tell him that ‘I seen my +duty and I done it noble.’“ +</p> + +<p> +With a twinkle in his eye Will turned back to the others and Betty was left to +open her note. This is what she read: +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +“Gosh, some fellows do have all the luck, don’t they? But never +mind, little girl. I’m coming to you by the very first boat, and when I +get there do you know what I’m going to do? Do you?” +</p> + +<p> +Betty wanted to run away by herself and read the note over and over again. But +she could not do that. With a sigh she hid the little message in a pocket of +her skirt and turned back to the others. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap19"></a>CHAPTER XIX.<br/> +LIKE OLD TIMES</h2> + +<p> +It was a long time before the boys and girls woke up to the fact that they were +still standing in the center of the road and that they might be ever so much +more comfortable on the porch of the lodge, if any one had had sense enough to +think that far. +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Irving, who had been keeping herself rather in the background during the +first rapturous greetings, now came in for her share of salutations and boyish +greetings. The young soldiers crowded about her, patting her hands and her +shoulders and telling her how awfully fine she looked and how glad they were to +find her here until the lady actually blushed with pleasure and begged them to +stop their nonsense. In fact, it was she who finally suggested that they go up +to the lodge again. +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t see why we didn’t think of that before,” said +Mollie, joyfully slipping an arm into Frank’s and turning him +right-about-face. “We are due to talk all day anyway, so we might as well +do it in comfort. Don’t forget the lunch basket, Betty,” she called +back to her chum. +</p> + +<p> +Betty would have forgotten the basket and left it where it stood just as she +had dropped it at the side of the road! and small wonder if she had! but as she +stooped to pick it up, Will’s strong brown hand whipped out in front of +her nose and seized the handle firmly. +</p> + +<p> +“That’s the idea,” said Grace approvingly, adding with a +sisterly pat on his shoulder: “You run along with Amy and Mrs. Irving. I +want to talk to Betty.” +</p> + +<p> +So Will, being a well-trained brother, did as he was told, and Grace drew Betty +behind the others. +</p> + +<p> +“What about Allen, honey?” she asked, her blue eyes honestly +worried. “We all missed him so, but we didn’t like to say too much +for fear! for fear!!” +</p> + +<p> +“He’s all right,” said Betty, her heart glowing again at +thought of the little note hidden away in her pocket. “He has only been +delayed a little, that’s all. Will says he will probably be over on the +next transport.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, I am relieved,” said Grace with such fervor that Betty looked +at her quickly. Could it be, she wondered, that what she had half sensed before +could be really true? Was Grace fond of Allen? But because the idea made her +unhappy, she decided that she was just trying to think up trouble and dismissed +it from her mind. All the girls loved Allen of course! who could help it?! but +they couldn’t any of them, she told herself fiercely, care for him the +way she did. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, what are you thinking about? You needn’t look so +fierce,” she heard Grace saying, and she forced a smile to her face. +</p> + +<p> +“I’m not looking fierce,” Betty answered gayly. +“Don’t you know that that is just my natural expression, Gracie +dear? That’s the way I make little girls like you afraid of me.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, I’m not afraid of you, not one little bit,” asserted +Grace, squeezing Betty’s arm fondly. “Oh, Betty dear, isn’t +it wonderful having the boys back and don’t they look fine! especially +Will?” +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t they? Especially Will,” agreed Betty with a sly little +glance. “If you don’t look out you will give the impression that +you’re rather fond of that worthless old brother of yours, honey.” +</p> + +<p> +“I love him awfully,” replied Grace, adding with a little puckering +of her forehead: “But I am going to tell you something, Betty, that I +wouldn’t tell to any one else for the world. I’m jealous, actually +jealous! of Amy.” +</p> + +<p> +Betty gave a merry little laugh and slipped an arm about her chum. +</p> + +<p> +“Gracie dear, we never would have known that if you hadn’t told +us,” she said dryly, “Don’t, you know,” as Grace looked +at her reproachfully, “that we have all been perfectly well aware of that +ever since Will first began to make eyes at Amy?” +</p> + +<p> +“I can’t help it,” Grace retorted, while sudden tears sprang +to her eyes. “I’ve known him longer than she has, and we’ve +loved each other ever since he was two and I was two weeks! Did you see the way +he looked at her?” she finished dolefully. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes. But of course you couldn’t see the way he looked at +you,” said Betty quickly. “And I did.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, did he look glad to see me? Did he?” demanded Grace with +pathetic eagerness. +</p> + +<p> +“Of course he did, you little goose,” said Betty, adding with a +chuckle: “You’ve been spoiled, that’s all. You’ve been +so used to being the <i>only</i> pebble on the beach, dear, that you +can’t be content with being just one of two.” +</p> + +<p> +By this time they had reached the lodge and were greeted noisily by the others, +who had already seated themselves on the porch as though they intended to stay +all day. +</p> + +<p> +“Hello,” called Frank. His handsome face, though somewhat thinner +than the girls remembered, was better looking than ever and he had developed a +trick of flinging the hair back from his forehead that the girls thought +immensely attractive, +</p> + +<p> +Roy, who had seated himself on the railing of the porch and was swinging his +feet, looked more unchanged than either of the boys, though the girls were soon +to find out that he had changed the most. +</p> + +<p> +Will, who had settled Amy in a chair and was sitting cross-legged on the floor +at her feet, was gazing up at the girl with his heart in his eyes. As for Amy! +well, the girls had never known she could look so radiant. +</p> + +<p> +“Have a seat,” invited Roy, rising lazily to the dignity of his six +feet as Betty and Grace came up on the porch. “It would seem like old +times to see you girls perched on the railing.” +</p> + +<p> +“I’ll have you know, sir,” said Betty very demurely, as she +pulled Grace down beside her on the top step of the porch, “that we have +quite grown up since you have been away. We will sit here where we can get a +good view of you all.” +</p> + +<p> +“And we want to hear about everything you have done over there,” +broke in Amy eagerly. “Please, everything! right from the +beginning.” +</p> + +<p> +The boys fidgeted, looked dismayed, and Roy burst forth in protest. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, I say!” he cried. “We’ll do anything else for you, +but please don’t ask us to do that.” +</p> + +<p> +“We don’t want to talk about ourselves or the war,” muttered +Frank, almost as if to himself. “We want to forget about it! if we +can.” +</p> + +<p> +“You see,” Will explained, and there was a stern note in his young +voice, “we worked and we sweated and we fought. We lived under conditions +week after week and month after month that it makes us shudder even to think of +now. For months we lived in a perfect inferno! and do you know what our idea of +heaven was then?” +</p> + +<p> +They said nothing and he went on in a lighter tone. +</p> + +<p> +“It was just to get back alive and, well, to God’s country and you +girls! to sit for hours, days if we could, where we could look at you and +listen to you and not do a thing but just be happy. I wonder if you can +understand that?” +</p> + +<p> +“Of course, we can, Will!” cried Betty, impulsively reaching over +and laying a hand on the boy’s arm. “You have earned the right to +sit and be amused, and we’ll do it till you cry aloud for mercy. And you +needn’t tell us a single word about yourselves until you get good and +ready.” +</p> + +<p> +“You’re a brick, Betty,” said Will warmly, laying his hand +over her little one. “I might have known we could count on you.” +</p> + +<p> +“By the way,” Roy broke in suddenly, his eye on the basket of +eatables that the girls had prepared for their adventure, “what’s +in that hamper, anyway? If it’s anything to eat, let’s have +it.” +</p> + +<p> +Betty pulled the basket over to her, lifted the cover and passed it over to the +ravenous one. +</p> + +<p> +“Eat while there is anything left,” she commanded, adding with a +chuckle: “Our adventure seems to be over for to-day, at least.” +</p> + +<p> +“Adventure?” repeated Frank inquiringly, as he reached for a +sandwich. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” said Mollie, adding with a sigh: “And you boys had to +come along just in time to spoil it all.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap20"></a>CHAPTER XX.<br/> +VERY MUCH ALIVE</h2> + +<p> +That is complimentary, I must say,” grinned Will, getting up from his +seat on the porch and going over to join Roy on the railing. “After being +away for months we are told the minute we get back that we’ve +‘spoiled everything.’ “ +</p> + +<p> +“’Tis rather hard lines,” said Mollie with an answering grin. +“But one must tell the truth, you know.” +</p> + +<p> +“By the way,” put in Grace curiously, “I know Betty promised +that we wouldn’t ask questions, but there is just one thing I want to +know.” +</p> + +<p> +“Speak, fair damsel,” Roy replied, thinking meanwhile how much +prettier Grace had grown. “We will promise to answer faithfully anything +that is not connected with war.” +</p> + +<p> +“When did you get in?” asked Grace, “and how did you get +here?” +</p> + +<p> +“We came in yesterday,” answered Roy, helping himself to another +sandwich. “And of course we beat it for headquarters right away.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes’m, and I’ll tell you we were a disappointed lot when we +found that you girls had flown,” added Frank ruefully. “We were all +set for a jolly reunion!!” +</p> + +<p> +“But we wrote you about spending the summer here,” Betty +interrupted. “And we were mourning because you couldn’t be at the +lodge with us.” +</p> + +<p> +“We missed your letters, I guess,” said Will. “We sailed very +suddenly, and there is probably a stack of them piled up there at the old +service station.” +</p> + +<p> +“We found out where you were all rightie, though,” Roy continued. +“So we took the first train out this morning, debarked at the nearest +station south of here, and proceeded to walk the rest of the way. It was thus +that you came upon us.” +</p> + +<p> +“You came upon us, you mean,” Amy corrected. “We ought to +know well enough, because you nearly gave us heart failure.” +</p> + +<p> +Will looked at her as if he wanted to say something but did not quite dare in +public. However, she intercepted the look and with a little panicky feeling +turned her eyes away. +</p> + +<p> +“I imagine,” said Grace softly, looking up at Will, “that +mother wasn’t glad to see you or anything.” +</p> + +<p> +“Not at all,” returned Will, a soft light in his eyes as he +remembered the greeting between him and his parents. “I was a little +afraid,” he added soberly, “that mother and dad wouldn’t like +my skipping off like this the day after I’d got home. But they seemed to +understand all right.” +</p> + +<p> +“Gee, but this is great,” said Frank, stretching contentedly and +looking about the group with happy eyes. “I wonder how many times +we’ve seen this all in our dreams, fellows. Only we couldn’t have +imagined it half as perfect as this.” +</p> + +<p> +“It sure is like old times,” agreed Roy, adding with a smile as he +turned to their chaperon, who had been quietly enjoying herself: “We even +have Mrs. Irving with us. Gee, it’s just like that summer at Pine Island! +All the old crowd together!!” +</p> + +<p> +“Except Allen,” put in Will, frowning a little. “Gosh, it +didn’t seem right at all to leave the old fellow behind. You +wouldn’t know him,” he added, his face flushing enthusiastically, +“I’ve never seen a fellow change the way Allen has! for the +better.” +</p> + +<p> +“Was there so much room for improvement?” asked Betty demurely, and +they looked at her laughingly. +</p> + +<p> +“Nobody would expect you to think so,” Will replied, his eyes +twinkling, then added seriously: +</p> + +<p> +“Of course we all know that Allen was the finest kind even before the +war, but, gosh! I wish you could just see how all the fellows love him and how +even his superior officers consult him and seem to value his judgment. I tell +you, I’m glad to have him call me his friend.” +</p> + +<p> +“You bet!” exclaimed Frank, nodding soberly. +</p> + +<p> +“Allen sure has come out strong,” Roy agreed; and at this glowing +praise of the only absent one Betty felt her heart swell with pride and she +wanted to hug the boys for being so loyal to her Allen. Also, deep down in her +heart, she began to feel a little trepidation about the homecoming of this +hero. Who was she, Betty Nelson, to call this glorious Lieutenant Allen +Washburn, <i>her</i> Allen? +</p> + +<p> +So engrossed was she in these and other absorbing thoughts that it was some +time before she noticed that the conversation had taken another turn. Also that +the boys and girls were becoming rather excited. +</p> + +<p> +“I didn’t say it was a ghost,” Mollie was declaring hotly. +“In fact I have always thought of a ghost as wearing a sheet and pillow +case sort of garb. And this thing certainly wore nothing of the sort.” +</p> + +<p> +“Tell us all about it,” said Frank, leaning forward. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, it sounds as if it might prove interesting,” added Roy. +</p> + +<p> +So the girls told them all about it from that first night when they had been so +badly frightened by the “Thing” that had hidden in the shadows of +the porch. The boys listened with scarcely an interruption till they were +through. +</p> + +<p> +“Gosh, I don’t like the sound of that at all,” said Will, +when they had finished. “It isn’t a pleasant thing to have a +lunatic roaming the woods while you girls are all alone here in this place. +Could you possibly put us up for the night?” he asked, turning abruptly +to Mrs. Irving. +</p> + +<p> +“Why, there isn’t any room,” said the latter slowly, frowning +a little as she tried to think up ways and means. “There aren’t any +extra beds, but there is a large settee in the living room and a couple of you +can sleep on that. I found plenty of blankets stowed away.” +</p> + +<p> +“Fine!” cried Will enthusiastically. “Just the very thing! +One of us can take turns sleeping on the floor. It won’t be the first +time we’ve slept on harder things.” +</p> + +<p> +“Goodness, any one would think they were going to stay a month,” +said Mollie in dismay. +</p> + +<p> +“No, we won’t stay a month,” Will went on. “But we are +going to stay until we find out what it is that has been bothering you girls. +Do you suppose we would leave you unprotected here? I should say not!” +Grace noticed that when he said this his glance was first for Amy, and, +afterward, for her. +</p> + +<p> +So it was settled. Mrs. Irving went inside to see about getting lunch. +“Though how the boys can find any room for lunch after eating all those +sandwiches, I don’t know,” Amy had commented wonderingly. +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Irving had refused absolutely to let any of the girls even so much as help +with this lunch, saying they must stay outside and visit with the boys on this +momentous occasion. +</p> + +<p> +“Since you are convinced that this thing is not a ghost,” Will went +on, while appetizing odors began to waft toward them from the open kitchen +windows, “we will take it for granted that it is a man, and a man who +has, presumably, lost his mind.” +</p> + +<p> +“A crazy man,” murmured Betty. “Worse and worse! and more of +it.” +</p> + +<p> +“Girls,” cried Amy, jumping suddenly to her feet, “I have an +idea.” +</p> + +<p> +“Impossible!” drawled Grace. +</p> + +<p> +“Why,” went on Amy, unheeding Grace’s remark and growing +visibly more excited as she talked, “you know, Professor Dempsey went +crazy! or at least we supposed he did! and ran away into the woods. Now since +Will thinks this man is crazy too, why, they may be one and the same +</p> + +<p> +“Amy!” cried Mollie, her eyes beginning to shine as she realized +the possibility of what the girl had said. “You are a wonder, child! Why +didn’t any of us think of that before?” +</p> + +<p> +“Because it is rather far-fetched and absurd, I suppose,” said +Grace, the suggestion of a sneer in her voice bringing a quick flush to +Amy’s face. +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t see that it is so far-fetched! or absurd either,” +Betty broke in quietly. “Remember, we are only a little over fifty miles +from the place where Professor Dempsey had his cottage, and it would be easy +for him to wander this far.” +</p> + +<p> +Here Frank broke in on behalf of the very much mystified boys. +</p> + +<p> +“Before you stage the hair-pulling contest,” he said, “would +you mind telling us poor benighted males what it is all about?” +</p> + +<p> +So the girls told them all about Professor Dempsey, and while they talked the +boys became more and more excited. Finally Will could keep quiet no longer. +</p> + +<p> +“Say,” he asked, leaning forward, “did the two sons of the +cracked old professor happen to bear the names of James and Arnold?” +</p> + +<p> +The girls gaped at him, “Yes,” they breathed. “How did you +know?” +</p> + +<p> +“Because,” said Will, “those very same fellows were in our +regiment. In fact, I was beside Arnold when he was wounded in that last +engagement. Strange thing that James was wounded at the same time.” +</p> + +<p> +“Wounded?” repeated Betty, who like all the girls was feeling +rather dazed at this new development. “Then they weren’t +killed?” +</p> + +<p> +“Not a bit of it,” Will replied vehemently. “Why, even their +wounds weren’t serious enough to lay them up for long. The last I heard +of them they were coming over on a hospital ship and expected to be here almost +as soon as we were. For all I know, they may have landed by this time.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh,” said Amy, still too dazed to take it all in. “Then all +this time we have thought of them as dead, they were alive!” +</p> + +<p> +“Very much so,” said Will, with a grin, “and probably kicking +too! just like us!” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap21"></a>CHAPTER XXI.<br/> +OUT OF THE DARK</h2> + +<p> +It took the Outdoor Girls a moment or two to digest this rather startling +information. And when it did finally seep into their consciousness, their first +feeling was one of joy for the poor professor whose sons would be restored to +him after all. +</p> + +<p> +But quick on the heels of this thought came another. How could the sons be +restored to their father, if the father were nowhere to be found? +</p> + +<p> +“You say the old chap skipped out, decamped?” Will broke in on +their meditations. “That sort of complicates matters, doesn’t +it?” +</p> + +<p> +“Rather,” agreed Roy, frowning. “It is going to be rather +tough on those fellows, James and Arnold, to come home, expecting to be +welcomed by a rejoicing parent, only to find said parent missing.” +</p> + +<p> +“Humph, that’s the first time I’ve thought of the boys’ +side of it,” said Betty. “We have been too much occupied right +along in being sorry for the poor old professor.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, if you had known the boys, you would have thought of their side of +it all right,” said Frank seriously, “They are mighty good scouts, +both of them, and they think a lot of their old dad, too, I can tell you. Why, +many a night”! his voice took on a reminiscent note and the girls felt +once again that they were privileged in having a brief glimpse of the life +“over there”! “when a surprise attack was scheduled for the +next morning or we were waiting for some such manoeuvre from the enemy, Arnold +would talk to me about his dad! that was the time when fellows got chummy, you +know, and got to know each other’s souls! and once he gave me a note for +the old chap and asked me to deliver it if I came through and he didn’t. +I think I have it about me somewhere.” He fumbled about in his pockets +while the girls waited silently. +</p> + +<p> +Presently he drew forth a little slip of paper, muddy and worn and dust-stained +from being carried about for a long, long time in a khaki pocket. +</p> + +<p> +“He told me,” Frank went on, still holding the slip of paper in his +hand but making no attempt to open it, “that his mother had died when he +and Jimmy were young and that since then his dad had been father and mother +both to them and that he had worked himself nearly to death to give them a +chance for the college education that he had had. He said that the one thing +that had always threatened to floor the old boy was when either he or Jim got +mad and threatened to give up school and go to work so as to take some of the +load from the old pater’s shoulders. So they were glad, actually glad, +when the war came along and gave them a chance not only to serve their country +and earn some money! even if it was only a miserable pittance! so that they +could send some home to their dad and feel that they had stopped being a drag +upon him. He used to tell me,” Frank went on, for the spell of those old +thrilling times was strong upon him again, “with tears in his eyes! and +I’ll tell you there was no braver man in all the American army than +Arnold Dempsey; he was good for two Boches any day! that it would be the +happiest moment of his life when he got back to the old country and announced +to his proud and admiring pater that he had come home to turn the tables; that +Jimmy and he were going to make the old fellow take a rest and do the work +themselves for a change. And he asked me, in case anything did happen to him +and Jimmy, to be kind to his dad and try to make up to him as much as I could. +I gave him my promise that night.” Frank looked about the intent group of +faces soberly, “In case the boys had been killed, I would have regarded +it as a sacred trust.” +</p> + +<p> +Something swelled in the girls’ hearts and for a moment they could not +speak. Then, +</p> + +<p> +“I guess we all love you for that, Frank,” said Betty simply. With +a little nod of her head toward the slip of paper he still held, she added: +“What about that! now?” +</p> + +<p> +Frank looked down at the slip of paper for a moment uncomprehendingly, for his +thoughts had been far away. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, the note,” he said. “Why, that was only to be given to +his father in case anything happened, you know. But now that the boys are +coming back to him themselves, I suppose the thing is worthless.” He made +a motion as though to tear the note up, but Grace stopped him with a quick +exclamation. +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t!” she cried, adding as they all looked at her in +surprise: “Don’t you suppose there might be something in it that +would give us a clue to the professor’s whereabouts now, perhaps? +Don’t you think it would be wise to look, at least?” +</p> + +<p> +But Frank slowly shook his head. +</p> + +<p> +“Arnold Dempsey’s message, written to his dad when he thought he +might never see him again, doesn’t belong to us,” he said +decidedly. “The note was given in trust to me, and since I can’t +deliver it! or at least, since there is now no reason for delivering it! the +only thing I can honorably do is this.” And very slowly and very +decidedly he tore the note into little bits and threw the pieces among the wild +roses at the side of the porch. +</p> + +<p> +It was the first real glimpse the girls had had of the man who had come back in +the old Frank’s place, and with all their hearts they admired him. +</p> + +<p> +Even Grace, who had seemed inclined to pout a little, could not but admit that +the action was splendid in him. +</p> + +<p> +“And now,” said Will, “after all that, the boys will come +back to find their dad gone, heaven knows where, dead perhaps!!” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, I wonder if there isn’t some way we can follow him and find +out at least what has happened to him?” broke in Amy earnestly. “It +seems dreadful just to sit back and not even try to help,” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t see what we can do,” said Will judicially, just as +Mrs. Irving appeared in the doorway. “We will postpone the discussion for +the present anyway,” he added, in a different tone, rising with alacrity +and dusting off his uniform. “Something tells me that lunch is waiting. +Come, let us eat!” +</p> + +<p> +So ended all serious discussion for that day, and the girls and boys gave +themselves up to the delight of being together again. Only Betty’s +thoughts seemed to wander at times and she had to be brought back by sundry +mischievous and significant remarks from the young folks. +</p> + +<p> +Worn out with fun, the young soldiers slept like tops that night in their +improvised beds and rose the next morning professing to feel like “two +year olds” and ready for whatever new fun and adventure the day might +bring them. +</p> + +<p> +And for the first night since their arrival at Wild Rose Lodge the girls slept +soundly without being bothered by the haunting fear of the “Thing”! +at least, so they said. +</p> + +<p> +That day they wandered through the woods together, searching for some sign of +their strange visitor, but found not a trace of anything unusual and alarming. +</p> + +<p> +“I’m really beginning to believe that you girls have let your +imaginations run away from you,” Will remarked, when they sat about the +living-room after a satisfying supper, just luxuriating in idleness. +</p> + +<p> +“Or perhaps the gentleman has been frightened away by our coming,” +Roy suggested in a superior tone that made the girls want to throw something at +him. “Perhaps he is afraid of the uniform of the U. S. A.” +</p> + +<p> +“He may be afraid of the uniform,” sniffed Mollie scathingly. +“But he certainly couldn’t be afraid of <i>you</i>.” +</p> + +<p> +“Now you don’t mean that, you know you don’t,” laughed +Roy, drawing her down beside him on the couch and holding her there with an +iron grip of his brown fingers. “Say you didn’t, like a pretty +little girl, and I’ll let you go.” +</p> + +<p> +“I won’t say any such!!” Mollie began, then suddenly her gaze +stiffened into such a stare of wonder, and even alarm, that it made the girls +fairly hold their breath. +</p> + +<p> +“Mollie, what is it?” demanded Roy commandingly. +</p> + +<p> +“Over there!” she shrieked. “At the window, Roy! Do you see +it?” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap22"></a>CHAPTER XXII.<br/> +TRAGEDY</h2> + +<p> +There, pressed so close to the pane of the window that the nose was flattened +grotesquely, eyes wildly staring, hair disheveled, was a face that even in that +tense moment the girls recognized! the face of Professor Dempsey! +</p> + +<p> +It took the boys perhaps a second to fling out of the room, jump down the steps +of the porch and circle the house to the window. +</p> + +<p> +And yet, in that second, the man was gone, leaving no more trace than if the +earth had opened and swallowed him up. For almost an hour the boys searched the +woods about the lodge, refusing to allow the girls to accompany them, saying +truly that they would hamper them more than they could help. +</p> + +<p> +“You see, I was right after all,” Amy stated for at least the tenth +time. “From the moment the idea came to me, I felt almost sure that poor +crazy Professor Dempsey was this thing that was frightening us.” +</p> + +<p> +“But did you ever see such an awful face in all your life?” said +Mollie, shuddering at the recollection. +</p> + +<p> +“And the look in his eyes as he stared at Roy,” Grace added in a +hushed voice. “I shouldn’t wonder if! if we hadn’t been +there, he might have murdered him.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, Gracie, don’t!” Amy clapped her hands to her ears. +“We are frightened enough without having you say things like that.” +</p> + +<p> +“Suppose,” said Mollie, in a sepulchral voice, “he should +come back before the boys do?” +</p> + +<p> +“That’s just what I was thinking,” said a quiet voice behind +them, and they jumped and cried out in alarm. The next moment they saw it was +Mrs. Irving and felt ashamed of themselves. +</p> + +<p> +“I think you had all better come into the house till the boys come +back,” their chaperon continued. “I shall feel safer when we are +behind locked doors.” +</p> + +<p> +The girls shivered, but Mollie protested. +</p> + +<p> +“Suppose anything should happen to the boys?” she asked, but here +Mrs. Irving chose to exercise her authority. +</p> + +<p> +“We will talk about that when we are inside the house,” she said +very firmly, and Mollie had nothing else to do but obey. +</p> + +<p> +The girls did breathe a little more freely when the door was locked, but they +found themselves wishing even more ardently that the boys would come back. +</p> + +<p> +The window against which the horribly distorted face had been pressed seemed to +hold a peculiar fascination for the Outdoor Girls and they found themselves +unable to turn their eyes away from it. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, I wish the boys would come back,” moaned Amy, after a few +moments more had passed in strained silence. “If anything should happen +to them I’m sure I would die.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nonsense, Amy,” snapped Mollie. “What could one little mad +old man do to three big husky soldier boys?” +</p> + +<p> +The words had hardly been spoken when the sound of voices could be heard coming +toward the house, and a moment later the boys themselves stamped up on the +porch. +</p> + +<p> +“Not a sign of him,” said Will in response to the girls’ +eager questions. “I don’t see how he could have disappeared so +completely in such a short time.” +</p> + +<p> +“We all took different directions, too,” said Roy, taking a seat on +the couch again and staring fascinatedly at the window. “If all the rest +of you hadn’t seen it too, I should certainly think I had been +mistaken.” +</p> + +<p> +“You weren’t mistaken,” Mollie assured him grimly. “I +can vouch for that.” +</p> + +<p> +“Didn’t one of you girls call out something about Professor +Dempsey?” asked Frank, abruptly. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” said Betty, going over to him, and putting an excited hand +on his shoulder. “That’s the thing that startled us so, Frank. We +are sure it was Professor Dempsey’s face. But, still, it was so wild and +distorted that we really wouldn’t feel like contradicting any one who +told us it wasn’t he,” she added slowly. “Do you understand +what I mean?” +</p> + +<p> +Frank nodded, and Will broke in excitedly: +</p> + +<p> +“But the poor old codger’s looks would naturally be changed,” +he argued, “after he had spent all this time wandering around the woods! +out of his mind at that. I am inclined to think that the girls are right and +that it is really Professor Dempsey.” +</p> + +<p> +“If only I could have gotten my hands on him!” mourned Roy. +“We wouldn’t have been in any further doubt.” +</p> + +<p> +“There is really no doubt, boys. We just want! oh, I don’t know +what we want!” exclaimed Mollie, who was excited and unstrung and +nervous. +</p> + +<p> +Soon after that they all went to bed, having first decided to make a more +thorough search of the woods in the morning and take the postponed trip to the +head of the falls. +</p> + +<p> +They slept fitfully and were glad when at last they woke to find the sun +shining in their windows. For once Amy and Grace did not have to be coaxed or +wheedled or forced to get out of bed, but dressed quickly and were ready almost +as soon as Mollie and Betty. +</p> + +<p> +“You know I rather hated to leave the boys in that room last +night,” Betty confided to Grace, stopping before the mirror for one final +little pat of her hair. “I was afraid that! he! might come back!!” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, Betty, what a horrid idea,” said Grace. “Come on, +let’s see if everything is all right.” +</p> + +<p> +But they found that their fears had been wasted. The boys were in the kitchen +hilariously helping Mrs. Irving get the breakfast to the accompaniment of +continual good-natured scolding from that flushed and perspiring lady. It was +Amy’s day to get the breakfast, but, as usual, she was late in getting +down. +</p> + +<p> +“You make a good deal more trouble than you mend,” Mrs. Irving was +saying as the girls came to the door, then added relievedly as she caught sight +of them: “For goodness’ sake, get these young ruffians out of the +kitchen, my dears, or we’ll not have any breakfast until noon.” +</p> + +<p> +So amid much fun and nonsense the boys were shooed forth into the bright +sunshine of the out-of-doors, and all the girls fell to to help their chaperon, +not wanting to put the extra work the boys made entirely on Amy’s +shoulders. +</p> + +<p> +Breakfast was good, but they ate hurriedly, anxious to get at the business of +the day. They wanted more than they had wanted anything in a very long time to +find Professor Dempsey and tell him the joyful news that his sons were alive. +</p> + +<p> +“I’m horribly afraid of him at night,” Mollie confided, as +they started out at last, “but in the daytime I am only sorry for +him.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do you think we shall find him, Will?” asked Amy, with a helpless +little look into Will’s self-reliant young face. “I do want to so +much.” +</p> + +<p> +Will looked down at her with an expression that said to any one who would read +it: “I would give you anything in the world you asked for, if I only +could.” +</p> + +<p> +But all he really said was: “That remains to be seen. He proved himself a +rather slippery customer last night, and the chase we put up may only serve to +put him on his guard. Crazy people are tricky, you know.” +</p> + +<p> +“Goodness,” said Grace, looking fearfully over her shoulder. +“There is nothing in the world I am so afraid of as a crazy +person.” +</p> + +<p> +“That’s why she has always been so afraid of me, I suppose,” +grinned Mollie. +</p> + +<p> +“Afraid of you,” said Grace, her eyebrows raised in mock surprise. +“Little shrimp! who are you?” +</p> + +<p> +There followed a characteristic scene that somewhat lifted the oppression they +had all been feeling, and it was not till they had nearly reached the river at +the head of the falls that they became serious again. +</p> + +<p> +“It was right about here,” said Betty soberly, “that we saw +him the night that he started to jump into the river! or I suppose it was the +same one,” she added. +</p> + +<p> +“Let us hope so,” said Mollie fervently. “I wouldn’t +like to think that there were two lunatics wandering round these woods. One is +quite enough.” +</p> + +<p> +As they came closer to the river they became more and more conscious that they +were not alone, that some one, hidden in the bushes, was craftily watching +them. +</p> + +<p> +So strong did this feeling finally become that once the boys separated, +thrashing the bushes in all directions. They did not find anything, and finally +continued along the path, a little ashamed of what they thought was an attack +of nerves. +</p> + +<p> +“Phew, this is getting a little hot for me,” said Frank, running +his hand through his shock of fair hair. “I don’t mind fighting +anything in the open!” He left the sentence unfinished, for at that +moment they broke through the bushes at the river’s edge upon a sight +that struck them speechless. +</p> + +<p> +Not twenty yards down the bank stood a ragged scarecrow of a man, so unkempt, +so wild, so abandoned in its crouching attitude as to appear hardly human. +</p> + +<p> +Before they had time to utter a word or move a muscle, the man threw up his +arms in a gesture indescribably terrible, and with a hoarse shout disappeared +in the swirling waters. +</p> + +<p> +It all happened so quickly that for the space of a dazed second they wondered +if they had really seen it at all. Then they recovered their powers of motion +and rushed to the spot where the man had disappeared. +</p> + +<p> +Though they leaned far out over the water they could see no sign of anything +human, and with a creeping feeling of horror they began to speak of what had +probably already happened. +</p> + +<p> +“It’s certain death down there,” Roy muttered, as though to +himself, gazing into the rushing river. “The poor old fellow! He has got +his, I guess.” +</p> + +<p> +“Look here, fellows, here are some clothes,” Will called out +suddenly, and the boys rushed over to where he stood, a tattered old hat and an +equally ragged coat in his hands. “Maybe there will be something in the +jacket to tell us where the poor fellow has been staying and what he has been +up to.” +</p> + +<p> +They searched through the coat and finally pulled out a wallet. +</p> + +<p> +“Now if it only has some writing in it,” said Mollie breathlessly. +</p> + +<p> +There was a card, and the card bore the words which they expected, yet dreaded, +Arnold Dempsey, Ph. D. But there was nothing else, and suddenly tears dimmed +their eyes and they had to turn away. +</p> + +<p> +“It will be mighty hard on Jimmy and Arnold,” muttered Roy, gazing +somberly at the fast-flowing river. “To have their dad go that way! +They’ll take it mighty hard! those boys.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap23"></a>CHAPTER XXIII.<br/> +A MOONLIGHT APPARITION</h2> + +<p> +“Let’s look around a little anyway,” Betty suggested. +“He may possibly have been swept up on the shore farther down the +river.” +</p> + +<p> +“If such a thing were possible he would probably be dead anyway,” +Frank protested, but the girls paid no attention to him. The mere suggestion +that the professor might still be alive and in need of assistance was enough +for them, and they set about feverishly to scour the woods on both sides of the +river and for a considerable distance down its shores. +</p> + +<p> +After an hour of vain search, however, they were forced to conclude that the +old man was indeed dead, and so reluctantly and with heavy hearts they turned +their steps back toward Wild Rose Lodge. +</p> + +<p> +They talked very little on the way back, for they were too occupied with their +own gloomy thoughts. Only once Betty spoke what was in the minds of all of +them. +</p> + +<p> +“It seems such a terrible waste! such a pity,” she said. +“Just a mistake on the part of the Government to have resulted in this +tragedy. Arnold and James Dempsey coming home, safe and well and hopeful to +find their father! dead!” +</p> + +<p> +The boys stayed on for several days at the lodge, and for all the Outdoor Girls +but Betty their stay was unmitigated joy. But in the heart of the Little +Captain, hard as she tried to fight against it, was a little sense of injury to +think that her chums had got their boys back and she had been denied hers. +</p> + +<p> +To be sure, all the boys made much of her and petted her! for there was not one +of them who had not competed for her favor in the old days before Allen had +shouldered them all out! but no amount of attention from any one else could +make up for one little word from Allen. +</p> + +<p> +At each sunrise she awoke thrilling with the thought that perhaps Allen would +be with her before the sun went down. And as each evening came without him she +sighed and thought, “Perhaps to-morrow.” +</p> + +<p> +Since the tragic death of Professor Dempsey they felt that they need no longer +fear the woods, although they never ventured near the river or the falls +without a heartache and the fervent wish that they might have reached the poor +demented man with the glad news of his sons’ safety in time to avert the +tragedy. +</p> + +<p> +However, they did enjoy their liberty, and took long tramps with the boys +through the woods and picnicked with them beside little unexpected brooks and +streams, quite in the nature of old days. +</p> + +<p> +Then at last came the day when the boys announced that they would have to +return to town and to the military camp to obtain their formal discharge from +the army. +</p> + +<p> +“We may surprise you by coming back in ‘civies’ a week or two +from now,” Will laughed, as the girls prepared to spin them to the +railroad station in the cars. “So you had better be prepared for the +shock.” +</p> + +<p> +“Maybe they won’t care for us any more when they see us out of +uniform,” grinned Roy, as he shook hands with Mrs. Irving. “You +know the old saying that a uniform has made many a hero of a bootblack.” +</p> + +<p> +“Goodness, I hope you aren’t a bootblack,” said Mollie from +her car, where she was “doing things” with the engine. +</p> + +<p> +“I’m not,” answered Roy, adding with a grin: “Nothing +half so honest.” +</p> + +<p> +Although the girls knew that they were only saying good-bye to the boys for a +few days, the parting was hard just the same, and half an hour later they +watched the train wind serpent-like down the shining track with a sinking +feeling at their hearts. +</p> + +<p> +“Aren’t we a lot of geese?” said Grace impatiently, as they +climbed back into the cars. “We have done without the boys for a couple +of years, and now when they have just gone as far as Deepdale for a couple of +weeks, we are almost crying about it.” +</p> + +<p> +“I suppose it is just because we have had so much separation that we +can’t bear any more of it! even a little,” suggested gentle Amy, +feeling as if she had just awakened from a blissful dream. +</p> + +<p> +“Never mind,” said Mollie, putting an arm about Betty’s waist +and giving it a little squeeze. “Just think how lovely it will be to see +the boys in regular clothes again, and maybe,” with a sly glance at +Betty, “by the time they come back they will have added one to their +number.” +</p> + +<p> +“Goodness, I hope so!” said Betty, unashamed. +</p> + +<p> +In spite of some regret at not having the boys, the girls managed to enjoy +themselves in the days that followed. They motored and swam and fished and +hiked, and got as becomingly sunburned and tanned as young Indians. It was not +until two or three days before the boys returned that anything untoward +happened to disturb their peace of mind. +</p> + +<p> +Then one night the moon came out with such dazzling brilliance that Betty was +seized with a strong desire to be out in it. +</p> + +<p> +“Let’s go for a moonlight swim,” she suggested excitedly, as +they all stood on the porch of the lodge staring up through the trees to where +the moon shone glitteringly down. “We haven’t done it since we +came, and surely our vacation wouldn’t be complete without one.” +</p> + +<p> +“Or more,” said Mollie, seconding the plan with enthusiasm, +“Come on. Let’s tell Mrs. Irving where we are going. Maybe she will +wish to go along, but I doubt it.” +</p> + +<p> +Mollie was right: Mrs. Irving did not wish to go, and the girls rushed upstairs +to don bathing suits in preparation for the lark. +</p> + +<p> +A few minutes later they were racing like slim young ghosts through the woods, +laughing and calling to each other and entirely abandoned to the joy of the +moment. +</p> + +<p> +“Race you to the old swimming hole,” Mollie called out, as they +neared the river; and away they all raced in response to the challenge. +</p> + +<p> +Betty won, in spite of the fact that Mollie had had a short head start, and the +girls, wild in their exuberance, would have lifted her to their shoulders had +not Betty herself laughingly fought them off. +</p> + +<p> +“I have another challenge,” she cried. “My fresh box of candy +to whoever swims to the other side of the swimming hole first. Are you +on?” +</p> + +<p> +“We’re on!” yelled Grace enthusiastically, adding: +“I’d swim from here to Jericho for that box of candy, Betty.” +</p> + +<p> +As a matter of fact, whether it was really the thought of the candy or whether +it was because the other girls were tired from the last spurt, Grace really did +get to the other side of the swimming pool first, and, pulling herself up on +the other bank, dripping and triumphant, demanded the prize. +</p> + +<p> +“You surely did win it, and you shall have that box of candy! much as I +hoped to keep it in the family,” laughed Betty, shaking the water from +her eyes and drawing herself up beside her chum. “Goodness, isn’t +that water delicious to-night?” she added, wriggling her toes luxuriously +in the rippling wavelets. “Just cool enough to be refreshing and not cold +enough to chill you!!” She broke off suddenly and sat staring, her eyes +widening and her body tense. +</p> + +<p> +“Girls,” she said in a queer voice, for Mollie and Amy had also +drawn themselves up on the bank, “have I gone crazy, or what is the +matter with me? Do you see! what! I see! up there?” +</p> + +<p> +Alarmed, the girls followed the direction of her strained gaze, and suddenly +they seemed to feel themselves congeal with momentary horror. +</p> + +<p> +Far above them on the bank near the falls and on the other side of the river, +stood the crouched-up, animal-like figure of! the “Thing!” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap24"></a>CHAPTER XXIV.<br/> +RECOVERED</h2> + +<p> +The sight was almost too much for the girls. What they felt was sheer animal +panic and they wanted to run away! anywhere! just so they put distance enough +between them and that figure on the bank. +</p> + +<p> +“Sit still,” Betty commanded them, recovering her presence of mind. +“That is Professor Dempsey up there, and if we make any sudden sound we +are sure of frightening him away.” +</p> + +<p> +“But he was killed! we saw it,” moaned Amy. “That must be his +g-ghost.” +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t be ridiculous,” snapped Mollie, her thoughts working +along with Betty’s “You know you don’t believe in +ghosts.” +</p> + +<p> +“But how!” Amy was beginning when Betty interrupted sharply. +</p> + +<p> +“Listen,” she said. “I came across an old derelict of a +rowboat the other day when we were exploring the upper river, but I +didn’t say anything to you girls about it because I thought it was too +much of a wreck to bother with. For all I know it isn’t even water tight +</p> + +<p> +“Betty,” Mollie broke in excitedly, “I see what you mean! We +can row across the upper river to where Professor Dempsey is! Were there oars +in the boat?” she broke off to ask. +</p> + +<p> +“A couple of old sticks that would serve for oars,” Betty answered. +“Of course it’s taking a big chance!!” +</p> + +<p> +“Say no more,” cried Mollie, jumping to her feet and wringing out +her bathing suit. “Big chance is our middle name anyway. Lead on, Betty. +Where do we find this craft?” +</p> + +<p> +“I’m not quite sure that I can find it,” said Betty, leading +the way into the woods, “but it was down this way somewhere. Don’t +make any noise, girls, and let’s hurry, or we won’t get there +before he disappears again.” +</p> + +<p> +Grace and Amy were now entering into the spirit of the thing, and they followed +at Betty’s heels eagerly, careful not to step on stick or stone that +might betray their presence. +</p> + +<p> +Luckily Betty managed to stumble directly on the old derelict rowboat where it +lay in ancient helplessness in the concealment of a thick grove of bushes along +the upper reach of the stream. +</p> + +<p> +“Goody! This is almost too much luck,” cried Betty exultantly. +“You get in the stern, Amy, and Grace in the bow. Mollie and I will do +the rowing.” +</p> + +<p> +“I only hope the old thing doesn’t take in too much water,” +said Amy, as she and Grace got gingerly into the rickety old craft and Betty +and Mollie pushed it off from the shore. +</p> + +<p> +“That remains to be seen,” answered the Little Captain as she +handed one of the ancient oars to Mollie. “There is one thing we shall +have to remember, Mollie,” she said, as they pushed clear of the bank and +glided out into the swift water of the river, “and that is to keep far +enough this side of the falls to guard against being swept over it. Bear hard +on your right hand, Mollie honey. It wouldn’t be much fun if we upset +here, you know.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh!” gasped Grace, holding fast to the side of the boat and noting +with dismay how plainly the roar of the falls came to them. “I wish we +had another oar, I’d help!” +</p> + +<p> +“You can help most, Gracie,” cut in the Little Captain briskly, +“by keeping your nerve and helping us to keep ours. Mollie,” she +called in a whisper that carried the length of the boat, “can you see! +It! yet?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” Mollie telegraphed back in the same tense whisper. +“It’s got its back to us, I think.” +</p> + +<p> +“Good,” said Betty softly, adding as she threw all her weight +against her oar, “now let’s keep still and work.” +</p> + +<p> +It was queer how they referred to that presence at the head of the falls as +“It.” Some way, in the weird moonlight, under the more than unusual +circumstances, it seemed almost impossible to give the thing a name. +</p> + +<p> +“Was it Professor Dempsey?” they kept asking themselves over and +over again. But he had committed suicide. Or at least they had seen him fall +into the river, and they could have vowed that he did not come out again. They +had searched both sides of the river. How could they have missed him? And yet, +if that motionless figure at the head of the falls was really Professor +Dempsey, he must have been washed ashore that day and evaded them as he had +succeeded in evading them so many times before. +</p> + +<p> +And all the time the roar of the falls was growing louder and louder in their +ears and they knew that theirs was a race with life and death. +</p> + +<p> +Could they succeed in reaching the opposite bank before the deadly current of +the river should suck them over the falls; to almost certain annihilation? +</p> + +<p> +The answer to the question came a moment later when, without warning, the prow +of the little boat struck on an unexpected projection of the shore and they +came to a standstill. +</p> + +<p> +“Thank heaven!” said Betty under her breath as Mollie jumped out +and pulled the craft further in to shore. “That was nearly the riskiest +thing you ever did, Betty Nelson.” +</p> + +<p> +Once on shore again, the girls’ confidence returned and they hurried +silently through the woods toward the spot where they had seen the figure. Then +Betty, who had taken the lead, suddenly motioned to them to stop. +</p> + +<p> +She had caught a glimpse through the trees of the man, who resembled more than +ever a scarecrow in his crazy makeshift garments! and at the sight of him her +heart unaccountably skipped a beat. +</p> + +<p> +Her thoughts had not gone beyond this moment. Strangely enough all her energy +had been concentrated upon reaching the man before he disappeared. But now that +they had succeeded so far she was at a loss what to do next. +</p> + +<p> +But at that moment she inadvertently stepped on a dry twig that snapped sharply +under her foot, and at the sound the man had turned fiercely, like an animal at +bay. Then he wheeled about and made as though to flee for the shelter of the +woods. +</p> + +<p> +In this emergency Betty followed impulse. She ran out into the open, calling to +him wildly that his sons were alive. Not to run away, because his sons were +safe and well. They were coming to him!! +</p> + +<p> +The pitiful wreck of a man paused in his flight as the import of the words +seemed to sink into his befuddled brain, but he turned upon the Little Captain +a look of ferocious hatred that would have terrified a less courageous girl +than Betty. But her whole heart was in her mission, and she had utterly +forgotten herself. +</p> + +<p> +“Won’t you please believe me?” she said, advancing toward +him, hands outstretched pleadingly. “I know what I’m talking about. +Your sons, Arnold and Jimmy!!” +</p> + +<p> +As though the names of his boys had released some cord in his brain, the man +cried out hoarsely: +</p> + +<p> +“Jimmy and Arnold! my sons, my little boys!” Then, turning fiercely +to Betty, he cried: “You’re not lying to me, are you? Because +I’ll throw you into the river! I’ll cut you into little +pieces!” +</p> + +<p> +As the man advanced menacingly, Grace screamed and Mollie ran forward with some +wild idea of protecting her chum, but Betty waved them back. +</p> + +<p> +“I’m not lying to you,” she told the crazy man, looking +straight into his glaring eyes. “Your boys were wounded, but not +seriously, and they sailed a few days ago for this country on a hospital ship. +They want to see you more than anything else in the world,” she added, +playing on the sudden softness that had crept into his wild eyes. “And +they sent their love to their dad.” +</p> + +<p> +At sound of the old loving name all the fight went out of the old man and he +sank to his knees on the grass, sobbing horribly. +</p> + +<p> +They let him alone for a moment, then Betty motioned to Mollie, and together +they lifted him to his feet. The sight of his tear-stained, unkempt old face, +creased and lined with suffering, but with the wildness gone out of the eyes, +stirred a profound pity in the girls and they wished more than anything in the +world to make him happy again. +</p> + +<p> +“We are going to take you home, Professor Dempsey,” Betty told him +soothingly, as with Mollie’s help she half led, half carried, him through +the woods toward the spot where they had left the boat, Amy and Grace following +awed and silent behind them. “And as soon as your boys reach home we will +bring them to you. Be careful of this big rock. Ah, here’s the +boat.” And talking all the time, softly and soothingly as one would to a +child, Betty at last succeeded in seating the derelict old man in the equally +derelict old boat. +</p> + +<p> +The girls tumbled in after him, and with a prayer in her heart Betty pushed off +from shore. +</p> + +<p> +That ride back across the river was as weird and unreal as any nightmare the +girls had ever lived through. Their queer passenger, seeming the most unreal of +all, was quiet for the most part but occasionally he would sit up and look +about him wildly and could only be soothed back to reason by Betty’s +sweet voice telling him of his boys! Jimmy and Arnold. +</p> + +<p> +Somehow they reached the opposite shore, and, after pulling the boat up among +the bushes once more, they started back, the old man with them, to Wild Rose +Lodge. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap25"></a>CHAPTER XXV.<br/> +THE OLD CROWD AGAIN</h2> + +<p> +Mrs. Irving, who had been worried by their prolonged absence, met the girls at +the door as they stumbled with the almost exhausted old man up the steps of the +porch. +</p> + +<p> +At sight of the latter she grew deathly pale, and leaned against the door for +support. She felt that all the world was growing black!! +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, please, please don’t faint!” she heard Betty’s +young voice calling to her desperately as it seemed from a long distance. +“We’ve depended upon you to help us.” +</p> + +<p> +With a great effort she fought off the dizziness and drew herself away from +Betty’s supporting arm. +</p> + +<p> +“It’s all right,” she said dazedly, “The shock, I +guess. Betty what! who! is that!!” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, please don’t ask any questions now,” Betty begged +feverishly. “Just help us, and we will tell you all about it later. This +is Professor Dempsey,” she added, turning to the broken old man who stood +staring at them uncomprehendingly. “He can have Mollie’s and my +room, can’t he, Mrs. Irving? and we will bunk somewhere else.” +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Irving nodded automatically, still too dazed by the suddenness of the +thing even to think, and they helped the old man into Betty’s room and +laid him on the bed. The tired, ragged, unkempt old head had hardly touched the +pillow before its owner had sunk into a heavy sleep. +</p> + +<p> +For a moment the girls were startled, for it almost seemed as though he were +dead, but Betty put her hand on the ragged old shirt above the heart and found +that the action was strong and regular. +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps it is the very best thing that could happen to him,” she +said softly, and, laying a light cover over him, tip-toed from the room, +followed quietly by Mrs. Irving and the other girls. +</p> + +<p> +Once in the other room, with the need for action over, the girls felt weak and +spent, and it was only then that they realized that they had been through a +terrible ordeal. +</p> + +<p> +In broken sentences they told Mrs. Irving all that had happened and as she +listened she grew more and more appalled at the risk they had run and the +danger they had gone through. +</p> + +<p> +“Girls, girls,” she cried when they had finished, “I was half +wild about you as it was. But if I had known the truth I think I should have +gone crazy. Just the same,” she added and her eyes shone with pride in +them, “it was a glorious thing for you to do! an unselfish, wonderfully +courageous thing. I’m proud of you!” +</p> + +<p> +In spite of the fact that they were tired out, the girls insisted upon standing +watch and watch that night. They felt that some one should be with Professor +Dempsey all the time in case he should wake in the night with his old madness +upon him. +</p> + +<p> +It was the longest night any of them had ever spent, and the morning dawned +upon a hollow-eyed, worn-out set of Outdoor Girls. +</p> + +<p> +“I never,” said Betty, looking around at her white-faced chums +wearily, “spent such a terrible night in my life. How is the +patient?” she added, taking up the subject that had not left their minds +for a minute. “Who was in there last?” +</p> + +<p> +“I,” said Grace, brushing out her hair, listlessly. “He is +still asleep.” +</p> + +<p> +That report continued good all morning, and it was almost noon before the +ragged, unbelievably unkempt old man on the bed opened his eyes. +</p> + +<p> +The girls had been looking forward to, yet dreading, this minute. It had been +decided that only one of them should be in the room with him when he awoke, but +the rest were hovering close to the door ready to give assistance if it should +become necessary. +</p> + +<p> +But they need not have worried. The magic of his long sleep, together with the +glad news he had heard the night before, seemed to have transformed the man +overnight to his old gentle self. +</p> + +<p> +To be sure, he was amazed at his strange surroundings, and looked +uncomprehendingly into Betty’s face is she bent compassionately over him. +But all he said was: +</p> + +<p> +“I declare, this is all very strange, young lady! very strange. Would you +mind! er! telling me where I am?” +</p> + +<p> +At the tone, even more than the words, the girls felt a wild desire to shout +aloud their relief. For the tone was the same, gentle, polite one that they +remembered hearing that day when the little man had entertained them in his +cabin in the woods. +</p> + +<p> +Then Betty, as gently as she knew how, told him a little of what had happened +to him, and the girls could see by the surprise on his face that he had no +recollection whatever of the matters of which she was speaking. +</p> + +<p> +“I declare it is most strange! most strange,” he declared when she +had finished, adding as he looked down and plucked distastefully at his +tattered shirt: “And this is the result of my! er! temporary aberration, +is it? Ah, but I remember,” he sat up suddenly, a gleam of fear in his +eyes. “It was when I read of the death of my boys. Something snapped in +my brain, I think. You say”! he turned to Betty, grasping her hand +imploringly! “you say that my sons are well! that they are coming to +me?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” said Betty soothingly, pressing him back upon the pillow. +“They are well and safe and will be with you soon! in a few days, +perhaps.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ah,” said the little man, submitting to Betty’s touch, a +happy smile on his lips, “that is good. That is very! very! good!” +and with a sigh like a tired child’s, he fell asleep again! +</p> + +<p> +“Did you hear what he said?” whispered Betty, her eyes shining as +she tip-toed from the room, closed the door softly behind her and faced her +awed and incredulous chums. “He’s well, girls. He’s +completely sane again.” +</p> + +<p> +“It’s a miracle,” said Mollie breathlessly. +</p> + +<p> +And so it came to pass that some little time later four good-looking young +fellows, recently in the service of the greatest country on the earth, and one +of them still wearing his regimentals, saw a rather unexpected sight as they +swung down the path toward Wild Rose Lodge. +</p> + +<p> +On the porch sat an elderly, contented looking man, clad in garments that would +easily have accommodated two men of his size! garments belonging to +Mollie’s Uncle John, and seated about him in attitudes of lazy comfort +were four young girls. +</p> + +<p> +These young girls who were, at least from the standpoint of the four young men, +exceedingly good to look upon, were engaged in doing some sort of fancy work. +All but one of them, that is; for the fourth, a girl with wavy brown hair and +bright brown eyes, pink cheeks, and a dream of a mouth, was reading to the +elderly man who sat in the chair of state. +</p> + +<p> +“Gee, Allen,” whispered one of the tall youths to the one who still +wore the uniform of his country’s service, “I feel as though we +were crabbing your act. Can’t we fellows do the disappearing act!!” +</p> + +<p> +But just at the moment the girl with the brown eyes and the pink cheeks looked +up, gave one little startled cry, and dropped the book to the porch. +</p> + +<p> +The other girls looked up and then followed a scene that very nearly made the +temporarily forgotten and neglected old man on the porch drop out of his chair +in surprise. +</p> + +<p> +“Allen!” screamed the girls, all except the brown-haired, +pink-cheeked one, who, for some unaccountable reason hung back behind the +others. “You perfect angel!” +</p> + +<p> +“Why didn’t you let us know you were coming so that we could have +been prepared?” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, isn’t your uniform lovely!” +</p> + +<p> +“And look at the dressed-up leggings!” +</p> + +<p> +These and various other exclamations like them, coupled to the fact that all +the girls, except the one that he wanted to most, had kissed him, rather +overwhelmed young Lieutenant Washburn and took his breath away. +</p> + +<p> +His three companions, however, finding themselves neglected and out in the +cold, interfered at this point and saved his life. +</p> + +<p> +“Betty, what are you hiding away back there for?” cried Mollie to +the Little Captain, whose cheeks were pinker than ever and whose eyes were +shining very brightly with a sort of mixture of joy and fright. +“Don’t you know Allen in his uniform?” +</p> + +<p> +“Aren’t you going to kiss him?” chimed in Grace wickedly. +</p> + +<p> +“We all did,” added Amy. +</p> + +<p> +But Betty had no intention of kissing Allen, although he begged her to with his +laughing eyes and she continued backing into the doorway, until Mrs. Irving, +coming up behind her, caught her up and pushed her out upon the porch again. +</p> + +<p> +However, the chaperon monopolized Allen for a few minutes and gave Betty time +to catch her breath. She found Mollie introducing Professor Dempsey to the +astonished boys. These young soldiers wanted to ask a hundred questions, but, +catching a warning look from Betty, decided to wait till later, when the little +man himself was not present. +</p> + +<p> +Frank, who was perhaps more glad than any of them to see the father of his +chums alive and well, settled himself near the man and began to pour into his +starved and eager ears news of his sons and tales of adventures in which they +had figured. +</p> + +<p> +And while Betty was still smiling in sympathy with the look of absolute +happiness on Professor Dempsey’s face, Allen dragged himself away from +the group of his admirers and came over to her. +</p> + +<p> +Boldly he pulled her hand through his arm and led her past the laughing boys +and girls, down the steps, and along the path that led into the woods. +</p> + +<p> +“Be back in time for supper,” Will called after them. +“Something tells me we are going to have some feed.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, don’t bother them,” they heard Mollie’s voice in +laughing reproof. “Remember, you were young yourself, once!” +</p> + +<p> +“And now,” said Allen, when they had gone just far enough for the +trees and bushes to screen them from the view of the people on the porch, +“I want you to look at me, Betty. You haven’t yet, you know.” +</p> + +<p> +“I c-can’t,” said Betty in a muffled voice. “I +guess!” she added whimsically, “I guess I’m a little afraid +of you, Lieutenant Allen Washburn.” +</p> + +<p> +With a glad laugh Allen put his strong young arms about her. +</p> + +<p> +“Do you think you can keep on all your life being afraid of me! like +that?” he asked. “Little Betty?” +</p> + +<p> +And Betty, with the radiant joy of all youth in her heart, slowly nodded. +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +And what glorious days followed! The young folks never tired of their tramps +through the woods and walks in the vicinity of Moonlight Falls. They gave +themselves up to a good time and had it in full measure. +</p> + +<p> +“Gee, what an improvement over the trenches in France!” remarked +Will one day. “No more wars for me!” +</p> + +<p> +“So say we all of us!” sang out Frank. +</p> + +<p> +When they had to return to Deepdale the boys took Professor Dempsey with them +and Frank saw to it that the old man was made comfortable until his wounded +sons returned to him. Both of the hurt soldiers were recovering, and the +reunion of father and sons was most affecting. +</p> + +<p> +“Now for a final swim below the falls!” cried Mollie one day, when +the outing was coming to an end, +</p> + +<p> +“We ought to have a good time! now there is no ghost to disturb +us,” put in Amy. +</p> + +<p> +“A chocolate for the first one to enter the water!” exclaimed +Grace, waving her ever-present candy box in the air. +</p> + +<p> +“That settles it! I’m off!” burst out Betty; and then all +made a wild dash for the swimming pool. And here let us say good-bye to the +Outdoor Girls. +</p> + +<h4>THE END</h4> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div style='display:block;margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT WILD ROSE LODGE ***</div> +<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0;'>This file should be named 4988-h.htm or 4988-h.zip</div> +<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0;'>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in https://www.gutenberg.org/4/9/8/4988/</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will +be renamed. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law 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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Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Outdoor Girls at Wild Rose Lodge + +Author: Laura Lee Hope + +Release Date: January, 2004 [EBook #4988] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on April 7, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT WILD ROSE LODGE *** + + + + +This eBook was produced by Jim Weiler, xooqi.com + + + + The Outdoor Girls at Wild Rose Lodge + + or + + The Hermit of Moonlight Falls + +by Laura Lee Hope, 1921 + _________________________________________________________________ + + CHAPTER I + + JUST FUN + +"Did you ever see a more wonderful day?" + +The four Outdoor Girls, in Mollie Billette's touring car and with +Mollie herself at the wheel, were at the present moment rushing wildly +over a dusty country road at the rate of thirty miles an hour. + +Grace Ford was sitting in front with Mollie, while Betty Nelson and +Amy Blackford "sprawled," to use Mollie's sarcastic and slightly +exaggerated description, "all over the tonneau." + +"You look as if you had never done a real day's work in your life," +said Mollie, with a disapproving glance over her shoulder at the girls +in the tonneau. + +"We never have," returned quiet Amy, with a grin. + +"And we are proud of it," added Betty, as she defiantly settled her +feet still more comfortably on the foot rail. "Why should we be +energetic when it is so much easier to be lazy?" + +"There the proper spirit speaks," applauded Grace Ford from the front. +"I think I shall have to change places with you, Betty. It's far too +exciting up here with Mollie. She insists upon staging near collisions +every few feet-- thus keeping me awake!" + +"Great heavens!" cried Mollie, pressing an impatient foot upon the +accelerator to which the great car responded with an eager purring, +"did any one ever give us the mistaken title of Outdoor Girls, I +wonder? They should have called us the Rip Van Winkle club, instead." + +"Now she's getting sour-castic," commented Grace lazily. "Have some +candy, honey, and sweeten up." + +She passed the ever-present box of delicacies over to Mollie, to which +overture the young driver responded with so indignant a stare that +Grace quickly withdrew the box, tucked it behind her, and strove to +look unconscious. + +"Please, ma'am, I didn't mean to do it," she said meekly. + +"Well, don't do it again, that's all," returned Mollie, +uncompromisingly, her eyes once more on the road ahead. "I've eaten so +many chocolates this week that I've had indigestion and mother +threatened to cut down my allowance." + +"Goodness, it's my allowance that suffers," retorted Grace, ruefully, +"since it is my candy that you eat." + +"Stop quarreling, girls, and answer my question," said Betty, sitting +up straight and regarding delightedly a vista of flying hills and +woodland greenery. "I asked you a few minutes ago if you had ever seen +so wonderful a day?" + +"Yes, plenty of 'em," returned Mollie, as she took a sharp curve on +two wheels. "If you weren't too lazy to notice anything, Betty Nelson, +you would see that there is a storm coming up. Look at those clouds +over there in the east." + +"Oh, you're a kill-joy!" cried Betty, cocking an optimistic eye up at +the sky. "It's only one teeny little cloud anyway, and who cares for +clouds when the boys are coming home?" + +Both Amy and Grace felt a breathless little tug at their hearts at the +joyful challenge in Betty's words, but Mollie, with a perverseness +that was sometimes characteristic of her, refused to be too happy. + +"Who says they're coming home?" she asked. "Now you're only guessing." + +"Guessing!" cried Betty indignantly. "What do you mean-- guessing? The +war is over, isn't it?" + +"Yes; and has been for quite a while," Mollie responded dryly. "But +that doesn't say that the boys are coming home right away----" + +"We don't care about the right away," interrupted Amy, with a quiet +happiness in her face that made Betty hug her impulsively. "We can +wait patiently, now that we know they are safe." + +"It's all right for you to talk about patience, Amy," retorted Mollie, +throttling her engine and sliding at breakneck speed down a long hill +without the thought of using a brake. A brake to Mollie meant +something to be used at the last minute when she couldn't think of +anything else to do. "You're an angel, but I'm not--" + +"No, indeed!" said Grace, so emphatically that the girls in the +tonneau chuckled and Mollie looked at her threateningly. + +"For goodness' sake, don't waste time looking at me," Grace pleaded, +as they bounced into a hole in the road and out again, fairly jouncing +the breath from the girls' bodies. "Keep your eyes on the road, Mollie +dear, We're not ready to die yet." + +"Well, look out, or you may-- ready or not," threatened Mollie darkly, +as the car skidded around another precipitous turn and the girls saw +with relief a long stretch of flat road before them. + +"Just the same the boys must be coming home before very long," said +Amy, quietly returning to the subject. "And when they do come we'll +have to give them some sort of big party or something, girls." + +"Of course we will," said Grace, munching contentedly on a chocolate. +"Something that will make the people in Deepdale sit up and take +notice." + +"We-el-- I don't know," objected Betty thoughtfully. "They say that +the few soldier boys who have come home object to any sort of fuss +being made over them. They seem to want to forget everything that has +happened 'over there,' and any sort of celebration brings the whole +thing vividly before them again." + +"Yes, that's true, too," Mollie agreed. "I remember our doctor telling +mother that if people only wouldn't try to force confidences from the +boys and would try to keep all thought of the awful things they had +been through out of their minds, there would be fewer cases of nervous +breakdowns." + +"Pop!" said Grace, snapping her finger resignedly. "There go all our +hopes of a good time, Amy. When the boys come home all we shall be +allowed to do will be to smooth their fevered brows and hold their +hands + +"Well, we might do worse things even than that," said Betty, with a +light laugh, and Mollie shot her a malicious glance. + +"Just watch Betty objecting to that," she said wickedly. "Before we +know it she will be sighing that Allen has only one fevered brow to +smooth!" + +Amy and Grace looked at Betty mischievously-- at Betty who could not +for the life of her look as unconcerned as she would have liked. + +"Don't be so foolish," she said hastily, at which the girls only +laughed the more. + +"Never mind, honey," said Amy, putting an arm fondly about her chum. +"I guess we will all be crazy with joy to get the boys home again," + +"Well, you needn't think you can hold hands with Will and smooth his +fevered brow all the time," said Grace unexpectedly. "Because I really +have some share in him myself, you know. Remember, mine was one of the +three pictures he kept under his pillow." + +Readers of previous volumes in this series may recall that joyful +letter written to Betty not so long ago in which Sergeant Allen +Washburn-- now Lieutenant Allen Washburn-- had spoken of the three +pictures which Will Ford had kept under his pillow during his long +convalescence in one of the army hospitals over there. These readers +may also remember that one of the pictures was of the boy's mother, +another of his sister, Grace, and the third of shy little Amy +Blackford, who now was blushing so furiously at the mere mention of +it. + +"How about poor Frank and Roy?" asked Mollie, mentioning the other two +boys who made up the quartette of the girls' boy chums. "Who will +attend to their fevered brows?" + +"Oh, you and Grace can take turns at that," said Betty, lightly +adding, with a little sigh: "Try as we can, Amy and I never know quite +how to pair you four off. We can't for the life of us find out which +of you likes Frank best and which inclines to Roy." + +"That's right, kid-- keep 'em guessing," said Mollie slangily, as she +turned on power and challenged a steep grade. "Grace and I believe in +scattering our favors-- as 'twere. See that hill just ahead of us? +What do you bet I make it without changing gears?" + +"If you make it without changing our looks, I'll be happy," said Grace +ruefully, as they bumped and rumbled to the top of the steep grade. +"Look out, Mollie!" she added suddenly, indicating a big pile of +brushwood that jutted out almost into the center of the road. "For +goodness' sake, slow down!" + +But Mollie did more than slow down. She stopped-- and with such +suddenness that the girls were all but thrown out of the car and Betty +bumped her nose on the seat in front. + +They had scarcely regained their poise when they were startled by a +shrill cry from Amy. + +"Girls!" she almost screamed, clutching Betty's arm in a grip that +hurt, "look at that tree. It's going to fall! Oh, we'll be killed!" + +The girls followed the direction of her pointing finger and looks of +horror sprang to their eyes. Slowly, its descent retarded somewhat by +the branches of other trees, a towering giant of the forest tottered +and crashed its destructive way downward. And they were directly in +its path! + + CHAPTER II + + THE FALLING TREE + +For a moment the Outdoor Girls sat fascinated, paralyzed, without the +power to move a muscle. Then suddenly Grace seemed galvanized to +action, She leaned toward Mollie, grasping the steering wheel of the +motionless car frantically. + +"For heaven's sake, Mollie, get out of the way! Start the car!" she +screamed. + +"I can't!" Mollie answered, tight-lipped. "Something's wrong. The +motor's dead." + +But with Grace's scream, Betty had come to her senses and had +scrambled out of the car, dragging the still paralyzed Amy after her. + +"Grace, get out! Mollie, are you crazy?" she shouted wildly. "You'll +be killed----" + +Automatically Grace started to clamber to the road, but Mollie still +fussed with brakes and levers, her lips in a tight line, her eyes +blazing. + +"Something's wrong-- but I'll get her started," she muttered over and +over to herself while Betty raged at her from the road. + +"Get out! get out!" fumed the Little Captain, "Jump, or I'll come +after you and we'll both be killed. Mollie!" + +Luckily for Mollie's suicidal stubbornness, the great tree had been +halted far a moment in its downward plunge by some particularly heavy +foliage and branches, but the girls could see that it was only a +matter of seconds until the giant should tear itself loose and come +plunging down upon them. + +And still Mollie fumbled with levers in a vain and foolish attempt to +save her beloved car at the risk of her own life. + +Betty had just jumped upon the running board in a wild attempt to drag +her chum from the car when suddenly help came to them from an +unexpected quarter. + +An elderly man came running from the woods, evidently attracted by +their excited cries. He gave one look at the toppling tree, even now +tearing itself loose from the impeding branches, another at the +machine with the two girls still in it, and then, with a speed and +decision which seemed to belie his age, went to the rescue. + +"Come-- help me push!" he cried to Amy and Grace, who were still +standing dumbly in the middle of the road. A moment later he had +thrown himself with all his might against the machine, striving to +push it out of the path of the falling tree. + +In an instant of time the girls had added their strength to his and +the automobile was moving slowly down the road. Luckily the car was on +a down grade or they never could have managed it. As it was, there was +just time to got out of the way when the great tree came crashing +down, its outermost branches just brushing Amy's skirt. The giant had +fallen on the very spot where the car had been only a moment before! + +"Girls," breathed Betty, with a shaky little attempt at a laugh, "I +guess we've never in our lives been nearer death than we were just +then." + +And while the girls are marveling at their almost miraculous escape +from a terrible death, time will be taken to introduce the Outdoor +Girls to those readers who have not yet met them and also to review +briefly a few of the exciting and interesting adventures they have had +up to the time of this present narrative. + +There were four of them, Betty Nelson, or the "Little Captain" as the +girls often called her because she had such a decided talent for +knowing just the right thing to do at just the right moment, was +eighteen, dark-haired and dark-eyed. She had a fund of vitality and +more than her share of sense and good judgment-- all of which went +toward making her what she was, the most popular girl in Deepdale. + +Grace Ford, tall, slender and willowy, was almost the same age as +Betty, but that fact and her love of the outdoors were the only things +she had in common with the "Little Captain." Her father, James Ford, +was a lawyer, and her mother, Mrs. Margaret Ford, a rather dressy lady +who spent a good deal of her time at clubs, was quite a figure in the +society of Deepdale. However, all through the war Mrs. Ford had worked +with an untiring enthusiasm for the "cause," a fact which had made her +many more friends than her social popularity could ever have done. + +Next in the little quartette came Mollie Billette. Mollie was +seventeen, French-American, and impulsive, with a quick temper that +made more trouble for herself than for any one else. She and Betty +were alike in their splendid vigor and vitality. Mollie, or "Billy" as +she was sometimes called by her chums, had a very lovely widowed +mother and an extremely mischievous young brother and sister, Paul and +Dora (nicknamed "Dodo"), who were twins and six. Although the twins +were pretty nearly always in trouble, they were really adorable +children, whom everybody loved. + +Amy Blackford, shy, sweet, pretty, completed the quartette. There had +been a mystery about her past which had recently been cleared up, and +it may have been this mystery that caused the girls to treat her with +a little more consideration and gentleness than they did each other. +Her guardian was a broker in the city who knew very little of the past +except through letters. + +The four boys who were close chums of the girls and had added to the +interest and excitement of more than one of their adventures were +Allen Washburn, who was very much interested in Betty, and in whom +Betty was very much interested; Will Ford, Grace's brother, who had +carried Amy Blackford's picture all through the war; Frank Haley, Will +Ford's closest chum, and Roy Anderson who had not much distinction of +any kind except that he was "lots of fun" and a chum of the other +three boys. + +In the first volume of this series the girls went on a camping and +tramping tour, tramping for miles over the country and meeting with +many adventures on the way. + +Later they had more fun at Rainbow Lake, in a motor car, in a winter +camp, in Florida, at Ocean View, then at Pine Island where the girls +and boys together had cleared up a mystery surrounding a gypsy cave. + +Later the girls and boys found themselves caught in the meshes of the +great war, as many hundreds of thousands of others had been. The boys +responded eagerly to the bugle call, and the girls, too, were eager +for Army service and finally went to a hostess house at Camp Liberty. +Though the girls had never worked harder in their lives, they found +that the task had a stirringly romantic side as well. + +Then in the volume directly preceding this, entitled "The Outdoor +Girls at Bluff Point" the girls had had perhaps the most exciting +adventure of all. + +The Hostess House at Camp Liberty having burnt down, the chums found +themselves forced to take a much-needed, although not entirely +welcome, vacation and had decided to spend it at a romantic spot near +the ocean called Bluff Point. The cottage on the bluff had been loaned +to the girls by Grace's patriotic Aunt Mary, who declared that she +owed something to the chums for having worked so hard for the good old +Stars and Stripes. Mrs. Ford, worn out with war work, had gone with +the girls to chaperon them. + +Bad tidings at first threatened to overwhelm the chums. The Fords +received word that Will was seriously wounded "somewhere in France," +and later Mollie received a telegram from her mother saying that the +twins, Dodo and Paul, had disappeared. Still later, while everything +was at its blackest, Betty read Allen Washburn's name among the +missing. However, everything cleared up later when the twins, who had +been kidnapped, were recovered and their kidnapper sent to justice. +Still later Allen proved that the report that he had been missing was +an error by writing to Betty himself and in the letter he also spoke +of Will Ford and the fact that he was getting over his wound +splendidly. Of course there had been great rejoicing and the vacation +had proved a happy one after all. + +And now, at the time of this story, the war was over and the first +regiments of soldiers had arrived from the other side and the girls +were expecting a joyful reunion with the boys at any time. + +They had not yet made definite plans for the summer and were just in +the position of waiting for something to happen when something had +happened with a vengeance-- but not at all the kind of something which +the four girls had expected. + +"I think you are right, my dear," said the man who had saved the lives +of at least two of the girls, rubbing his hands fussily together and +peering out of small, near-sighted eyes, first at the tree and then at +the girls. "It was a close call-- a very close call. I declare, it was +very nearly the closest call I ever saw!" + +For the first time the girls really looked at him. He was a rather +small man, slenderly built, with long sensitive hands and a very bald +head, in the center of which a tuft of hair stood comically upright. +These characteristics, coupled to the squinting eyes, gave the man a +very odd appearance. + +He was so queer a figure standing there in the center of the road that +the girls found themselves staring unduly. Realizing something of +this, Betty jumped down from the running board where she was still +standing and held out her hand to the little man, thanking him in a +voice that still trembled a little for the great service he had done +them. The other girls followed suit and so overwhelmed their rescuer +that he seemed quite embarrassed and looked around nervously as if for +some means of escape. + +Betty, seeing his embarrassment, was about to take pity upon him when +something happened that they had not bargained for. It began to rain, +not gently, but in a deluge, taking the girls completely by surprise. + +Instinctively they turned toward the car, but Mollie suddenly began to +laugh in a half-hysterical manner. + +"This is what I call fun," she said. "Engine dead, caught in the rain, +and I've even left the side curtains at home! I guess we're in for it, +girls." + + CHAPTER III + + THE QUEER LITTLE MAN + +While the girls stood looking wildly at each other their unknown +rescuer seemed suddenly galvanized to action. + +"This won't do at all!" he cried, raising both hands to his bald head +which was by this time very wet and more shiny than ever. "You will +get your death of cold, young ladies, you surely will. You must come +with me. Here, right along this path I have a cottage--" All the time +he was talking he was hustling them fussily ahead of him, for all the +world like some old hen with a brood of chickens. + +The girls, not knowing what else to do and being in rather a +bewildered frame of mind, allowed themselves to be hustled. The rain +was sheeting down in a terrific cloud burst, so that their clothes +clung to them damply and they began to shiver. + +They circled the fallen tree which had so nearly been their undoing, +and a moment later found themselves upon a narrow footpath which +seemed to lead into the very heart of the woods. + +"I wonder where he is taking us," whispered Grace in Betty's ear. +"Maybe he's a murderer or something." + +In spite of her discomfort, Betty giggled. + +"Did you ever see a murderer with a bald head like that?" she asked. + +It seemed to the girls as if the path must be at least a mile long, +but just as they were despairing of ever reaching the end of it, they +came out into a partially cleared space and through the trees caught a +glimpse of something that looked like a house. + +Their new acquaintance, who up to this time had been bringing up the +rear, now took the lead and led them over tangled underbrush, stones +and foot-bruising rocks, to his strange little dwelling. + +"It's a house, it's a house!" cried Grace thankfully, as they hurried +after the little man. "I guess somebody will have to wring me out when +we get inside. I'm soaked through!" + +"Goodness, why don't you tell us something we don't know?" grumbled +Mollie, but nobody was listening to her. They had reached the house +and the man had swung the door open hospitably. + +"Step inside, step inside, do," he urged with a nervous gesture that +reminded the girls once more of the proverbial hen. "You will find it +dry at least, and I will have a fire for you in a hurry. Just a moment +till I get some wood-- just a moment----" + +And while he rambled on, suiting his words with quick nervous action, +the girls crowded inside the cottage and looked about them curiously. + +The room they had entered was large and scrupulously neat. At first +glance it seemed a queer combination of hunting lodge and museum of +natural history. The rough clapboards and beams of the ceiling and +walls had never been plastered, and this very crudity seemed somehow +to give the room an air of warmth and homelikeness that was very +inviting. + +Hung on the walls were several fairly large skins of animals, a gun or +two, and over the huge open fireplace, which very nearly covered one +end of the room, hung the magnificent head of a buck. + +On the wall opposite the fireplace was a set of rudely-erected +shelves, one beneath the other, and these shelves were covered with +specimens of butterflies, beetles and other bugs of every size and +description. That the specimens had been mounted by an expert even an +inexperienced eye could see. + +The girls, who had been regarding the oddities of the room with +growing interest, were brought back to a realization of the discomfort +of wet clothes by the owner of the place himself. + +The latter had brought firewood from somewhere, and, with the aid of +half a dozen matches, had succeeded in getting a fairly good blaze. + +Then with a smile of satisfaction he turned to the girls, rubbing his +hands together genially. + +"Come nearer to the fire-- come closer-- do," he urged in his quick +nervous way. "I am sure you are chilled through-- quite chilled +through. I will bring chairs." He stopped abruptly and looked about +him with an embarrassed air, his gaze coming to rest on the only chair +which adorned the room. + +Betty, seeing his confusion, was trying to think of something helpful +to say, when the little man suddenly found a way out of his quandary. + +"Ah, I have it!" he cried, seizing enthusiastically upon a long bench +that stood on one side of the room. "Four can sit upon this quite +easily, I am sure. A happy thought-- a very happy thought--" and he +pulled and tugged at the bench until he succeeded in moving it close +to the fire, + +Afterward it occurred to the girls that they might have helped him, +for it was a very heavy bench and he was rather a frail old man. But +at the time they were too interested in this unusual place and their +rather extraordinary host, to think of anything very rational. + +However, they seated themselves dutifully in a row upon the bench, +"for all the world like an orphan asylum out for an airing," as Mollie +said later, and gratefully stretched out their sodden shoes to the +blaze. + +They were cold and they were wet and they were fast becoming very +hungry, all of which might have been expected to form a very good +reason why they should have been miserable, But they weren't +miserable-- not at all. To the Outdoor Girls the thrill of an +adventure always more than counterbalanced the possible discomforts +attending it. + +Their host started to draw up the one chair in the room, hesitated a +moment then, as though he had just thought of something, turned and +darted through the door, closing it with a little click behind him. + +For the space of half a second, the girls looked after him. Then they +looked at each other. Then they drew a long breath and let loose the +flood of curious questions which had been struggling for expression +for the past twenty minute + +"Well, isn't this a lark?" cried Mollie, her eyes dancing. "Half an +hour ago we were awfully bored, and now look at us." + +"Yes, look at us," said Grace with a little sniff. "I'm sure we're not +very much to look at right now with our hair wet, and our clothes--" + +"Oh, for goodness' sake, who cares about such things?" cried Betty +gaily. "I think this is a darling place and I'm having the time of my +life. I wonder who he is?" + +"He seemed kind of scared just now, didn't he!" chuckled Mollie, +feeling her shoe to see if it was drying out any. "It was funny the +way he bolted out of the room." + +"Poor old dear-- no wonder he was scared," commented Grace, as she +took off her hat and tried to do something with her hopelessly +bedraggled locks. "The way we look we're enough to scare anybody. Oh, +dear, hasn't any one a comb?" + +"Why, of course, we carry a complete beauty parlor outfit just for +your benefit, dear," giggled Mollie. "The rest of us don't need it +though. We are too beautiful naturally." + +"You know I like him a lot, the queer little man, I mean," said Amy, +evidently following out her own train of thought. "He seems kind of +fussy and peculiar but he has an awfully nice smile." + +"Trust Amy to find the smile," said Betty, putting an arm fondly about +the younger girl. "And of course we all like him," she added +seriously. "If it hadn't been for him we probably wouldn't be feeling +so happy right now." + +"Yes, we would probably be in some hospital with our unhappy relatives +weeping over our mangled remains," said the irrepressible Mollie, and +laughed at the shriek that went up at her gruesome remark. "There +probably wouldn't have been enough of us left to recognize," she added +by way of good measure, and they shrieked again. + +"For goodness' sake, let's talk of something pleasant," said Grace, +rising suddenly and going over to the window. "If you want to sit on +that old bench all day, you can." + +It appeared that the girls had no intention of sitting on the bench +all day. They got up and sauntered about the room, examining the skins +on the walls and looking, but without much curiosity, at the rifles. +They lingered longest before the shelves of butterflies and beetles, +for some of the specimens were really beautiful and very rare. + +After they had examined everything in sight they began to grow +restive. They must have been in the place nearly an hour and it +suddenly occurred to them to wonder where their host had been keeping +himself all this time. + +"I wish we could get started," worried Mollie, looking out upon the +sodden landscape. The rain was apparently coming down just as hard as +ever. "I hate to leave the car all by itself out there. Somebody might +steal it." + +"I wish I knew where that man was," said Grace nervously. "I never +trust strange men. He may set the house on fire for all we know." + +The words were hardly out of her mouth when the door opened and the +topic of conversation himself entered, carrying a tray so big and +heaped so high with sandwiches that one could scarcely discover the +man behind it. + +Betty and Amy ran to his assistance, and between them they got the +tray safely to the bench. In one delighted glance the girls saw that +not only sandwiches, but a steaming pot of coffee and the remains of +what had been a great, three-layer chocolate cake were on the tray. + +At thought of the fussy little man taking all this time and trouble, +for it must have taken a good deal of work to make all that formidable +array of sandwiches-- the girls were sincerely touched and regarded +their host with a new interest. + +"There, there," he was saying, regarding the heaped-up tray with +evident pleasure, "you must sit down and eat at once. You must be +nearly starved-- famished. I hope this will be enough." + +He looked at them so anxiously that Betty felt like hugging him-- and +nearly did it. + +"Enough! Well, I guess it is enough," she said heartily, as the other +girls seated themselves on the bench either side of the tempting tray +and began enthusiastically to help themselves. "It would be plenty for +an army. We can't thank you enough." + +"Indeed we can't," added Mollie. + +"It's awfully good of you," said Grace, as she took a bite of her ham +sandwich. + +"Awfully good," added Amy, like an echo. + +The little man waved aside their thanks and drew up the one chair in +the room, talking all the time in his quick, jerky fashion. + +"It was no trouble, I am sure,-- no trouble whatever," he said, adding +as though he wished to change the subject: "You didn't tell me your +name----" he hesitated, looking at Betty, who of course did tell him +her name on the spot. This proved a signal for mutual introductions, +and the girls learned that their new friend was a college professor, +Arnold Dempsey by name. They also learned that he had taken up +woodcraft in the hope of recovering his health. + +And while they contentedly munched sandwiches and sipped steaming +coffee the girls learned a good deal more about Arnold Dempsey, and +the more they learned of him the more they felt drawn to him. + +And when he started to tell them of his two sons who had fought so +nobly in the army of democracy, their eyes began to shine and they +leaned toward him with an interest that was intensely real. + +"Oh, it must be wonderful to have two big soldier sons," cried Amy, +forgetting her shyness in her enthusiasm. "Aren't you dreadfully +proud?" + +A gleam came into Professor Dempsey's eyes and his thin shoulders +straightened. + +"Yes, yes," he said. "Of course I'm proud of my boys-- very proud. And +I hope," a look of absolute happiness came into his eyes and he smiled +contentedly, "that before very long I shall see them." + +"Oh, I'm sure you will!" cried Betty eagerly. + +"That's what we are all hoping for, anyway," said Grace, adding with a +sigh: "The boys have been gone so dreadfully long." + +"Look," cried Mollie presently, rising suddenly to her feet and +pointing toward the window. "We have been so busy talking that we +never noticed the sun had come out." + +"And doesn't it look good!" exulted Betty. + +In spite of their reluctance to leave their newfound friend, the girls +were anxious to be off, for they knew their parents would be worrying +about them. + +Professor Dempsey insisted on seeing them safely back to the road +although they protested that there was absolutely no need of it. + +"There are two or three paths that lead to the road," he explained, as +he flung wide the door, letting in a flood of sunshine, "and I +wouldn't have you lose your way for the world-- not for the world!" + +The woodland was beautiful after the rain, and the girls sniffed the +fragrant air eagerly as they followed Professor Dempsey along the +path. It was not till they had almost reached the road that Mollie had +a disquieting thought. + +"How do we know but what we're stuck here for good?" she asked the +girls. "The car stopped dead, you remember, just under that horrible +tree, and I'm sure I don't know what in the world made it. If I can't +find out the trouble----" + +"Oh, but you've got to find it," protested Grace, while Betty and Amy +looked worried. "We can't stay here all night, and it may be a dozen +miles to the nearest garage." + +"I know that just as well as you do," grumbled Mollie. "But if I +can't, I can't, that's all." + +By this time they had reached the road and Mollie went straight to the +car. While she and Betty were trying to find out what was wrong the +other two girls and Professor Dempsey looked on anxiously. + +"Well, as far as I can see there is absolutely nothing wrong with it," +snapped Mollie at last, lifting a face flushed with exertion. "Get in, +girls, and I'll start the engine-- or try to. Then if she won't go +we'll have to make up our minds to stay here all night or walk to the +next garage." + +Accordingly the girls got in and Mollie pressed the self-starter. To +her great surprise, the engine purred a response, and as she shifted +her gears the car moved slowly forward. + +"Oh, goodie, we're going," cried Amy, and the faces of the other girls +showed relief. + +"Must have been a drop of water in the gasoline," hazarded Mollie, and +then she throttled the engine once more while she and her chums turned +to say good-bye to Professor Dempsey. The latter was still standing in +the road, looking up at them rather wistfully. + +"I'm glad that I had an opportunity of helping you, young ladies-- +very glad," he answered, in response to their repeated thanks. "You +conferred a great favor on me also, for I have little company. +Good-bye-- and good luck to you." + +The girls responded gayly, and as they started forward Betty leaned +far out of the machine to call back an encouraging: "Keep hoping hard +for your boys to come home. I am sure they will be back soon." + +"Thank you, young lady, thank you," said Professor Dempsey, but the +words were too low for Betty to catch and she was too far away to see +the mist that sprang suddenly to his eyes. + + CHAPTER IV + + GOOD NEWS + +Deepdale, the home of the four Outdoor Girls, is a thriving little +city with a population of about fifteen thousand people. It is +situated on the Argono River, a pleasant stream where a great many of +the young folk of Deepdale, and some of the older ones too, keep motor +boats and canoes and various other types of pleasure craft. + +Farther on, the Argono empties into Rainbow Lake, which is picturesque +in the extreme. It has several pretty and romantic looking islands, +chief of which is Triangle Island-- so called because of its shape. + +There is a boat running from Deepdale to Clammerport at the foot of +Rainbow Lake, and this boat is almost always crowded with pleasure +seekers. In addition to this Deepdale is situated in the heart of New +York state and is only a hundred-and-fifty-mile run from the city of +that name. Thus one can easily see that Deepdale is a very desirable +place in which to live. + +At least that is what the four Outdoor Girls thought. And since they +had spent most of their lives there, they certainly ought to know! + +On the morning of this day, some ten days or so after their strange +encounter with Professor Dempsey, the girls were gathered on Betty's +porch, talking over their plans for the summer. + +"I am only waiting to hear from Uncle John," Mollie was saying, as she +swung lazily back and forth in the couch swing. "The last time I saw +him he said that he was almost sure to go north this summer and he +told me that as soon as he made definite plans he would let me know." + +"You told us that two weeks ago," Grace reminded her. "And we haven't +heard from him yet." + +"It does seem to take him a long time to make up his mind," sighed +Amy. + +Betty, who had been trying to read a novel, closed the book and turned +to them with a laugh. + +"Goodness, you all sound doleful," she told them. "It seems to me that +we ought to be able to live through it, even if we don't get Wild Rose +Lodge for the summer. There are plenty of other things we can do," + +Mollie turned upon her indignantly. + +"How you talk, Betty Nelson," she scolded her. "As if we could +possibly have as good a time anywhere else as we could at Wild Rose +Lodge. Think of being in a real hunting lodge out in the woods away +from everybody! Why, it will be a real adventure--" + +"All right. I surrender-- don't shoot," laughed Betty, coming over and +perching on the railing beside Mollie. "I admit we should probably +have more fun at the lodge than we could anywhere else. I was only +trying to look on the bright side of things in case our plans should +fall through. Hello-- who's this?" + +"This" proved to be Mollie's little sister Dora, or "Dodo," as she was +called by almost everybody. With a sigh of relief, the girls saw that +Dodo's twin brother, Paul, was not with her, for together the children +were a simply unconquerable pair. + +The twins had been spoiled by their widowed mother, Mrs. Billette, +even before the time when they had been kidnapped and spirited off by +a hideous Spaniard. But since their recovery, their joyful mother had +indulged them in every way until they had become well nigh +unmanageable. + +Yet in spite of everything, the twins were very lovable, and every one +loved them, even those whom they annoyed most. + +And now as Dodo tore up the street toward them, waving something white +in her hand, the girls instinctively glanced about to see what they +ought to put out of sight before the cyclone struck them. + +"Thank goodness, Paul isn't with her," murmured Grace. "Then we would +be in for it." + +"Dodo," cried Mollie as the child started up the walk, "scrape some of +that mud off your feet before you come up, You will get Betty's porch +all dirty." + +"Name's Dora-- not Dodo," the little girl answered, paying not the +slightest heed to Mollie's caution about the mud. "Dodo's a baby's +name-- don't like it. Got something for you." + +She stumbled heedlessly up the steps, leaving a trail of mud behind +her, and almost breaking her neck in the bargain. + +"Now just look at Betty's porch," Mollie was beginning in exasperation +when Betty laughingly interfered. + +"Oh, let her alone, Mollie," she coaxed. "The porch was dirty anyway +and-- what's that you have in your hand, Dodo?" + +"Sumfin' for Mollie," answered Dodo, leaning sulkily against the rail +while the girls regarded her anxiously. "An' if Mollie aren't nice to +me she can't have it." + +"Oh, for goodness' sake be nice to her and get it over with, Mollie," +urged Grace, uneasily conscious of the candy box she had shoved +hastily behind her. She was afraid one corner of it might show. + +So Mollie got down from her perch on the railing and went over +coaxingly to the little girl. + +"Give it to Mollie, honey," she begged. "I'll even call you Dora, if +you will." + +"Always Dora-- never Dodo?" asked Dodo eagerly, for she was growing +out of babyhood just enough to resent being called by her baby name. + +"Always Dora," Mollie promised. + +For answer Dodo held out the white thing she had waved at them from +the street, and with a little cry of excitement Mollie saw that it was +a letter addressed to her in her Uncle John's firm hand. + +At her exclamation the girls crowded round her eagerly. She hastily +tore open the envelope and devoured the contents. Then she turned to +the girls with a glowing face. + +"It's all right, it's all right!" she cried, waving the letter round +her head like a flag and nearly upsetting her chums. "Uncle John says +it is settled. He is going to Canada for a couple of months and we can +have the lodge for the whole time he is away or a part of it, just as +we wish. Hooray! How's that for luck?" + +The girls were so excited over their good fortune that they forgot all +about Dodo. She, finding herself unobserved, had slipped around the +girls to the swing, snatched the box of candy which Grace had exposed +when she got up, had taken the steps two at a time and was flying off +down the street before the girls saw what she was up to. + +Then it was Grace who, with a dreadful premonition, thought of her +candy. She turned quickly, saw that the box was gone, and uttered a +wail of woe. + +"That little Turk of a sister of yours has done it again," she cried, +turning to Mollie, while Betty and Amy began to laugh. "You just wait +till I catch her. I'll get my candy back if I have to-- spank her," +this last with a fierce scowl. + +Betty put an arm about her excited chum, led her over to the swing and +put her down in it. + +"By the time you caught Dodo there wouldn't be any of your candy +left," she said, adding soothingly: "Never mind, honey. We will get +you some more if we have to take up a collection." + +"Makes me feel like an orphan's home," grumbled Grace, but she laughed +nevertheless with the rest and immediately forgot both her candy and +Dodo in renewed excitement over Wild Rose Lodge. + +"Just where is this place, Mollie?" asked Amy. "What is it called?" + +"Oh, that's the very best part of it," said Mollie, with a mysterious +smile. "It has the most wonderful, most romantic name. Come closer +while I whisper it-- Moonlight Falls. There, isn't that a real name +for a place?" + +"Wild Rose Lodge at Moonlight Falls," sighed Grace ecstatically. "If +we don't have a wildly romantic time in a place with a name like that, +it will be our own fault." + +"But we will have to have a chaperon--" Amy was beginning when Betty +interrupted her eagerly. + +"I have fixed that," she said, and while they all looked in +astonishment she went on quickly to explain. "I met Mrs. Irving in the +street the other day-- you know she has been away ever since that last +time she was with us on Pine Island-- and I asked her then if she +would chaperon us this summer." + +"But you didn't even know then that we were going to Wild Rose Lodge, +Betty," Mollie interrupted. + +"I knew we were sure to go somewhere. We always--" Betty was arguing +when Grace cut in impatiently. + +"Never mind about that," she said. "Did Mrs. Irving say she would go?" + +"She said she was very sure she could manage it," Betty answered. "She +seemed awfully surprised and said it would be great fun to be with us +girls again." + +"It will be great fun for all of us," said Amy happily. "I'll never +forget the wonderful time we had on Pine Island with Mrs. Irving and +the boys." + +"Yes-- and the boys," Betty repeated a little wistfully. She was +thinking of Allen Washburn and the wonderful time they had had that +never-to-be-forgotten summer-- before the war had come to separate +them and make their hearts ache. Oh, it would be unbelievably happy to +have the boys back again-- Will, Roy, Frank and-- her Allen. The old +crowd together once more. She looked around at the girls, who had also +fallen into a thoughtful mood, and suddenly she smiled, the old +bright, happy smile that was peculiarly Betty's own. + +"Oh, cheer up, everybody," she cried gayly. "How do we know but what +the boys will be home in time to join us at Wild Rose Lodge? Then +think of the fun!" + +"Oh, Betty, if we could only believe that!" they cried. + +"Well," said the Little Captain stoutly, "you never can tell. Stranger +things have happened, you know." + +"But nothing so joyful," added Mollie. + + CHAPTER V + + BETTY TAKES A DARE + +It would be a week or two before Wild Rose Lodge would be ready for +the girls' occupancy, and as a relief for their impatience they filled +in the time in hiking, motoring and put-putting up and down the Argono +in their natty little motor boat. + +But whatever it was they were doing, their conversation almost +invariably returned to one of two subjects-- the return of the boys +and the good time they would have at Moonlight Falls. + +They spoke often of Professor Arnold Dempsey. They took a real +interest in the queer little old man, both because of the service he +had done them and the fact that he was watching and waiting for his +two big sons, even as they were anxiously awaiting the return of their +boys. + +"It must be dreadfully lonely for him in that little cabin or house or +whatever you call it in the woods," Amy said one day as she and the +girls sauntered down to the dock where their motor boat was anchored. +"And he said he hardly ever had company." + +"Goodness, I should think he would go crazy," Mollie commented. "Why, +I go almost mad when I don't have any one to talk to for an hour." + +"I wonder if he lived in that little house all during the war," said +Betty thoughtfully. They had reached the dock and were walking slowly +out upon it. "If he did, it must have been dreadfully hard for him. It +makes me shiver to think of him sitting there all alone, reading the +casualty list, terrified for fear the next name would be that of his +son----" + +"Oh, Betty," cried gentle Amy, all her sympathy quickly roused by the +picture Betty had drawn, "what a dreadful thing to think of!" + +"But he never did find their names among the missing or killed," +Mollie reminded them soberly. "We know that because he said he +expected to see them soon." + +"Of course, And all we can do is hope with all our hearts that he gets +his wish," said Betty brightly, adding with a sudden change of +subject: "But away with dull care. The sun is shining and here's our +fairy ship waiting to carry us off to fresh adventure. What more could +any one want, I'd like to know." + +"Humph," grunted Mollie, eyeing critically the trim little boat in +which they had had so much fun and adventure, as the other girls +tumbled aboard. "I'd say she didn't look very much like a fairy boat +just now. She needs considerable polishing and scrubbing. Why don't +you girls get busy, anyhow?" + +"Just hear who's talking," yawned Grace, disposing herself lazily in a +comfortable chair on deck. "I haven't noticed you waving a broom and +mop frantically around these parts lately, Mollie dear." + +"In fact," Betty added with a mischievous twinkle in her eye, "I think +I remember suggesting that the Gem needed grooming the other day. +Whereupon some one who shall be nameless suggested a motor ride +instead." + +"She's got you there, old dear," drawled Grace, taking the inevitable +box of chocolates from her pocket and opening it lovingly. "I remember +the incident pre-zactly as it has been described." + +Mollie, who was still standing on the dock, regarding them frowningly, +started to reply but Betty interrupted her with a shout. She had +started the engine and the boat began to move slowly away from the +dock. + +"Better hurry up," suggested the Little Captain wickedly. "We'd rather +not leave you behind, but if you insist. + +However, Mollie had not the slightest intention in the world of being +left behind. With a gasp of mingled surprise and dismay she made a +jump for it, cleared the foot of space between the dock and the boat +and landed square in the middle of Grace's astonished and outraged +lap. She would have sat on the candy box, too, and would, in all +probability, have ruined it and her dress as well, had not Grace, with +rare presence of mind, whipped the box out of danger just in the nick +of time. + +"Well," said Mollie, too surprised and indignant to move for a moment, +while, at the comical picture she made, both Betty and Amy laughed +merrily, "I surely like this!" + +"You do, do you? Well, I don't!" cried Grace, recovering both her +breath and her dignity at the same moment. "If you don't stop sitting +on my lungs this minute, Mollie Billette, I'll-- I'll-- stick this pin +into you." + +With a yell Mollie stumbled to her feet and shook out her dress +belligerently. + +"You had better not. I'm stronger than you, Grace Ford, and I've a +good mind to let you see what the bottom of the river looks like." + +She advanced toward her prospective victim, and Betty stopped laughing +long enough to call to her. + +"You'd better change your mind, Mollie," she cautioned merrily. "You +can't give Gracie a ducking without ruining her dress and she might +charge you damages. Reconsider-- I beg of you, reconsider!" + +Mollie condescended to reconsider and plumped herself down +cross-legged on the deck, disdaining a chair. + +"Oh, very well," she said, adding as she glared darkly at Grace: "You +will probably never know, woman, how near to death you were." + +To which Grace replied with unexpected ferocity. + +"And you may never know, woman, just how near to death you are this +minute. Look at what you have done to my best sport skirt. I don't +believe I will ever be able to get those wrinkles out." + +"If you two will stop quarreling just long enough to tell me where you +want to go," Betty requested, "I should be very much obliged. Up or +down the river?" + +"Anywhere," answered Grace, still regarding her crumpled sport skirt +gloomily. "We are just trying to kill time this afternoon anyway, so I +don't see that it makes much difference where we go." + +"Suppose we take her up to the Point," suggested Mollie, getting up +from the deck and going over to Betty who still had the wheel. "Maybe +we can get some ice-cream and a drink of ice water. I am getting +dreadfully thirsty already." + +Betty looked tempted but a little doubtful. + +"You know it is pretty dangerous to run in there, Mollie," she +protested. "There are so many other boats driven by Percy Falconer's +crazy lot who don't care whether they capsize you or not--" + +"Goodness, Betty, it isn't like you to be afraid," Mollie started, but +stopped at the look in the "Little Captain's" eye. + +"I'd rather you didn't ever say that again, Mollie," she said. "I'll +take you in there since you want it, but if anything should happen +remember that I warned you." + +"Goodness, Mollie, I don't see why you ever wanted to go and suggest +that for," said Grace nervously. "We all know there is danger of a +collision over at the Point, and I'm sure I don't want to spoil my +clothes, even if you do." + +"Your father said that he would rather we kept to this side of the +river, Betty," urged Amy. "Please don't go over to the Point now." + +"There's no use talking to her," snapped Grace. "You ought to know +Betty well enough by this time to know that she would take us over to +the Point now, after what Mollie said, if she knew we would all die of +it. Might as well save your breath." + +Mollie said nothing, but down in her heart she was more than a little +bit anxious and was beginning to regret that she had deliberately +egged Betty on. + +Percy Falconer, of whom Betty had spoken, had once been a rather +dudish, affected boy and had later developed into an exceedingly fast +young man. He had an immensely rich father and a mother who denied him +nothing so that he had been able to gather together a few kindred +spirits among whom he was the leader. All the regular boys and girls +in town thoroughly disliked "the set," but there were a few girls who +were willing to put up with Percy Falconer and his crowd for sake of +the long motor rides, dances, dinners and motorboat picnics that the +boys were able to give them. + +There were always some of this wild crowd over at the "Point," and it +was for this reason as well as the very real danger of a collision +with a recklessly driven boat that Betty's father had rather +discouraged the chums going over to that side of the river. + +However the day was fine, the water of the river was as calm as a lake +and the Gem flew across the sparkling water like a gull, bringing a +flush of pure excitement and pleasure to the faces of the girls. +Danger-- what danger could there be in this staunch little craft, with +Betty at the wheel? + +They were half way across the river, now-- three quarters. The gay +pleasure craft flaunting up and down the river were becoming more +numerous and Betty slackened speed. Her breath came more quickly and +her hands tightened on the wheel. She could drive a boat as well as +any boy, but here, she knew, was a situation to test her greatest +skill. + +Craft of all sizes and descriptions seemed to the excited girls to be +piling up about them. Most of the boats were being navigated +carefully, but now and then a small, fast speed-craft would shoot out +from behind another so suddenly that Betty would be forced to swerve +sharply to one side, fairly grazing the stern of the racing boat. + +On one of these occasions, when it had seemed impossible to avoid a +collision, Amy called out sharply: + +"Oh, Betty, don't you think we had better go back?" + +And Betty replied with a queer little laugh: + +"Might just as well go ahead as back now. We'll be there in a minute. +Don't worry." + +The words were scarcely out of her mouth when two craft running neck +and neck and driven recklessly slipped out from behind a sailboat and +drove directly down upon the Gem. It seemed impossible that the +Outdoor Girls could escape disaster. + + CHAPTER VI + + NEARLY WRECKED + +The girls did not scream. Perhaps they were too frightened or perhaps +it was just natural pluck. + +They did jump to their feet though as if with some wild thought of +leaping overboard. But there they remained, staring with fascinated +eyes at the fate that was bearing down upon them. + +As for Betty, after one breath-taking minute when all the blood in her +body seemed to rush to her head, she simply sat there and tried in the +second that was given her to think what to do. + +Almost automatically, she wrenched the wheel around, nearly capsizing +the boat with the sudden turn. At almost the same second, as though +the thing had been prearranged, the boys in the racing craft swung +around in the opposite direction. + +A slight scraping as the side of the Gem slid along the side of the +nearer of the racing craft, and they were safe, with no harm done with +the exception of a little paint scraped from the side of the boat. + +It was a moment before the girls could realize what had happened to +them. Then a voice hailed them from the boat alongside. In a glance +the girls perceived that the voice belonged to no other than Percy +Falconer himself. + +"Hello," called Percy, adding boisterously as he recognized the girls: +"Well, by all that's holy, if it isn't the Outdoor Girls! Thought you +never came over to this side of the river." + +"We don't," Betty answered, the hand that still gripped the wheel +shaking nervously now that the danger was over. "And I don't believe +we ever will again, either!" + +"I say, your teeth are chattering," cried Percy, looking at Betty in +open admiration. In the old days, Percy had tried hard to win favor in +Betty's eyes, but the latter had always treated him with a +good-natured indifference not unmixed with contempt that had been very +hard for the young dude to bear. During the years he had still admired +Betty from afar and hated Allen Washburn for being the "lucky one." So +now he hastened to make the most of what he thought was an +opportunity. + +"Come on over to the Point with me and Derby here," indicating the +young fellow in the other racing craft who had drawn his boat up close +to them and was looking on with interest. "We will get you something +to steady your nerves a bit. We had a pretty narrow squeak that time, +and it's no wonder it upset you a little." + +He was supposedly addressing all the girls, but his eyes were only for +Betty. As for her, she suddenly had a startlingly clear mental picture +of what her father would think were some one to tell him that his +daughter and her chums had been seen at the "Point" with Percy +Falconer and a friend of his. + +In days gone by Percy had been very insipid, his mind entirely on his +clothes; now he had become a sport, and the report was that he +caroused around not a little. + +Betty turned to the youth with a decided little shake of her head, +though her eyes were smiling. + +"I think we shall have to go right back," she said. "It looks as +though it were going to rain. Thank you just as much," and she began +to ease her motor boat gently away from the other craft, + +"Oh, I say," Percy cried, disappointedly and a little angrily, for out +of the corner of his eye he could see that his friend was laughing at +him, "we would only keep you for a moment or two. You needn't be +afraid of us. We won't bite, you know." + +"We don't know you well enough to be sure even of that," said Mollie, +coming suddenly and flippantly into the conversation. + +But Percy took not the slightest notice of her and, as Betty was +slowly but surely widening the distance between the Gem and his boat, +he leaned forward eagerly. + +"Betty, let me see you some time. How about to-morrow night?" + +And because Betty was always kind to every one and was sorry for +Mollie's flippant speech, she said, quite unexpectedly, even to +herself, "All right." + +Then she turned the Gem around and started for home, conscious that +her chums were gazing at her in speechless amazement. + +"Betty!" cried Grace, horrified. "You are never going to let Percy +Falconer come to see you, are you?" + +But Betty turned on her irritably. She was tired and nervous and angry +at herself for having anything to do with that conceited dude, Percy +Falconer. + +"You heard me say he could come, didn't you?" she said in response to +Grace's incredulous question, Amy's wide-eyed stare, and Mollie's +grin. "And if you are going to ask me why I said so," she added +desperately, "I'm not going to tell you. And if anybody speaks to me +before I get back to the dock, I'll-- wreck 'em, that's all." + +The girls exchanged glances and wisely decided to change the subject, +for the present at least. For the time they had plenty to do anyway, +just watching out that somebody else did not run into them! + +By the time they reached comparatively clear water they were all tired +and they were glad for once when the Gem scraped against the home dock +and the "cruise" was over. + +"Well," said Mollie as they climbed on to the dock, "we surely did +have some excitement, but we didn't get what we started out for after +all." + +"What's that?" asked Grace, as she tied the ribbon round her candy box +and adjusted her hat at a more becoming angle. + +"Ice-cream and a drink of ice water," said Mollie ruefully. "I've just +remembered that I am dying of thirst." + +"Come on around to my house," Betty invited. Her wrist was lame from +gripping the wheel so hard and she felt it gingerly. "Mother said she +would make a big pitcher of lemonade for us and leave it in the +refrigerator." + +"Whew," whistled Mollie, taking Betty's arm and hurrying her forward. +"By any chance did you girls hear what I heard? Me for it, Betty +Nelson." + +The girls talked little an their way to Betty's house, but they +thought a good deal. They were tired and disgruntled, and it seemed to +them in their pessimistic mood that everything they had tried to do +that day had gone wrong. And the climax of it all was their meeting-- +if it could be called a meeting-- with Percy Falconer. Worst of all, +Betty was going to allow him to call! + +With something of this in her mind, Mollie glanced sideways at her +chum and, curiosity getting the better of her discretion, ventured to +remark upon it. + +"I wonder what Allen will say," she said, "when he learns about +Percy." + +It was an unfortunate remark, as Betty very soon showed by turning +upon her chum angrily. + +"I don't know that Allen has a right to say anything at all about what +I do," she said. "And as I don't intend ever to see Percy Falconer +after to-morrow, I think we had better forget about him. But there," +she added, bringing herself up short and giving Mollie's hand a little +conciliatory squeeze, "I didn't mean to be cross. I'm just kind of mad +about the whole thing-- and tired, and hot----" + +"I know," said Mollie generously. "I guess we all are-- tired and hot, +I mean. We will feel better after we have had something cold to +drink." + +Betty's mother had left not only the lemonade but some sandwiches of +chopped nuts and cream cheese. Jubilantly the girls carried these +delicacies out on the front porch and proceeded to devour them without +further delay. + +As they ate and drank, their ill-humor vanished and they began to feel +once more like their cheerful, optimistic selves. They even began to +laugh a little about the close shave they had had with Percy and his +friend. + +"It was mighty clever work of yours, Betty, swerving around like +that," Mollie said reminiscently, as she patted the Little Captain's +hand approvingly. "I'm sure I would have been so scared I'd have gone +right ahead and then there would have been a nasty smash." + +"I do hope the folks don't hear about it," worried Grace. "It would +only make them nervous and they might even refuse to let us go out in +the Gem any more." + +"I don't see how the folks are going to know anything about it," said +Amy calmly. + +"Unless our dear friend Percy blabs it all over town," added Grace. + +"I think we ought to tell the folks," Betty spoke up suddenly. "I know +they would rather hear about it from us than from any one else. +Hello," she broke off, as her eye lighted on a newspaper lying on the +table, "this looks like the evening edition. Maybe it has some news of +Allen's division." + +"My, just listen to her," yawned Grace. "Allen's division, indeed. As +though he were the only one we were interested in----" + +But her words were cut short by a startled exclamation from Betty. + +"Oh, girls, look here!" she cried. "Look at these names. Oh, I hope it +isn't true! I hope it isn't!" + + CHAPTER VII + + BAD TIDINGS CONFIRMED + +"I wish I knew what you were talking about," said Mollie, pausing with +a sandwich half-way to her mouth, while Amy and Grace regarded the +Little Captain with astonishment. "What names? Where?" + +But Betty was paying no attention to them. She was reading hastily the +column that had caught her startled attention. + +"Listen to this," she said, reading out loud. "Among those who were +killed in the last great Allied offensive are the names of these brave +soldiers. James Browning of Columbus, Ohio-- No, that isn't what I +mean-- Look, here they are-- James Dempsey and Arnold Dempsey, Junior. +Girls, do you suppose--" and she looked at them with widening eyes. + +"Arnold Dempsey, Arnold Dempsey," repeated Mollie, searching in her +memory, but Amy interrupted excitedly. + +"That was Professor Dempsey's name, wasn't it?" she asked. "Oh, Betty, +do you suppose it could be his son?" + +"Why, of course it is his son-- how could it be any one else?" cried +Grace, the excitement beginning to communicate itself to her. "Arnold +Dempsey, Junior-- and the professor said his sons were over there." + +"Didn't it say something about James Dempsey, too, Betty?" asked +Mollie, fairly snatching the paper from her chum. "Yes, here it is. Do +you suppose that can be his other son?" + +Betty shook her head soberly. + +"I don't know," she said. "Of course he didn't tell us the name of his +other son, but it might easily be James. Oh, I hope it isn't so!" she +added, her heart aching for the lonely old man whose one big interest +in life was his boys. "I do hope there has been some mistake." + +"I guess we all do," said Amy gently, adding with a sigh: "But I'm +afraid there isn't very much hope of it. The Government is usually +right when it comes to things like that." + +"Not always," Mollie retorted quickly. "Look at the time they reported +that Allen was among the missing and he wasn't at all. That is the +only mistake we happen to know about, but I fancy there are plenty of +others." + +At mention of that dreadful time when she had read Allen's name in the +long list of the missing, Betty experienced again something of the +emotion she had felt at that time. + +She saw again in imagination the dark room where she had gone to be by +herself, she heard the thunder of the surf on the rocks outside and +the rumble of the thunder overhead. She saw once more the vision of +Allen as she had seen it then. Allen stretched out cold and dead +perhaps on some shell-ridden battlefield or perhaps, more terrible +still, a prisoner in the hands of the Hun, suffering unspeakable +torture---- + +"But this is not as bad as though the boys were missing," she said +suddenly, speaking her thought aloud. "At least the professor will +know that his sons are dead." + +The girls started and looked at Betty queerly. + +"I was thinking of Allen," she explained in response to their rather +startled glances, "and the time when we thought he was missing. If +this thing is true about Professor Dempsey's sons I think I shall be +able to sympathize with him, almost better than any of you." + +"I guess you will, honey," said Mollie soberly, putting an arm about +her chum. "It was a terrible time for us all-- there at Bluff Point. +But it was almost worth the suffering when we found out that Allen was +alive and well and never had been missing at all. Do you remember how +happy we all were then?" + +"Happy," Betty repeated, shaking off her depression and smiling at the +memory. "I'll say we were the happiest girls on earth-- especially +after we recovered the twins. But what," she said, coming back to the +present subject, "are we going to do about Professor Dempsey? We ought +to do something, you know." + +"I suppose we ought," said Grace, a little vaguely, "but I'm sure I +don't know just what." + +"I think," suggested Amy practically, "that the best thing would be to +try to find out first of all whether these poor boys who were killed +are really Professor Dempsey's sons or not." + +"Humph, that sounds all right," observed Mollie. "But has any one here +any suggestion as to just how we will go about it? I'm sure I don't +know any one who is acquainted with Professor Dempsey-- or his family +either." + +"I've got it," said Betty, leaning forward eagerly. "It may not be +much of an idea, but then again it may." + +"Speak up, speak up, what's on your mind?" urged Mollie slangily. + +"Well," said Betty, "there is Mr. Haig, principal of Deepdale High. He +knows pretty nearly every one at the university where Professor +Dempsey used to teach and he is more than likely to know whether the +professor has any sons and what their names are." + +"Yes, that is all right as far as it goes," broke in Mollie +impatiently. + +"We all know Mr. Haig--" Amy began, but this time it was Grace who +interrupted. + +"Yes, we all know him," she said. "But I'd like to know if there is +any one of us-- except Betty perhaps-- who would have the nerve to go +to him and ask him a question like that----" + +"Say, who's telling this story I'd like to know," broke in Betty +impatiently. "I'm not asking any one to go to Mr. Haig with that +question or any other-- although I would be perfectly willing to brave +the lion in his den if there were no other way. My plan is this. Dad +knows Mr. Haig, you know-- went to school with him-- old college chums +and all that. I'm sure that if we asked him real pretty he would go to +Mr. Haig and find out about Professor Dempsey for us." + +"Then suppose we find out that Professor Dempsey hasn't any sons by +the name of James and Arnold?" suggested Grace. + +"Then we shall be mighty glad we took the trouble to find out and set +our minds at rest," answered Betty soberly. + +"And if we find out that they are really his sons, what then?" queried +Grace, and this time Betty looked puzzled and Mollie and Amy +completely beyond their depth. + +"Why then," said Betty hesitatingly, "I'm sure I don't just know what +we ought to do. But don't you think," she added, brightening, "that it +might be a good idea to wait until we have found out definite facts +before we try to solve any more problems?" + +Rather reluctantly the girls agreed and, after making Betty promise +that she would let them know the very first minute she found out the +names of Arnold Dempsey's sons, they said good-bye and started for +home. + +Of course Betty had already told her father and mother about Professor +Dempsey and the part he had played in actually saving their lives; so +when she told them that night of what she had read in the paper and +begged her father to help her find out whether the dead soldiers were +really Arnold Dempsey's sons or not, he readily consented to do what +he could. + +"I'll drop in and see Haig to-morrow," he promised. "I have often +heard him speak of Professor Dempsey as being one of the best +professors of zoology up at the university and I am sure I will be +able to find out what you want to know. I hope you have been mistaken +in your conclusions, for it would be a horrible blow to a man to lose +both his grown sons at once and like that. Now run off to bed and +tomorrow I may have some news for you." + +With this Betty was forced to be content. She went to bed of course, +there was nothing else to do, but she tossed restlessly all night and +what sleep she got was checkered with horrid dreams and she woke up in +the morning feeling as though she had not been to sleep at all. + +The next day was a long one to live through, even though the girls did +keep calling her up at frequent intervals to see if she had any news +for them yet. She became so tired of hearing the telephone bell ring +at last that she stuffed a handkerchief between the bell and the +clapper and sat down to read a novel and while away the time as best +she could till her father came home. + +Luckily for her-- and him too, perhaps-- Mr. Nelson did get home +early, and he was no sooner inside the door than Betty grabbed him by +the arm, led him over to a divan in the corner of the living room, and +let loose upon him a flood of questions. + +"Did you see him? What did he say? Why didn't you let me know sooner?" + +These and various other queries were hurled at Mr. Nelson so fast that +it is no wonder the poor gentleman appeared slightly bewildered. But +knowing his impetuous young daughter of old, he merely pinched her +cheek fondly and waited for her to give him a chance to speak. + +"If you will wait just a moment I will try to tell you about it," he +said at last, mildly. + +"There's only one thing I really want to know, Dad," said Betty +soberly. "And that is the name of Professor Dempsey's sons." + +Her father shook his head slowly, regretfully. + +"I am afraid it is as you have feared, dear," he said, "Professor +Dempsey has two sons-- or rather, had-- and their names were James and +Arnold." + +"Oh, Daddy!" Betty was quiet for a minute, letting the full +consciousness of what her father had said sink into her heart. Then +her lips trembled and her eyes filled with tears. "I-- I was pretty +sure it was true. But, oh, I was hoping so hard that it wouldn't be!" + + CHAPTER VIII + + PREMONITIONS + +Betty kept her promise and called up the girls to tell them the news. +Like the Little Captain, they had felt almost sure of the identity of +the two Dempsey boys who had been killed in France, yet the +confirmation of their fears came as a distinct shock. + +They waited for a couple of days, undecided what to do, if indeed it +was their place to do anything at all. Vaguely they felt the need of +comforting the queer little professor in his hour of greatest trouble, +and yet they were at a loss to know just how to go about it. + +Meanwhile, the occupations that had ordinarily filled their days to +overflowing with fun, seemed dull and uninteresting and they found +their thoughts reverting again and again to the bereaved father in his +lonely little cabin in the woods. + +Percy Falconer had called at Betty's house the day after the incident +on the river as had been arranged, and Betty had conceived the plan of +having all her chums there to meet him. + +Her hope was that the gay Percy, seeing four, where he had expected +only one, would be overwhelmed with numbers and would flee the +premises early-- to return no more. + +Her faith in her plan was more than justified. Percy had always been a +little afraid of the Outdoor Girls-- Betty in particular-- but it is +probable that if he had been able to meet them one at a time, he might +have come off victorious. As it was, he was routed, completely and +ignominiously, leaving the girls to laugh at his discomfiture. + +"There, I guess that is the end of that pest," Mollie had said when +she had recovered a little from her mirth. "I imagine we won't see him +around these parts again." + +"I hope not," Betty had answered with a satisfied little yawn. "Wasn't +he too funny in that checked suit and awful green necktie? Poor old +Percy! I suppose he can't help it. He probably just grew that way," + +She had been comparing him all evening with her splendid, upstanding +Allen, and poor Percy had certainly not gained by the comparison. + +The amusing incident served to divert their minds somewhat from the +thought of Professor Dempsey, but the picture of him haunted their +minds so continually day and night that the Outdoor Girls finally +decided that something must he done about it. + +"I can't stand it any longer," Betty confided to them one morning when +they stood on Mollie's porch discussing what course of action it would +be best to take. "I have a queer feeling that the poor professor is in +desperate need of friends, and I don't believe I'll be able to sleep +another night until I find out something definite about him." + +"Won't he think we are sort of 'butting in'?" asked Grace, hesitating +a little. "He might think we came just out of curiosity." + +"I don't think he would," said Mollie. "You know he invited us to come +back some time when we could stay long enough for him to tell us +something about those bugs and butterflies and things he sticks pins +into + +"That's the idea!" exclaimed Betty quickly. "We won't have to tell him +we know anything about his trouble. If he tells us-- why, all right, +but if he doesn't, of course we won't try to force a confidence. +Anyway," she finished soberly, "we'll have the satisfaction of knowing +we have done our best for him whether it really helps him any or not." + +"And we owe him a very great deal," spoke up Amy softly. "He really +saved our lives, you know." + +So it was settled, and while the other three girls ran home to put on +coats and hats and get ready for the drive, Mollie ran around to the +garage and brought her big car to the front of the house. + +She waved good-bye to her mother, who was trying rather wildly to keep +Dodo and Paul from running under the wheels of the car and getting +killed, and purred off down the street in the direction of Betty's +house. + +When she arrived there she was a little surprised to see that Betty +was backing her fast little roadster down the drive. + +To Betty the little car was almost alive, and she talked to it as she +would have to some loved horse or dog. She scrubbed it and scoured it +and shined it so that it always looked like a brand new car. + +"Hey, look out!" cried Mollie, for Betty, not noticing her and being a +little worried about the sound of the engine, had backed the small car +down the drive and almost into Mollie's big one. "What kind of driving +do you call that? Do you want to buy me a new mudguard?" + +"Oh, pardon me," said Betty, laughing back at her. "You were so small +and insignificant, I came near not seeing you." + +"Well, you would have felt me in another minute," grumbled Mollie, as +she shut off the engine and got out of the car. "What's the idea of +your little peanut, anyway? Thought you were going to ride in a +regular car." + +"That's why I chose mine," Betty laughed back impishly, still intent +on the sound of the engine. + +It was part of their fun to be always throwing insults at each other's +car but the thrusts were invariably good-natured. + +Only once had there threatened to be any trouble between the chums on +account of rivalry over the cars. That had been when Mollie had taken +Betty's "dare" to a race and Betty's little roadster had won the day, +racing like a streak of light along the country road and leaving +Mollie's high-powered but more clumsy car far behind. + +But Mollie had taken her defeat like the little sport she was-- even +though it must be admitted she had been considerably disappointed and +taken aback by her failure-- and in her ever since there had been a +great respect for Betty's car. + +But now she eyed with impatience the bent figure of the Little Captain +as she still leaned over the wheel, her ear tuned to the purr of the +engine. + +"For goodness' sake, what's the matter with you?" she cried. "I +thought you were the one who was in a hurry to be off and now look at +you-- sitting there like----" + +"Engine is missing," Betty informed her briskly. "Guess I had better +have a look--" + +"If you start fussing with bolts and screws now, you can count me +out," said Mollie, resolutely climbing back into her car. "It is ten +o'clock already, and we won't be home before night if we don't hurry." + +"Oh, all right," laughed Betty. "But if the car gives out before we +get back don't blame me, that's all." + +"It would give me the greatest of pleasure," said Mollie with a +diabolical chuckle as her machine moved off down the street, "to have +every one in Deepdale see me towing your poor little flivver through +the town." + +"Huh," sang back Betty scornfully as the roadster responded eagerly to +her touch, "they will have a great deal better chance of seeing me in +the lead with your great big jumbo tottering feebly at the end of a +rope." + +They picked up Amy and Grace on the way and were soon flying swiftly +down the road in the direction of Professor Dempsey's tree-surrounded +home. + +They were in rather good spirits at first, for now that they were +really on the way to doing something, though they were not quite sure +what, they felt relieved and almost gay. + +But as the distance shortened between them and their destination, a +strange depression that they could neither explain nor brush away +settled down over them. + +Once, Grace, who sat beside the Little Captain in the roadster, sighed +rather dolefully and Betty looked at her out of the corner of her eye. + +"Do you feel that way too, Gracie?" the latter asked. + +"What way?" asked Grace uncertainly. "That sigh, do you mean?" + +"Yes," nodded Betty. "You sounded rather mournful and that is exactly +the way I feel. What's the matter with us, anyway? Where are our +spirits?" + +"I suppose we couldn't expect to feel joyful," said Grace after a +little pause. "We aren't going, so far as I can see, on a very happy +errand, you know." + +"But I don't think it is that alone," said Betty, with a shake of her +head. "I feel as if we were going to see something perfectly +dreadful--" + +"Betty," Grace looked at her in sudden alarm, her eyes wide, "you +don't suppose that the professor could have done anything-- anything +rash, do you?" + +"You mean----" said Betty, hesitating before the ugly word. "Oh, +Grace, you don't mean-- suicide, do you?" + +Grace nodded and tried hard not to look as frightened as she felt. + +"No, I-- I don't think so," said Betty, grasping the wheel with hands +that somehow seemed suddenly weak. "If I thought anything like that +had happened I wouldn't have the courage to go on." + +"Well, I don't believe I have-- the courage, I mean," said Grace, +irresolutely. "Don't you think we had better go back, Betty? It's so +lonesome here and-- and-- everything----" + +Her voice was rising to something like a wail, and Betty, striving to +throttle her own misgivings, spoke in a voice that was intended to be +reassuring. + +"We wouldn't think very much of ourselves if we turned back now," she +said. "And probably we are worrying a great deal about nothing. He +didn't seem like the kind of man who would do a thing like that." + +Grace said no more about turning back, and they were silent for the +rest of the way. But instead of lightening, the cloud of depression +became deeper and more foreboding until even the stout Little Captain +began almost to wish that they had not come. + + CHAPTER IX + + A VISITOR + +When they came to the scene of what was so nearly a terrible accident +a week or so before they found that the big tree which had extended +clear across the road was gone and that the underbrush also had been +cleared away. + +They stopped the cars a little the other side of the path that led +into the woods and slowly stepped down into the road. + +When they caught sight of each other's faces they began to laugh +shakily. + +"We certainly look as if we were going on a ghost hunt," Mollie said. +At this Grace uttered a little cry of protest. The thought had struck +too near her own disquieting thoughts to be comfortable. + +"For goodness' sake, somebody say something cheerful," she begged. +"I've got to get up my courage some way." + +"Well, I haven't any to lend you," grumbled Mollie, as she linked her +arm in Betty's and the two went along toward the path. "I don't like +this job a little bit." + +"Don't you think," suggested Amy, holding back a little, "that +somebody ought to stay here and take care of the cars?" + +"No, you don't!" said Mollie, catching her by the hand and pulling her +along after them. "If one of us goes we are all going." + +"Oh, come along," urged Betty, eager to get the thing over with. "I +think we are all acting like a lot of geese. It might help some if we +tried to remember that we are Outdoor Girls." + +This challenge did a great deal toward bolstering up the girls' +courage and they hurried along the path more confidently, + +Their pace slowed a bit, however, when they reached the cleared space +where the little cottage stood and they paused for a moment in the +shelter of the trees to discuss what to do next. + +"Do you think we had all better go?" asked Grace nervously. "Perhaps +the four of us would frighten him----" + +"No, we will all go together," said Betty decidedly. "There is nothing +to be gained by standing here talking about it. Come on, girls." + +She started across the cleared space and the girls followed slowly. +The little cottage looked deserted and forlorn and the dreary aspect +of it served to increase the girls' uneasy sense of disaster. + +Betty knocked gently on the door which had, upon that other occasion +not so very long ago, been hospitably opened to them. But, though they +waited breathlessly for a response, none came-- the house was as +silent as a tomb. + +"Do it again, Betty. He might be asleep or something," suggested +Mollie, with a glance over her shoulder at the quiet woodland. "Knock +harder this time." + +Betty obeyed, but with no better success than the first time. +Everything was as silent as before. + +"Isn't there a bell, I wonder?" suggested Amy, wishing ardently that +they were back on the road once more. "Perhaps your knock isn't loud +enough for him to hear." + +"We might tap on the window," suggested Grace. "If I use my ring on +the window pane he surely ought to hear that." + +She started to suit her action to the words when an exclamation from +Betty made her pause. The latter had tried the door and found to her +surprise that it gave to her touch. + +"The door is unlocked," she said. "I don't believe the professor is in +here at all and if he has gone into the woods to hunt his butterflies +and beetles I am sure he wouldn't mind our going inside. What do you +think?" + +She was about to push the door open, but Grace detained her with a +nervous hand on her arm. + +"Oh, I don't think we had better go in, Betty!" she cried. "You know +what we were speaking of in the car. Suppose we should find that he +has-- that he has----" + +"That he has what?" asked Amy, her eyes wide. "For goodness' sake, +what do you mean, Grace?" + +Betty tried to stop her, but Grace hurried on heedlessly. + +"He may have committed suicide," she cried, adding, in response to +Mollie's and Amy's cry of horror: "You know he must have been +desperate enough to do anything, poor old man, out here all alone." + +At the conviction in Grace's tone, Betty felt her own nerve slipping. +She did not want to go into that silent house any more than the other +girls did. Every instinct in her commanded that she run from the place +to the commonplace safety of the road. She was afraid of what she +might find on the other side of that unlocked door. And yet---- + +"I'm going in," she cried, and, suiting the action to the word, pushed +the door quickly open and stepped over the threshold. + +Emboldened by her example, the other girls followed and stopped short +with a cry of dismay. They had not found what they feared-- but +something almost as bad. + +The room, which had been so neat and orderly when they had last seen +it, was now the scene of such utter confusion as one might only hope +to see depicted in a cubist's nightmare. + +The animal skins which had adorned the walls had been torn down and +lay in a tattered heap upon the floor. The shelves upon which had +rested the professor's botanical specimens had been swept clean and +their contents also were scattered about the floor. + +The bench upon which the girls had sat and partaken of the queer +little man's hospitality was overturned and the one chair in the room +was upside down on top of it. The whole room looked as though a +cyclone-- or a maniac-- had been at work. + +The girls stared for a minute and then drew closer together as if +seeking protection from some unseen menace. They had some vague +conception of what had taken place here in this lonely little cottage. +The elderly and already nervous professor, reading the tragedy of his +sons' death, all alone perhaps, with no one to comfort or restrain +him, had lost his mind, temporarily at least, and had found an outlet +in ruthlessly destroying everything which came within reach of his +hand. + +And if this were so, might he not even now be hiding about somewhere, +watching them, perhaps? + +This thought seemed to strike the girls at the same time, for after +peering for a second about the room, they turned and made a concerted +dash for the door. + +Once outside the room, in the reassuring sunshine, they turned and +looked at each other sheepishly. Then Betty wheeled about and started +for the door again. + +"Betty, you are never going back into that place again?" cried Amy +wildly, holding to her skirt. "I won't let you! Do you hear me? Come +back here!" + +But Betty had no intention of coming back. She turned and faced the +girls calmly, though inwardly she was trembling. + +"Of course I am going back," she said. "Professor Dempsey may be in +one of the other rooms and he may be sick. If nobody will go with me, +I'm going in alone." + +Of course the three girls could not let her go in alone, so they +trailed back at her heels into the house, being very careful, however, +to leave the door wide open behind them, in case a hasty retreat +became necessary. + +Cautiously Betty opened the door at the other end of the room and +stepped into what had evidently been a sort of rough kitchen. Now it +was nothing but a nightmare like the other room, and she shuddered as +she looked about at the desolate confusion. + +There was a door at the farther end of this room, and after some +hesitation and an inward struggle Betty crossed hastily to it and +flung it wide open. + +What she half expected and feared to find there nobody but Betty +herself ever knew, but whatever it was, she gave a great sigh of +relief at not finding it there. The room was upset, though not quite +as badly as the other two, but there was no sign of human occupancy +anywhere. + +She turned to the girls who had come up behind her and were eagerly +and half shudderingly peering over her shoulder. + +"There's nothing here," she announced, the relief she felt showing in +her voice, "and as there doesn't seem to be any other room in the +place, I suppose we might as well go back." + +Echoing her suggestion heartily, the girls started to retrace their +steps when a slight sound in the other room made them stop short in a +panic. + +"What was that?" Amy questioned, but Mollie held up her hand +impatiently. + +There came the sound of some one stumbling over something. This was +followed by a muttered exclamation. + +While the girls looked about them wildly for a means of escape Mollie +began to laugh hysterically. + +"We have a visitor," she announced in a strangled voice. "And he is +between us and the only door in the place. Come on, girls, let's see +who it is." + +They stepped out into the cluttered living room and came face to face +with a young man who seemed more startled at seeing them than they had +been at sight of him. + +"Well, I'll be jiggered!" he exclaimed, and at sound of the +commonplace phrase the girls could have hugged the speaker in relief. +Also they felt a rather hysterical desire to laugh long and foolishly. + +As it was, the stranger stood staring at the girls and the girls at +him so long that the funny side of the situation struck Betty and she +really did begin to laugh. + +"We haven't the slightest idea who you are," she told the astonished +young man. "But I am sure of one thing, and that is that we were never +so glad to see any one in all our lives as we are to see you." + + CHAPTER X + + HURRAH FOR ALLEN + +The young man stared for a moment longer. Then the humor of the +situation seemed to strike him too, and he smiled pleasantly. + +"It surely is a pleasure to be as welcome as all that," he said +pleasantly, and the girls noticed that he was a well set up young +fellow and that he wore his uniform easily, as if he had been used to +wearing it for a long, long time. "I am Wesley Travers," he went on. +"I live in a cottage down the road and I came over this way to see if +the old professor had come back yet. I saw the door open-- came in-- +and found you." + +He smiled again pleasantly and looked as though he considered that he +had fallen into rather good luck. But at his mention of the professor +Betty had sobered instantly. + +"Oh, then you know something about Professor Dempsey?" she questioned +eagerly. + +"Please tell us what happened to him," added Amy breathlessly. + +"Did he do this?" asked Mollie, with a comprehensive sweep of her hand +about the cluttered room. + +"I'm afraid he did," answered the young fellow, sobering instantly. +"You see, I just returned from overseas about a week ago and a couple +of days later my dad read in the paper about the death of this queer +old man's two sons. The pater had always been interested in the lonely +old boy, so he sent me over to see if I could do anything for him. I +found the place like this and-- the bird had flown. Went dopy I +suppose about the bad news and tore things up a bit." + +Though the boy's words were slangy, there was real sympathy in his +tone and the girls liked him the better for it. + +"And you haven't heard anything from him since?" asked Betty softly. + +"Not a word or a sign," answered the boy, with a shake of his head. +"Just clean cleared out, that's all. Pretty hard luck, I call it. Just +at the end of things too-- when he had a right to expect the fellows +home. Pretty tough luck. I wish I could find the poor old duffer and +do something for him." + +The girls heartily echoed the wish. Before leaving the place for good, +they looked about the rooms once more for some sign or message that +might give them a clue to the whereabouts of the professor. They found +nothing, however, and finally were forced to give up the search. + +As the young people stepped outside once more and closed the door +after them upon the desolate house a great wave of pity swept over +Betty. Somehow it did not seem right to go off like this as though +they were abandoning the old man to his fate. Yet what could they do +more than they had done? + +"Girls," she said, a little quiver in her voice, "I would give almost +everything I own to find the poor old professor and help him back to +happiness. If I only could," she added after a pause. + +"Well," said Wesley Travers, as he looked admiringly at Betty's +flushed, sympathetic little face, "I imagine if any one could find him +and bring him happiness, you would be that one." + +The young soldier accompanied them back to the road. After thanking +him for the information he had given them, the girls climbed into +their cars and headed toward home, leaving Wesley Travers still +standing in the road and looking after them thoughtfully. + +"A mighty nice bunch of girls," thought the latter. "Especially the +little brown-haired one. They seemed rather interested in that dotty +old professor too. Lucky fellow to have four girls like that +interested in him!" After this remark he started off toward home. + +Luckily for the girls, the next few days were so crowded with +preparations for the trip to Wild Rose Lodge that they had not much +time to dwell on the poor old professor and his misfortunes. + +Only at night would they sometimes dream queer dreams in which +wild-eyed men went around smashing everything in sight and a little +cottage stood lonely and desolate and ghostlike amid a silent forest +of trees. + +After a night like this the girls were always glad to awake and find +the sunshine streaming cheerfully in their windows. And they would +throw themselves with more than usual energy into the activities of +the day. Yet try as they would, they could never quite blot the +tragedy from their minds. + +On the afternoon of the day before they were to start for Moonlight +Falls, the girls were gathered in Betty's garage at the back of the +house, where the Little Captain was giving her car one last +overhauling to make sure that it was in perfect condition for the +trip. Mollie suddenly espied the postman coming down the street. + +Now the postman was a very popular man with the girls, for the reason +that he brought almost daily some message from the boys on the other +side. He sympathized with the chums so fully in their desire for +letters with the red triangle in one corner that he actually confessed +to a guilty feeling when he had no missive of the sort for them. + +So now, as Mollie ran toward him with outstretched hand, he held up to +her delighted gaze not only one letter, but four. + +"One for each of you," he said beamingly, as Mollie reached him. "I +thought that probably I would find all four of you at one place, so I +kept the letters together." + +"Oh, thanks, it is awfully good of you," said Mollie absent-mindedly, +as she took the welcome letters and hurried with them back to the +garage. "One for each of us, just think of that!" she cried to the +questioning girls. "It looks as if the boys had all written at the +same time. Put down your duster, Betty, for goodness' sake, and read +what Allen has to say. Maybe," she added hopefully, as she ripped her +envelope open, "they will tell us something definite about coming +home." + +So down the girls sat in the midst of dust cloths and more or less +dirt to find what the boys had written. For a moment only the +crackling of paper broke the silence. Then Grace gave a little joyful +cry. + +"Will says he is almost sure to be home soon----" + +"And he has been made a sergeant," Amy interrupted, or rather added, +her eyes shining with pride. "Just think of that-- Will, a sergeant!" + +"I was just going to tell them that if you had waited a minute," said +Grace, rather crossly. There was quite a little jealousy between Grace +and Amy over Will. Grace had declared more than once that whereas she +had known her brother all her life, Amy had only known him for a +couple of years-- or-- or more. Grace loved her brother devotedly and +once in a while she resented Amy's place in his affections. + +So now to change the subject and avert a possible quarrel, Mollie +jumped into the breach. + +"Listen to this," she said. "Roy and Frank have been made corporals +and Allen-- oh, look at Betty blush!" She looked gleefully across at +the Little Captain and Amy and Grace followed her glance. + +Betty was not blushing, but she felt as uncomfortable as though she +had been. + +"Tell us what Allen says," Mollie dared her wickedly. "Come on, +honey-- dare you to." + +"You can go on daring all you like," said Betty defiantly. This time +she was blushing-- from the fact that she knew she could not, or would +not, tell the girls what Allen had said in his letter. Not for +anything in this world! + +"I don't mean what you mean," said Mollie, enjoying her confusion +immensely, while Grace and Amy looked on laughingly. "I just thought +that maybe you would like to be the one to tell us about his +promotion." + +"His promotion!" cried Amy and Grace together, and Betty looked quite +as bewildered as any of them. + +"Mollie, for goodness' sake tell us what you mean," she demanded. + +"But didn't he tell you about it, Betty?" Mollie insisted. + +"Wait a minute," said the Little Captain as she hastily scanned the +pages of her long letter. Then, down near the end of the last page she +found it, just a little paragraph, put in as though it had been an +afterthought. "Why," cried Betty, her eyes beginning to shine with +excitement, "girls, listen to this. Allen has been promoted. He's an +officer now-- a lieutenant! Think of it-- leather leggings and all!" + +It was too much for the girls. They laughed and cried and hugged each +other and tried to imagine Allen in his new uniform to their hearts' +content, for the young new-made officer was a favorite with them all. + +"Goodness," said Amy happily, "I suppose when he gets home he will be +altogether too high-toned to notice common folk like us." + +"Oh, I don't know," said Grace happily, adding with a sly little +glance at Betty, "I imagine he will make an exception of one of us at +least." + +"I wonder," drawled Mollie as she picked up her unfinished letter, +"which one of us you can mean." + + CHAPTER XI + + THE HOLD-UP + +The girls were glad that the letters had come from the boys just as +they had, for it helped them to bridge over the tediously long wait +till the next morning. + +They read the missives with the little red triangles in the left hand +corner over and over again and-- whisper it!-- at least two of them +slept with the precious letters under their pillows. + +And then-- the morning was upon them. It was a beautiful morning too, +and as the girls dressed hurriedly they were glad that they had +arranged to start early. In that way they could take their time and +enjoy to the full the glorious ride to Moonlight Falls. It was only +fifty-five miles, but by driving slowly they could make it seem like +twice that. + +It was barely half past nine when Betty, having finished breakfast and +put the last finishing touches to her new white hat, ran around to the +garage to get the car out. + +Ten minutes later she had drawn up in front of Mollie's house, her +ears still ringing with the hundred and one instructions of her +anxious mother, and was tooting the horn of her little car furiously. + +The summons had the desired effect. Mollie came running from the +house, straightening her hat with one hand and lugging a valise in the +other while the twins trailed at her skirts. + +"For goodness' sake, let go of me, Paul. Dodo, if you touch that bag +again, I'll spank you. Mother," she wailed, looking back pleadingly +over her shoulder, "won't you please make these little pests go into +the house?" + +Whereupon Mrs. Billette suddenly appeared at the door, smiled at +Betty, grabbed Paul with one hand, Dodo with the other, while the +twins roared a protest. + +Released, Mollie dropped her bag, sped round to the garage, and in a +moment more was backing the big car round to the road. + +The girls had decided to about live in their khaki tramping suits on +this trip, merely packing in a good dress or two to wear on dress-up +occasions. In this way they had to take less luggage and could have +more space to "spread out" as Mollie said. + +"Put your grip in here, Betty," Mollie suggested, as she slung her own +grip into the tonneau of the big machine. "There is more room, and +Mrs. Irving said she wouldn't mind in the least being entirely +surrounded by suitcases." + +Betty laughed, did as she was bid, and a moment later they were off, +speeding down the road to Grace's house where they were to pick up the +other two girls and Mrs. Irving. + +They found the three waiting for them, and it took scarcely any time +at all to add the extra grips to the growing pile in the tonneau of +Mollie's car. Amid great fun, Mrs. Irving, who was rosy-cheeked and +matronly and as jolly as the girls, was wedged into the remaining +space, Amy climbed to the front seat beside Mollie and Grace took her +seat with Betty. + +They were off! The sting of the wind was in their faces, and the sun +beat warmly down upon them as they rolled along, passing familiar +houses, and sometimes familiar people, to whom they waved, and so on +and on till they left the town behind them and started out on the open +road. + +"My, this is something like," commented Grace, stretching her feet out +before her for all the world like a lazy, comfortable cat. "I feel +awfully sorry for all the poor people who haven't cars to ride in +to-day and Wild Rose Lodges to visit. By the way, why is it called +Wild Rose Lodge, Betty?" + +"Because they say there are lots of wild roses around it, of course," +Betty responded, her hands resting easily on the wheel, her eyes +bright with the joy of the moment. Grace, stealing a sideways glance +at her, could not help thinking that Betty looked not unlike a wild +rose herself. + +"You look awfully pretty, honey," she said then, for Grace was always +generous with praise where her friends were concerned. "I would give +the world to have a color like yours." + +"Goodness," remarked Betty, turning to look at her chum, her face a +little brighter pink because of the honest compliment, "you have a +lovely color-- as you very well know. Mine is too red sometimes." + +"Nobody thinks that but you," said Grace, squeezing Betty's hand +affectionately while she dived down in her pocket for some candy. "The +only time I have noticed you get very red," she added, "is when some +one happens to mention a certain young gentleman by the name of +Lieutenant Allen Washburn." + +Betty could feel that her face was burning, but she did not care. She +was awfully proud of Allen and desperately fond of him and for the +moment she did not care if the whole world knew about it. + +"Isn't it wonderful, Gracie?" she cried, her heart pounding joyously. +"About Allen being an officer, I mean. I have to pinch myself several +times a minute to make myself realize that it is really true." + +"It surely is great," Grace answered slowly, adding after a moment, +while a faraway expression crept into her eyes, "I don't blame you for +being crazy about him, honey. I could almost be foolish myself. Oh, +don't worry," she went on quickly as Betty turned amazed and rather +startled eyes upon her. "I'm no fonder of Allen than I am of any of +the other boys. I just said that I didn't blame you, that's all." + +Betty turned her eyes to the road once more, but in her heart she was +troubled. There had been a note in Grace's voice that she had never +heard before. Could it be possible that she really cared for Allen? +But she pushed the thought from her mind resolutely. If such a thing +could have been possible, she certainly would have discovered it +before this. The mere thought was nonsense of course. And yet she was +troubled. + +"Have some candy," Grace invited, breaking in upon her thoughts. "You +needn't stick up your nose at it to-day for I bought this fresh from +the store this morning." + +"Who said I was going to stick up my nose?" said Betty, helping +herself to a chocolate that looked as if it might contain a nut and +thankful for the break in her not-too-pleasant reflections. "If you +will think back just a little, I think you will admit that I have been +guilty very seldom of sticking up my nose at anything + +"Except Percy Falconer," finished Grace drolly, and they both laughed +merrily. + +"Poor Percy!" said Betty, chewing her candy contentedly. "I suppose he +will hate us more heartily than ever now." + +They were running some eight or ten miles from the town along a quiet +stretch of road, never dreaming of danger, when Betty's little racer +nosed around a bend in the road and came smack into it! Not twenty +feet ahead of them a man sprang into the middle of the road and +leveled a revolver at them! In one electrified instant they saw that +the fellow wore a mask and a slouch hat and looked for all the world +like a brigand straight out of some sensational moving picture. + +Betty, more surprised at first than alarmed, put on her brakes and +came to a standstill, at the same time putting out a hand to warn the +car behind them. + +"Oh, Betty, we are being held up!" moaned Grace, who evidently was +frightened enough for both of them. "For goodness' sake, hold up your +hands. He may shoot." + +Still feeling rather dazed with the suddenness of the thing, Betty +raised both hands above her head, at the same time feeling a rather +hysterical desire to laugh. It was so absurd, being held up by a +masked stranger in broad daylight, + +Nevertheless, she gave a little gasp of fright as the man waved his +big revolver menacingly and came close to the car. She wished +frantically that he would not point that firearm at her. Suppose it +should go off! + +"Come on, hand over what you got," the robber demanded in a gruff +threatening voice. "The quicker you move, the better it will be for +you." + +"Wh-what do you want?" asked Betty, in a weak little voice that did +not sound like her own at all. She had thought of her pocketbook +beside her in the pocket of the car. The purse contained a whole +month's allowance. She was sparring desperately for time-- help in +some form or other might come at any moment. But the ruffian in the +road was evidently in no frame of mind to be fooled with. + +He waved his revolver once more, eliciting a terrified gurgle from +Grace and commanded roughly that they get out of the car. + +"No funny business," he snarled. "Get out!" + +Betty was about to obey when she had a brilliant thought. Her pepper +gun! She had bought it the day before from the son of her father's +chauffeur, thinking it was an undesirable plaything for a +nine-year-old boy and had put it, as the most convenient place, in her +car. And the pepper gun was filled-- as it should have been-- with +good red cayenne pepper! + + CHAPTER XII + + SHEEP! + +For a moment Betty hesitated, almost afraid of what she was going to +do. The pepper gun might work, but if she were not quick enough or +clever enough, her little trick might also result in a tragedy. + +Her hesitation was only momentary, however, for Betty was a born +fighter. Suddenly she cried out as if in joyful greeting to an +unexpected arrival. + +"Here they come! here they come!" she called, and in the moment that +their captor turned his startled eyes from her to the road ahead, +Betty acted. + +She snatched the pepper gun from its hiding place in the car and as +the man once more turned furiously upon her let him have the full +contents directly in the face. + +It was a dreadful thing to do. Choking and sputtering, the ruffian +dropped his revolver and raised both fists to his tortured eyes. + +"I'll get you for this!" he cried between great sneezes that +threatened to tear him apart. "You just wait----" + +But Betty refused to wait. As soon as the fellow had dropped his +weapon she had started the engine, and now she guided the car past the +stuttering robber and raced off down the road. + +Mollie, who had only half understood what was going on but who had +caught enough of it to be considerably alarmed did not stop to ask +questions, but sped off down the road after Betty. + +It was half a dozen miles farther on that Betty finally slowed the car +and waited for Mollie and the others to catch up with her. Grace, who +had been gradually recovering from her fright, had not yet recovered +enough to ask any questions. She had been too much concerned in +putting miles between them and the scene of their adventure. + +As Mollie came up alongside, Betty drew her first free breath. + +Of course Mollie and Amy and Mrs. Irving wanted to hear all about it, +and Betty told them what had happened, her account interrupted by +hysterical laughter. + +But when she came to the pepper gun, the girls' expression of utter +bewilderment changed to admiration of Betty's quick thought and +quicker action. + +"Why, Betty," cried Amy, incredulously, "I don't see how you ever had +the courage to do it. Why, that man might have shot you!" + +"He probably would have if I hadn't got him first," said Betty, +half-way between laughter and tears. "It was taking an awfully big +chance, but," with a flash of spirit, "I wasn't going to sit there +calmly and have him take away all our money. Not if I could help it." + +"Betty, I think you were simply wonderful," said Mollie in heart-felt +admiration. "Why, if he had taken our money it would have completely +spoiled our trip." + +"How they talk," said Grace hysterically. "Any one would think it was +only the trip that mattered when we might very easily have been +killed." + +This remark served to bring Mrs. Irving to a realization of the +present, and she suggested that they start on again. + +"Not that I am particularly nervous," she hastily added, as the girls +looked at her suspiciously. "Only I will feel just as well when we +have put a dozen miles between us and that highway robber, instead of +only half that. I wish there was a town handy where we could notify +the authorities." + +They started on again, and as the miles slid past them they became +less nervous and even began to laugh a little at thought of the +robber's consternation when he received the contents of Betty's pepper +gun full in his face. + +"He was probably the most surprised crook ever," commented Grace with +a chuckle. "He never will get over cursing you, Betty. How did you +ever happen to have it? The pepper gun, I mean," she added curiously. + +Betty explained how the gun had come into her possession. "I didn't +know," she added ruefully, her foot on the accelerator as they sped up +a steep hill, "when I bought it, that it would come in so handy. How +much further do you suppose we have to go?" she asked, changing the +subject abruptly. + +"Why," said Grace, looking at her wrist watch and realizing suddenly +that she was getting rather hungry, "we have been riding since ten +o'clock and it is now after noon. We must be very nearly there by this +time. Goodness, I hope there will be something to eat around Wild Rose +Lodge. I'm getting famished." + +"Mollie's Uncle John said he would attend to that-- stocking the cabin +with good things, I mean," said Betty, herself suddenly conscious of a +disturbingly hungry feeling. "He said we would find enough canned +things to last us at least a week." + +"Canned things, yes," pouted Grace. "But who in the world wants to +live on canned things? I don't see why we didn't bring a chicken +along, at least." + +"Well, maybe we can manage to run over one," chuckled Betty, as they +passed a farmhouse and several chickens scuttled squawking across the +road. "Then we can have one good and fresh. For goodness' sake, what +is Mollie tooting that horn for?" she added, as the raucous signal +came from the car behind them. "Has she stopped the car, Grace? Look +and see." + +"It's stopped deader than a door nail," said Grace, obligingly +screwing about in her seat and fixing on the road behind them a +disapproving eye. "Now what do you suppose can be the trouble this +time? If she has had a blowout or something, I'm not going to help fix +the old thing----" + +"You couldn't fix the blowout, dear, but you might help with the +tire," Betty said, with a laugh, as she stopped the roadster and +jumped to the road. "Come on, she seems to be excited about +something----" + +"Goodness, I hope it isn't another highway robber," said Grace +anxiously, stopping in the middle of the road at the dreadful thought. +"I don't see any, but----" + +"You don't see any because there isn't any," Betty assured her, taking +her by the arm and leading her decidedly forward. "You don't suppose +there is a whole Robin Hood's band in this woods, do you?" + +Mollie and Amy and Mrs. Irving came running to meet them excitedly-- +or at least, Mollie and Amy did the running, while their chaperon +followed more slowly. + +"There are blackberries in there, whole bushels and bushels of them!" +Mollie called. "You could see them from the road, and there you girls +passed right by them without even looking." + +"Blackberries!" repeated Grace resignedly, as she felt in her pocket +to see if she had any candy left. "Just listen to her speaking of +blackberries when what I'm dying for is a good big steak with onions +on top of it--" + +"Stop it," cried Mollie indignantly, while the others felt their +mouths begin to water. "The idea of mentioning steak-- But here," she +broke off, seizing Grace's hand and dragging her toward the woods, +"come with me and pick berries if you value your life. Lucky we +brought those tin pails along." + +"But why," protested Grace patiently, as she was dragged along, +"should we want to pick berries?" + +"To eat," replied Mollie, attacking a bush that was fairly black with +the luscious ripe fruit. "And besides," she added, lowering her voice +to a confidential pitch, "Mrs. Irving said that if she could find some +flour and baking powder in the lodge she would make us a steamed +blackberry pudding for supper." + +Grace stared for a moment then, without another word, set to work on +the loaded bush. + +"You might have told me that before," she grumbled, her mouth full of +berries. "You always did have a mean disposition, Mollie." + +To which Mollie's only reply was a chuckle and a sly wink at Betty, +who was working close at her side. + +They worked on happily for a few minutes, then suddenly Amy +straightened up and stood quiet as though she were listening to +something. + +The girls, whose nerves were still a little on edge from their recent +adventure, demanded to know in no uncertain tones what was the matter +with her. + +"N-nothing," Amy answered a little sheepishly. "I thought I heard a +little rustling among the leaves, that's all." + +"Probably a breeze coming up," said Betty matter-of-factly, and they +went on with their berry picking. + +But it was not long before a second disturbance came, and this time +they all heard it. It was, as Amy had said, a rustling sound. However, +it was louder this time, as though several heavy bodies were pushing +through the underbrush on the other side of the road. + +"Perhaps we had better go and see what is making all the noise," said +Mrs. Irving, her light tone successfully hiding an undercurrent of +nervousness. "I guess we have picked enough berries for our pudding, +anyway." + +The girls picked up their pails and started for the road, Betty in the +lead. But when the latter reached the outer fringe of bushes she +started back, almost treading on Mollie's toes and causing her to drop +her pail in alarm. + +"It's sheep!" cried the Little Captain. "Dozens and dozens of them! +Come and look!" + + CHAPTER XIII + + THE ENEMY ROUTED + +Mrs. Irving pushed forward beside Betty, and the girls stared +unbelievingly over her shoulder. Then they saw that she was right. + +While they had been picking berries in the woods a flock of sheep had +wandered down to the road from the other direction and had completely +surrounded their two cars. + +The big-eyed, innocent looking animals were circling around and around +the machines as if examining them with a sort of ovine interest and +curiosity. + +But to the girls the sheep had a rather terrifying aspect. There were +so many of them and they had so completely taken possession of their +automobiles! How in the world were they ever to get back their +property? + +"Goodness!" Grace whispered plaintively in Betty's ear, "I expect they +will try to climb into the cars next. What ever are we going to do?" + +"Sh," cautioned Amy fearfully, as some of the flock, attracted by the +noise in the bushes, turned their heads in the direction of it. +"Suppose they should come in here?" + +"Well, they are not lions, you goose," said Mollie, coming out of the +trance into which surprise had thrown her. "They are only sheep, and +they couldn't hurt you if they tried." + +"Not unless they stampeded," said Betty quietly. "In that case I +wouldn't care to be in the way." + +"But we can't stay here all night," Mollie protested impatiently. + +"Held up by a lot of silly old sheep," added Grace, still more +uncomfortably conscious of a growing appetite. + +"It must be almost two o'clock," added Amy with a sigh. + +"Yes, if things keep on this way it will be night before we reach the +lodge," said Mollie, adding with decision, "I vote that we get some +sticks and stones and scat 'em out of the way." + +"I think I have a better suggestion than that," put in Mrs. Irving, +speaking for the first time. "I think we had better wait for a short +time before we do anything. The sheep will probably get tired in a +little while and wander off of their own accord." + +"Oh, all right," said Mollie, with rather bad grace as she seated +herself on a convenient rock. "But all the time we are waiting for +them to be tired, we will be getting tired ourselves and, goodness, +Mrs. Irving, I'm being starved to death." + +At the desperation in her tones the girls had to laugh, though they +were as reluctant to sit with folded hands and wait as she was. Still, +Mrs. Irving was their chaperon and probably knew best. + +So with admirable resignation they disposed themselves beside Mollie +on the big rock and settled down to watch for developments. + +But after waiting for an everlasting five minutes they decided that +there were to be no developments. The foolish sheep continued to +circle lazily about the cars, nibbling now and then upon the grass by +the roadside but showing not the slightest intention in the world of +moving from there for some time to come. + +"Oh, what shall we do?" moaned Grace, moving restlessly on her +uncomfortable seat. "My foot is going to sleep and I'm trying to sit +on a pointed stone or something." + +"And it looks as though those crazy sheep were going to stay there all +night," added Betty, herself growing restive at the apparent futility +of waiting for something to happen. "Can't we do something, Mrs. +Irving?" + +"Wait just a few minutes more," begged the lady, who was afraid of the +sheep, but was reluctant to confess her fear to her young charges. +"Look, there seems to be a movement among them now," she added +hopefully, as one sheep pressed against another and sent it scampering +a few feet along the road. "We won't have to wait much longer, I am +sure." + +And so, loth to break their chaperon's authority, the girls fidgeted +and fumed, getting more impatient and hungrier with every leaden +minute that dragged itself by until almost three-quarters of an hour +had passed. + +Then, when they began to think that they must scream if they were +forced to wait another minute, their chaperon rose of her own accord +and with a decided movement flicked the dust from her skirt. + +"I think we have waited long enough," she hazarded, to which each girl +said a fervent though silent "amen." "I suppose we shall have to +follow Mollie's suggestion and gather sticks and stones. Perhaps we +can scare them away." + +"Hooray!" shouted Mollie, jumping to her feet with relief. At the +unexpected sound the sheep in the road started and looked about them +uneasily. "Come on, girls, I'm mad enough to attack 'em single-handed. +All who are with me, say Aye." + +"Aye!" they yelled, scurrying about to find sticks and stones. + +Betty, flourishing a branch at the frightened flock, yelled: "We are +wild, wild women, old sheep. You had better get out while the going's +good. We eat little fellers like you alive!" and with a whoop of wild +spirits she danced down to the edge of the wood waving her stick +wildly about her head. + +Her fun was contagious and, smothering their laughter, the girls +waltzed after her, throwing sticks and stones and all sorts of +improvised weapons into the midst of the now thoroughly frightened +flock. + +Mrs. Irving strove to caution them, but her voice was lost in the +babble, and for once in her life at least she found herself utterly +ignored. With a little sigh she picked up a stick of her own and +followed after the girls. + +For a moment it looked as though the panic stricken sheep would rush +straight for the shouting girls, and in that moment what was little +more than an exciting game to the girls might have turned into a +rather dreadful tragedy. + +But, luckily, half a dozen sheep broke through and, led by an old ram, +started down the road and the rest of the flock, as is the habit of +sheep, followed after. + +In a moment the entire flock was galloping off down the road with the +excited girls in pursuit. There is no telling how far they might have +followed the sheep had not Betty become suddenly possessed of a grain +of common-sense. + +Panting and laughing, she came to a standstill while the girls rushed +past her. + +"Come back here!" she cried, her voice choked with laughter. "There's +no use of our being as silly as the sheep. Mrs. Irving will think we +have deserted her." + +So reluctantly the girls abandoned the chase and started back to +rejoin their much relieved but slightly dazed chaperon. + +"Now if we had only done that an hour ago," said Mollie, as they +climbed back into the machines determined to make up for lost time, +"we would have been that much nearer the lodge and-- something to +eat." + +"Goodness, it will he almost dark when we get there now," wailed +Grace, as she slipped into the seat beside Betty. "And we haven't had +anything to eat since breakfast." + +"What with highway robbers and sheep," laughed Betty, as she started +the engine, "we shall be lucky if we get there at all." + +"Oh, Betty, if you love me don't mention that awful highwayman again," +begged Grace, looking uneasily into the shadows of the wood. "I don't +want to have any more thrills like that as long as I live." + +"Let's hope we won't," said Betty fervently. + +"It's a pity there is no telephone along this road-- we could notify +the folks at Deepdale," remarked Mollie. + +"Humph, if we did that they might get so scared that they'd send for +us to come home," came from Amy. + +"That's so!" came from the other Outdoor Girls quickly. + +"Well, as I said before, no more thrills like that for yours truly," +repeated Grace. + +But little did the girls know that in the weeks to follow they would +have more and more startling thrills than they had ever experienced +before. + + CHAPTER XIV + + NOTHING HUMAN + +They might have reached Wild Rose Lodge before dusk, in spite of +Grace's gloomy prediction, if everything had gone well then. But it +seemed that the evil genius of bad luck was not yet through with them. + +They were scarcely five miles from their destination when, bang! went +a report that made the girls clutch at each other wildly. At first +they jumped to the conclusion that they were being held up again, but +close on the heels of the first thought came the conviction of the +truth. Mollie had had a blowout! + +Betty, looking behind, saw the big car stop and brought her own little +roadster to a standstill once more. + +"There is nothing wrong with our tires, is there?" she asked of Grace. +"Look over your side, Gracie, and see." + +Finding nothing amiss, they jumped out and ran back to Mollie to offer +assistance. Mollie was eyeing the flat tire gloomily and saying things +under her breath that none of the girls could catch. Then as Betty +spoke to her she seemed to come to life and ran around to the back of +the machine. + +"Of course you can help," she answered, working to release the extra +tire. "I would like to see you get out of it. Lucky I bought an extra +tire before we started, though I did hope," here she glared at the +girls as if it were all their fault, "that I wouldn't have to use it +so soon. We've had more trouble on this ride than any I can remember. +A hold-up, sheep and-- this!" + +"Well, there is no use talking about it," Betty reminded her +cheerfully. "The less we talk, the harder we can work and the sooner +we shall get started again." + +"Yes, that's all very well," grumbled Mollie, as she fumbled for her +tools; "but you don't know this place as well as I do." + +"You talk," said Amy, her eyes widening, "as though there were wild +animals or something in the woods. I didn't know they came as far east +as this." + +"They don't, goose," said Mollie grumpily, as she pulled at the tire. +"I didn't say anything about wild animals, did I? Only we have to ride +about two miles through the woods before we get to the lodge and I +must say I didn't want to do that in the dark." + +"But there is some sort of road, isn't there?" asked Grace. + +Mollie, bending over the lifting jack, shot her a withering glance. + +"Of course there's a road," she said shortly. "How else could we +expect to use the cars?" + +"It must be a sort of wagon road," suggested Betty as she deftly +helped her chum. "And I don't blame you for not wanting to try it at +night, Mollie. I don't much like the idea myself." + +"I believe if we hurry that we can get there before dusk," said Mrs. +Irving confidently, though it might have been noticed that she kept +her eyes rather anxiously on the fast sinking sun. + +At last, after what seemed an eternity to the impatient girls, the new +tire had replaced the old one, the old one was safely strapped on the +back of the car, the tools were put away, and they were ready to start +once more. + +"Give her plenty of gas this time, Betty," Mollie sung after her as +the Little Captain climbed into her car. If we can manage to get to +the woods before dark we will be doing good work. Let her go." + +With which advice she settled herself behind the wheel of her own car +and they were off once more. + +Betty did "give her plenty of gas," the result being that they +succeeded in reaching the wagon road that led into the woods to the +lodge just on the edge of dusk. + +However, when they started along the road they were dismayed to find +that what was only dusk outside on the road became almost dark in +here, and Betty had all she could do to keep to the road at all. + +"Hadn't you better put on your lights?" Grace suggested uneasily. "We +might run into a ditch or something. Betty, I'm half scared." + +For answer Betty switched on the lights and the woods and the road +ahead of them were suddenly flooded with a weird radiance. It brought +out branches and leaves and stones in such sharp contrast to the dark +background that the effect was startling. + +"Oh," gasped Grace, "turn them off again, do, Betty. It is positively +ghastly." + +"Don't be foolish," said Betty, striving to make her voice sound +matter-of-fact, her eyes glued to the road ahead of them as it twisted +and turned through the woods. "I don't see why lights should make a +perfectly harmless wood look ghastly. And, anyway, I couldn't turn +them out now. I don't believe I could find my way. You don't want me +to run into something, do you?" + +"No, of course not," Grace said more firmly, rather ashamed of her +fears. "I didn't mean to act in a silly fashion. But," she turned to +Betty quickly, "that hold-up and all-- don't you feel a little queer +yourself, Betty? Tell the truth." + +"Yes," said the Little Captain truthfully. "I feel," she added slowly, +as though searching for words, "I feel as though the woods belonged to +somebody and that we were sort of-- sort of-- intruding." + +"Why, Betty!" said Grace, staring at her, "what a funny thing to say." + +"I suppose it is," said Betty, shaking off the illusion with a shrug +of her shoulders. "I am getting foolish in my old age I guess. We +shall all feel better when we get something to eat." + +"If we ever do," said Grace gloomily, adding as a sudden turn in the +woods shot them deeper into the gloom of it: "Do be careful, Betty. I +feel as though we were going over a precipice." + +But Betty was too busy keeping the road to listen to her. + +"Look behind," she directed Grace, "and see if Mollie is following +close to us." + +"She is right behind," reported Grace, as two eyes of light shot their +glare in her eyes. "She is following us closer than a poor relation." + +Betty giggled at this, and then for a long time-- or at least it +seemed a long time to their strained nerves-- they went on in silence, +following the winding road wherever it led and getting deeper into the +forest with every moment. + +Then suddenly something loomed up dark against the shadows only a few +hundred feet ahead of them, and with a great feeling of thankfulness +they realized that they had reached their destination. Directly ahead +of them stood Wild Rose Lodge. They had arrived! + +But just as they were about to break into wild jubilation something +happened that tightened Betty's hand on the wheel and made Grace cry +out with dismay. + +Out from the shadow of the lodge a second shadow detached itself, a +hunched up, bulky, fearful shadow that seemed neither beast nor man, +but a combination of both of them. + +For a moment, while the girls watched, paralyzed with fright, the +thing seemed about to spring into the path of the moving car. But in +another instant it turned, wheeled, and disappeared into the thick +bushes about the house. + +Then and only then did Betty recover presence of mind enough to stop +the car. + +"Betty! Betty!" cried Grace in a horrified whisper, grasping Betty's +hand as it clung to the wheel. "What was it? Oh, what was it?" + +"I don't know," Betty answered mechanically. "I only know it was +horrible." + +Then quite suddenly and without warning Grace broke down and cried. + + CHAPTER XV + + WILD ROSES + +"We will go into the house," Mrs. Irving answered to their concerted +cry of "What shall we do?" "Whatever it was that has frightened us has +disappeared now, and we shall certainly be safer inside the house than +out here. Come on, girls, I have the key." + +And so, leaving the cars where they were, the girls approached the +house with shaking knees and hearts that hammered their fear aloud. +The Outdoor Girls were ordinarily afraid of nothing real and human, +but to be held up at the point of a pistol would unnerve almost any +one, and the struggle the girls had made not to give way to their +fears at the time had made them more nervous still. And this thing +that had startled them now, added to what had gone before, seemed a +little more than could be borne. It seemed, in fact, like nothing +human. + +Mrs. Irving turned the key in the lock, opened the door and stepped +inside the dark place, motioning to the girls to follow her. + +Fearfully the chums obeyed and Betty and Mollie pulled out their +electric pocket torches, filling the place with a weird light. Mollie, +being acquainted with the place, naturally took charge of the +situation. + +"There are matches over there," she said, "and candles over the +fireplace. For goodness' sake, let's get a regular light, folks. +Perhaps that will make us feel more natural." + +"So say all of us," echoed Amy. "The dark makes everything worse, when +you are not well acquainted with a place." + +Mollie touched a match to the candles, and in the answering flare +turned to face her chums. + +"Girls," she said, determinedly, "I don't know how you feel about it, +but I vote that before we do anything else we get something to eat. We +all look like ghosts just now and I'm sure we feel much worse than +that. But a little food makes a monstrous lot of difference." + +"You know it does," cried Grace, relaxing into one of the big chairs +that were scattered about the room and covering her face with her +hands. "I think if I don't get something to eat soon, I'll die, that's +all." + +"Well, we are none of us going to die," said Mrs. Irving vigorously, +as she threw aside her coat and hat. "Show us the way to the kitchen, +Mollie, and if there is anything there to eat, we will get it." + +Accordingly Mollie took one of the candles and led the way into a +little room beyond while all the girls but Betty crowded in after her. + +For the Little Captain slipped back for a moment and very quietly +closed the door, shutting out definitely the shadow beyond it. + +"I suppose it is foolish," she said to herself, "because if there is +anything out there that really wants to get in there are plenty of +ways that it can do it, without coming in through the door. But," and +she turned the key in the lock, "it certainly makes one feel more +comfortable to have the door closed." Then she followed the girls into +the other room, and the sight that met her eyes was certainly more +cheering than anything she could have imagined. + +Mollie's Uncle John had surprised them. In the exact center of a table +set for five lay a young pig, roasted whole and browned to a turn! Nor +was this all. The table was littered with covered dishes of all sizes +and descriptions, and as the contents of each one of these dishes was +disclosed, the girls became more and more excited and hilarious. + +There was apple sauce in one, salad in another, mashed potatoes that +had become quite cold in another, and a boat of gravy which had also +become quite cold. + +"But we don't mind," cried Mollie joyfully, as she took the gravy-boat +in one hand, the dish of potatoes in the other, and ran with them over +to a great stove in one corner of the room. "We need only some matches +to have this blazing hot in a minute. No, not that way, Grace," as the +latter tried to help by lighting the burner. "This isn't a gas stove, +you know; it's an oil stove and you had better look out or you will +blow us all up. + +It is small wonder if Betty was so dazzled by this joyful scene that +she could neither move nor speak for the space of two seconds or so. +Then, recovering her powers of locomotion, she went over to the table +and picked up a note that, in their excitement, the girls had +overlooked. + +"See what this says," she called to them, and they looked at her +rather impatiently. Just at that moment the only thing they cared to +consider was food-- and more food-- and then some more! + +But as Betty read they became more interested, and even stopped long +enough to hear her through. It was a brief note. This is what it said. + + "My dear young ladies: + + "I am a neighbor of Mr. Prendergast," (this was the dressed-up name + of Mollie's Uncle John) "and he axed me to get your dinner ready + fer you. I tried to keep it hot but you wus so long comin' I had to + go home to get dinner fer my old man. Hope things is all right. + + "LIZZIE DAVIS." + +"So she is the one who has done all this," said Betty, looking around +at the good things with dancing eyes. "I bet she is nice and plump and +has rosy cheeks." + +"Lizzie Davis? Lizzie Davis?" repeated Mollie, bringing the steaming +gravy back and plumping the dish triumphantly down on the table. +"Rather a funny name for a fairy godmother, but she sure does know how +to cook. Don't forget the potatoes, Grace. Come on, girls-- let's sit +down." + +So down the girls sat and acted like ravenous pigs-- or so Grace +described their conduct afterward, Mrs. Irving set to work carving the +delicious pork, but they could not wait for her. + +They seized slices of bread, spread apple sauce and butter on them, +and ate like what they were, four famished girls and one equally +famished chaperon who had been out in the open all day and had had +nothing to eat since morning. + +It was some time before they showed any considerable signs of slowing +up. Then Grace put down her fork, leaned back lazily, and called for +dessert. The latter was a huge cherry pie, and before the girls were +through with it there was not enough left to color a robin's egg. + +After the pangs of hunger had been satisfied they found to their great +surprise that they were dead tired and sleepy. + +"We will get the dishes out of the way and then Mollie can show us +where we sleep," said Betty. "Oh, girls, did you ever in your life +taste such a dinner?" + +It was not till the dishes had all been cleared away and Mollie took +up her candle to show them their quarters that the unwelcome thought +of the thing that had so frightened them again crept terrifyingly into +their minds. Try as they would to forget it, they could not. + +There were three small sleeping rooms in the lodge, but, small as they +were, they were comfortable and contained beds that seemed the height +of luxury to the tired girls. + +Because of the indistinct and flickering candle light the girls could +make out very little of what the rooms really looked like, and they +postponed any close examination until the morning. Back of the lodge +was a shed for the cars. + +The bedrooms were all joined by doors, which gave the girls a safe and +sociable feeling. Mrs. Irving, of course, had one room to herself, +Betty and Mollie slept together and Grace and Amy paired off. + +They wasted little time in getting ready-- Betty and Mollie had +appointed themselves a committee of two to bring in the grips from +Mollie's car-- and before long they tasted the exquisite restfulness +of comfortable beds after a long nerve-trying day in the out-of-doors. + +"I don't believe I shall close my eyes all night," said Amy with +conviction. "I'm too horribly nervous." + +But three minutes later she was sound asleep! + +The sun had been up a good two hours before any one stirred in Wild +Rose Lodge. Betty was the first to awake, and in fifteen minutes she +had the rest of the sleepy-eyed and protesting girls up and nearly +dressed. + +"What's the idea, anyway?" yawned Grace lazily. "I could have slept at +least a good two hours more." + +"On a day like this?" sang Betty, breathing in deep breaths of the +wood-scented air. "And isn't this just the dearest room you ever saw?" +she added, wheeling about and regarding the apartment delightedly. +They were in Grace and Amy's room, for, as usual, Mollie and Betty had +been the first dressed and had gone into their chums' room to hurry +them up-- if such a thing were possible. + +Betty's summing up of the room they were in was indeed well deserved, +for the place was charming. There was a dresser, a bed, and three +chairs, and all of these articles of furniture had been rough-hewed +out of logs, giving the place a delightfully rustic appearance. There +was a grass rug on the floor and in one corner a little table covered +with books. + +"Isn't it darling?" cried Mollie, following Betty's glance about the +place. "Uncle John built the lodge and made all of the furniture +himself, you know. And he bought the grass rugs from the Indians." + +They were still exclaiming about the place when Mrs. Irving called to +them that breakfast was ready. With a whoop of delight they answered +the summons, and a moment later sat themselves down to a most +satisfying meal of omelet and toast and coffee with real cream in it. +Also Mrs. Irving set on the table a yellow-topped pitcher of milk +fresh from the cow. + +"Our friend, Lizzie Davis, brought it," their chaperon answered with a +smile, in response to the girls' curious questions. "Also some fresh +butter and eggs, I have an idea," she added, as she got up to refill +the butter plate, "that we shall live on the fat of the land while we +are here." + +"Lizzie Davis," repeated Betty, pausing in the act of filling her +glass with fresh milk and regarding Mrs. Irving with dancing eyes. +"Tell me, chaperon dear, Didn't she have nice red cheeks, and wasn't +she delightfully plump?" + +"Yes," said Mrs. Irving, smiling at Betty's flushed prettiness. "She +was all of that, my dear. I don't believe I ever saw a more cozy +looking person in my life." + +"I knew it!" cried Betty triumphantly, adding with a suspicious eye on +Grace: "Hand over that plate of toast, Gracie. You needn't think you +can eat it all up!" + +After breakfast they sallied forth to "view the country o'er." They +would have stayed and helped Mrs. Irving clear up, but that good woman +declared that she could do better by herself on this first morning. +After she had become better acquainted with the place they could help +her all they liked. Finally, after some protest, they had to let her +have her way. + +As they stepped out on the porch, Betty paused and held up her hand +for silence. + +"Listen," she said. "That murmuring sound and the splash of water----" + +"It's the river and the falls," explained Mollie. "Let's go down and +have a look at them." + +But Amy, giving a little gasp of delight, fairly tumbled down the +steps and into a riot of gorgeous pink wild roses. The lodge was +fairly surrounded by them. + +"Oh, you darlings!" cried Amy, putting both arms around a bush of the +fragrant flowers as though she would gather in all their beauty at +once. "I never saw anything so wonderful in all my life! Oh, girls, +I'm glad I came!" + + CHAPTER XVI + + THE WHIRLPOOL + +All the spirit and joy of the woods seemed to have entered into the +Outdoor Girls. For the next half hour they romped in the woods and the +beautiful flowers for all the world like little children whose first +glimpse it was of the country. + +They took down their hair and made wreaths of wild roses for crowns, +and when, faces flushed with exercise and fun, they had finished, one +might easily have mistaken them for real fairies come to life. + +"But I want to see the river," Betty called to them, stopping once +more to listen to the rhythmic sound of splashing water. "Come on, +girls. It can't be more than a few hundred feet away, even though we +can't see it for the bushes. Lead on, Mollie Billette, I wouldst hie +me hence." + +But when Mollie laughingly obeyed and started into the woods, Amy held +back. + +"What's the matter?" Grace asked, turning to her curiously. + +"I-- I was just thinking," stammered Amy, ashamed of her own weakness, +"about last night." + +"About last night," Betty prompted, still at a loss. + +"You haven't forgotten, have you?" she asked, incredulously. "That-- +thing-- on the porch." + +"Oh!" they said, and a shadow fell over their bright faces. + +"Why, yes," said Betty, slowly, adding as though she could not quite +explain the phenomenon herself: "I suppose we did forget all about +it." + +"Or if we didn't, we should have," said Mollie, ungrammatically but +decidedly. "Come on, girls, we aren't going to let any silly old thing +like that frighten us out of a good time." + +"It seems," said Grace thoughtfully, while Amy still held back, +"almost as if we had dreamed the whole thing. The memory of it is so +vague-- and indistinct." + +"Well, it isn't vague to me-- or indistinct either," said Amy, feeling +rather abused because the girls did not seem to share her feelings. "I +hardly slept all night long just thinking about it." + +"Oh, Amy Blackford!" said Grace accusingly, while Mollie and Betty +turned twinkling eyes upon her. "If that isn't the biggest one I ever +heard. Why, I woke up once or twice in the night and each time I found +you almost snoring." + +"Oh, I did not," protested Amy, flushing indignantly, but here Mollie +and Betty stepped laughingly into the fray and peremptorily put an end +to it. + +"Let's not fight about it," said Betty, when she could make herself +heard. "We don't care whether Amy snored or not. What we want to know +is this: Who is coming with us for a look at the falls?" + +"Now you're talking, Little Captain," said Mollie approvingly. "All in +favor please say Aye." + +Amy still showed some inclination to hold back, but Mollie and Betty +each took an arm and hurried her willy-nilly with them into the woods. + +"You had better take the lead, Mollie," Betty suggested after they had +gone some little distance along the path. "I can manage Amy alone now, +I guess. She seems pretty well tamed." + +"Tamed, but scared to death," Amy came back, with a wry smile. +"Really, Betty," she turned to look at the Little Captain closely, +"aren't you the least little bit nervous about what happened last +night?" + +"No, I don't think I am now," said Betty, adding candidly, "I must say +I was last night though-- just frightened to death. It seemed so +awfully uncanny-- coming upon that thing in the dark after what we had +gone through with that bandit. But then," she added more lightly, +"everything seems so much worse in the dark, you know.". + +"Yes," said Amy slowly and looking very serious. "That all may be very +true. But I think that as long as we are sure we didn't dream it last +night and that the skulking thing really dodged out from the corner of +our porch that we ought to be on our guard against it. And how," she +finished most reasonably, "can we be on our guard in the woods?" + +Betty was at a loss to know just how to answer such a question. By +this time Mollie and Grace were some little distance ahead of them and +Amy's nervousness was beginning to communicate itself to her against +her will. + +She felt again the creeping sensation that had traveled up and down +her spine at sight of that crouching, sinister figure that had sprung +out from the shadow of the porch. + +It had disappeared into the bushes last night, and, for all she knew-- +and the thought made her tingle weirdly-- it might still be hiding in +them, crouching, ready to spring + +With an effort she shook off the mood and turned to Amy brightly. + +"There is no use in our making a mountain out of a mole hill," she +said, plucking a wild rose as they swung by and smelling of its +delicious fragrance. "Last night, I admit, it seemed very terrifying +to us, but that was probably because we couldn't see what it was that +frightened us. It may just have been a large dog or something." + +"Humph," sniffed Amy, sceptically, "it must have been a monster dog. +Sort of a ghost hound." + +"Goodness, that's going from bad to worse," laughed Betty, as they +rejoined the other girls. "Let's hope it isn't anything like that, Amy +dear. Hello, what are you waiting for?" she hailed the girls +cheerfully. "We almost fell over you." + +"Watch your step," cautioned Mollie, adding as she cleared aside some +bushes and motioned Betty to a place beside her: "We've reached the +river, Betty, and a little farther up is the falls. Isn't it +beautiful?" + +"Oh, it is beautiful," rejoined Betty, a sentiment which Amy heartily +echoed, and for a few minutes they stood there, drinking in the beauty +of the scene, entirely unmindful of the lovely picture they themselves +made with their loosened hair and wreaths of wild flowers. + +The river was not very wide, but the water was deep and clear and +swift and the continual swish-swish of its passage over rocks and +between foliage-laden banks made a pleasant, even sound that was +deliciously restful and refreshing. + +"Oh, if we could only get down right into the very middle of it and +let those little ripples wash over us forever and forever!" sighed +Grace ecstatically. + +"She would a little mermaid be!" sang Betty, as she slipped down to +the very edge of the water and leaned over to catch her reflection in +the bright depths of it. "But honestly, Mollie, isn't there any place +in the river where we can swim?" + +"It looks too swift for good swimming to me--" began Grace, but Mollie +stopped her with a mysterious finger to her lips. + +"Hush, my pretty one, not a word," said the latter, beginning to pick +her way daintily along the river bank. "Follow me and you will wear +diamonds, or seaweed, or whatever it is that mermaids wear. And don't +fall over, whatever you do," she turned around to caution them, "The +river is so swift here that I don't believe even the strongest swimmer +would have a chance." + +Accordingly the girls "watched their step," and for some distance +followed Mollie uncomplainingly. Then, as there seemed no sign of +their getting anywhere, Grace started to protest. + +"Say, do you suppose she has any idea where she is going?" the latter +asked of Betty in a tone that was designed to reach Mollie's ear. But +before she could say anything more, Mollie herself swung jubilantly +round upon them. + +"Here we are, girls!" she cried. "Now see if you ever saw anything so +pretty in all your lives." + +Once more the girls stood spellbound by the natural beauty of the +scene. As they walked they had become more and more conscious of the +roaring noise made by rushing water, and now, ascending a small rise +of ground, they came full upon the majestic beauty of Moonlight Falls. + +The falls fell full thirty feet, and at the foot of it the river was +churned into swirling, liquid foam that whirled around and around +again in a sort of mad race and then went rushing off down the river +in a shower of lacy spray. + +It was wildly inspiring, exhilarating, and the girls thrilled with a +strange new emotion as they watched. It was so free, so gloriously +unchained! + +"There is our swimming pool over there," Mollie said, raising her +voice to make it heard above the roar of the water. "You see there is +a sort of little back eddy below the falls and to one side of it, and +right there we'll find the best swimming of our lives. But," she +added, and her voice was impressively solemn, "heaven help any one of +us who gets in the path of the falls." + +"Look!" cried Amy suddenly, her voice ringing out full and clear and +startled above the uproar. "That-- thing-- over there. It is going +into the falls-- no, under them!" + +"Where?" cried Mollie eagerly, leaning far forward. "Oh, yes, I see +what you mean. Oh, girls, I'm slipping!" Her voice rose to a terrified +wail. "Betty! Catch me!" + +But Betty was too late. She sprang forward just in time to see Mollie +slide down the slippery bank and plunge into the maddened water of the +river! + + CHAPTER XVII + + THE THING + +It took the girls a moment to realize the extent of the awful thing +that had happened. Then Betty, obeying her first impulse, raised her +hands above her head as though to dive, but Amy screamed to her to +stop. + +"You will only be lost too!" she cried frantically. "Look-- that flat +stick-- the long one----" + +Instantly Betty saw what she meant and stooped to pick up a long +broken branch that was lying at her feet. At the same instant Mollie +came to the surface several feet away from the spot where she had +fallen and threw her strength desperately against the rushing might of +the river. + +Betty ran along the river bank, Amy and Grace at her heels, shouting +encouragement to Mollie as she ran. + +"Hold tight!" she cried, adding with fresh dismay as she saw that the +girl was being swept further from the shore: "Over this way, honey, +Swim to your right-- to your right----" + +Blinded, chilled to the bone with the cold water, her hair in her eyes +and her skirts clinging tight about her legs, Mollie struggled wildly, +unable to hear the shouts of her chums above the ringing in her ears. + +It was taking all her strength to hold her own against the rush of the +river-- and now she was not even doing that! Slowly, very slowly, she +was being pushed backward; in a little while more she would be sucked +downward, and then---- + +She closed her eyes, and then, as though the obliteration of one sense +made more clear the other, she heard Betty calling to her above the +roar of the falls. + +"Mollie! Mollie!" it came, faint but distinct, "take hold of the stick +and we'll pull you in. Mollie, do you hear me?" + +The girl in the water was still struggling hard against the current +that was dragging at her cruelly, and at the sound of Betty's words +she shook the water from her eyes and looked about her dazedly. She +had forgotten the girls. + +Then she saw something that sent a tingle of renewed hope through her +tired body. What she saw was a long branch bobbing on the water not +two feet from her outstretched hand, and at the other end of the stick +was-- Betty. + +With a sigh that was half a sob she struck out for it, reached it, and +clung to it as only the drowning know how to cling. + +Then she felt herself being drawn through the water, and once more she +closed her eyes. When she opened them again she was on a warm grassy +bank with Amy chafing one hand, Grace the other, while Betty was busy +unfastening the clothes about her waist. + +As Mollie was never under any circumstances expected to act as people +thought she should act, so this occasion was no exception to the rule. +She pushed Amy and Grace aside, glared at Betty, and sat up with a +little jerk. + +"For goodness' sake, stop undressing me, Betty Nelson!" she said. "I'm +not dead yet." + +"So we see," said Betty, while her eyes lost their anxious expression +and began to twinkle instead. "But you might have been, you know, if +we had left you to yourself." + +Mollie looked down at her dripping clothes ruefully and then out at +the rushing water. + +"I guess you are right," she said with a little grimace, "It wasn't +very pleasant while it lasted, either. Whew, but that water was cold!" +She shivered involuntarily and Betty sprang to her feet. + +"We had better be getting back to the lodge," she said. "You can put +on some dry things, Mollie, and we girls will get you some hot soup. +You are chilled to the bone." + +"Nonsense," denied Mollie grumpily. "I'm beginning to feel fine and +warm. Besides," she added, trying to cover a chill that fairly made +her teeth ache, "I want to stay and find out about that thing that got +us into all this fuss." + +"Nonsense," Grace put in. Up to this time Grace had been made +speechless by Mollie's sudden recovery. "You are shivering so you +can't sit still." + +"It makes me cold just to look at you," added Amy, + +"Don't be foolish, honey," said Betty impatiently. "You can't sit +there all day in dripping clothes, and besides you will really get +cold." + +"Humph," grunted Mollie, getting to her feet rather unsteadily and +shaking out her sodden skirts. "I guess this isn't the first time I +have taken a dip in cold water. And besides," she added impatiently; +"I don't know about you girls, but I would like to know just what that +thing was that we saw dart beneath the falls." + +"That was what made you fall into the water, wasn't it?" asked Betty, +her forehead wrinkling thoughtfully. "You leaned so far out to +see----" + +"Yes, yes," Mollie interrupted impatiently, all her curiosity revived. +"That was what made me fall into the water all right. But what I want +to know is-- what was it?" + +"I don't know," said Betty, shaking her head. "I didn't see it." + +"Neither did I," Grace added. + +Mollie looked from one to the other of them open-mouthed. Then she +turned to Amy, + +"You saw it, didn't you?" she asked. "You screamed, you know." + +"Yes," said Amy, nodding her head very solemnly, "And it looked to me +a lot like what we saw last night." + +"Thank goodness, you saw it too or the girls would surely think I had +been dreaming or was crazy," said Mollie, with relief. Then she +suddenly turned and started off into the woods. "I'm going all alone +to find out what that was," she told her stupefied chums. "I've got to +clear up the mystery before I'm an hour older." + +But this time Mollie found that there was some one stronger than she, +and that was Betty. The Little Captain ran after her and brought her +back, protesting but captive. + +"We are going back to the house now and get you something hot to eat," +said Betty, as they rejoined Amy and Grace and started off toward +home. "Afterwards if everybody's willing we will hunt this strange +beast that jumps out from porches and leaps into rivers just for the +fun of the thing. But just now, Billy Billette, you are going home." + +But Mollie had been more severely shocked than she was willing to +admit by her experience, and it was some time before the girls visited +the falls or the river again. Meanwhile they contented themselves with +exploring the country about the lodge, taking short trips in the cars +and wondering whether the boys would really be home before the summer +was over. + +Their days were not altogether happy, however, for the thought of that +weird thing prowling around in the woods and ready, for all they knew, +to spring out at them at every turn, refused to be banished from their +minds. + +Then, too, they thought a great deal about poor Professor Dempsey and +the little ruined cottage in the woods. Somehow, they had an uneasy +feeling that if they had gone to him at the very first minute they had +heard of his trouble they might have helped him. Whereas, they had +waited and-- he had fled. + +For a while the idea of a dip in the swimming pool was naturally not +very attractive to Mollie, but at last there came a day when she +herself suggested it and the girls enthusiastically seconded the +motion. + +More than the prospect of a good time, was the hope, unexpressed, that +they might see again that strange thing which Amy and Mollie had only +glimpsed the time before. Perhaps, they thought, if the mysterious +thing were faced in the open and in broad daylight, it might prove to +be no mystery at all but something ordinary and commonplace enough to +do away with all their vague and weird imaginings. + +But in this expectation they were most completely disappointed. +Nothing at all unusual occurred and although they enjoyed their swim +in the warm back eddy of the pool, they came away disgruntled and with +a curious feeling that they had been cheated out of something. + +"I only wish the boys would come," sighed Amy, as they turned in once +more at the lodge. + +After that the "Thing" became almost like an obsession with them. They +must find out definitely what it was that was spoiling all their fun. +They began to haunt the river, especially at the foot of the falls, in +the hope of seeing something, anything that would put an end to their +curiosity and uneasiness. + +For a long time they had not got up courage enough to visit the place +at night, but at last they became curious enough to brave even that. + +"We have simply got to find out something," Mollie whispered to Betty +as on this particular night they stood on the porch and waited for +Mrs. Irving to join them. "We can't go on this way any longer, Betty. +Why, I am getting so nervous I jump if you look at me." + +"I know," said Betty soberly. "It really is getting on our nerves too +much. Amy and Grace are feeling it even worse than we are." + +"Yes," agreed Mollie grumpily. "Last night was the third night in +succession that Amy got us all out of bed to listen to some fool noise +outside. I'm just about sick of it." + +The other three came then and they had no further chance for +conversation. As a matter of fact, they talked surprisingly little on +the walk to the river. + +High above them a wonderful full moon sent its silvery light filtering +down through leaves and branches, making of the woods a fairyland. +Somehow, the very beauty of it filled the girls with a strange dread. +To them the patches of moonlight were weird, unreal, the shadowy woods +held a sinister menace. + +By the time they had reached the river's edge they were almost ready +to turn and run, But they conquered the impulse and pressed on. Then +suddenly they saw what they had hoped, yet dreaded, to see. + +On the opposite bank, staring down into the rapids with a terrible +intentness, stood a man, or something that resembled a man. In one +awful, breath-taking minute they realized that here at last was the +"Thing." + +As they watched, the hunched-up crouching figure on the opposite bank +made a lumbering movement forward as though about to throw itself into +the water at the foot of the falls. + +"Oh!" screamed Betty, the words wrenched from her dry throat. "Don't +do that! You mustn't do that! Go back! For goodness' sake, go back!" + +With a hoarse cry that answered her own, the "Thing" flung back from +the water's edge and disappeared into the darkness! + + CHAPTER XVIII + + SURPRISED + +The Outdoor Girls could hardly have told how they got back to the +lodge after that, Blindly they stumbled through the underbrush, +expecting they knew not what horrible thing, thankful for the +moonlight that made it possible for them to hurry. + +They did reach home somehow and there they sat until late into the +night, trying to find some explanation for the thing they had seen, +striving to think up some plan for hunting it down until finally Mrs. +Irving sent them to bed. + +That did not do very much good, for they lay awake and talked until +the first rays of sunlight crept into the windows. Then they said +goodnight and sank into a sleep of exhaustion. + +For three days after the episode the girls never went far from the +house on foot. They would take the cars and spin down the open road, +but a sort of horror of the supernatural kept them from venturing into +the woods again. + +But when the fourth day dawned the fright of their moonlight +experience had begun to wear off and they were beginning to feel +ashamed of their fear. + +Having a little of this in her mind, Mollie gave voice to it at the +breakfast table. + +"I must say," she began, buttering a piece of bread energetically, +"that it isn't like us Outdoor Girls to let anything scare us into +staying near the house. Why, I declare, I don't believe there is one +of us who would dare poke her nose past that rose bush in front of the +porch after sundown. That's a pretty state of affairs, isn't it?" + +"Well, you needn't glare at me as if it were all my fault," retorted +Amy with spirit. "I'm sure I didn't wish the horrible old thing on +us." + +"I only wish I knew who did," sighed Grace, adding, with a sudden +burst of ferocity: "I would wring his neck." + +"Suppose somebody suggests something we can do about it," said Betty +reasonably. "I'm sure that after the other night nobody could blame us +for being frightened." + +"No. But there is one thing I can blame you for," said Mollie, glaring +morosely at her chum. "And that is for not letting the horrible old +thing drown itself when it so very evidently wanted to. If that had +happened all our worries would have been over." + +"Goodness, Mollie, what a horrible idea!" Betty protested. + +"I don't think it was a horrible idea," Grace put in. "I think it was +just about the finest idea I ever heard of." + +"Yes," added Amy with a deceptive mildness, "if you hadn't called out +just then, Betty, the whole thing would have been over and the Thing +would have been drowned. And then," she added plaintively, "we would +have been able to enjoy our summer." + +"It really wasn't any of our business, you know," Grace finished, +moodily. + +For a moment Betty sat and stared at them, undecided whether to be +amused or indignant. However, the latter emotion won and she turned +upon the girls with flashing eyes. + +"I think you are all perfectly horrid," she said. "And I would think +you were worse if I weren't perfectly sure that you don't really mean +what you say. Why, just suppose," she went on earnestly, "that we had +willingly permitted that man to commit suicide? Why, we would have +been just as guilty as if we had murdered him!" + +"But he may have done it since anyway," muttered Mollie stubbornly. +"He didn't have to wait to ask our permission, and there are plenty of +times that he can commit suicide when we are not around-- if he really +wants to do it." + +"What he or anybody else does when we are not around, is not our +business," answered Betty. "We can't help what happens in our +absence." + +"You seem to take it for granted that it is a man," Mollie continued, +still stubbornly argumentative. "But I am not so sure about that. The +several times that we have seen the-- the-- Thing-- it has looked as +much animal as human to me." + +"Well, we won't argue that point," said Betty, rising and beginning to +clear away the dishes, "because we don't know anything about it." + +"That is just exactly what I am getting at," said Mollie earnestly, +leaning forward and resting her elbows on the table while the girls +watched her interestedly. "We don't know anything about it, but that +is no reason why we should sit back and twiddle our thumbs and start +at shadows." + +"Well, for goodness' sake, tell us what's on your mind," prompted +Grace impatiently. "We haven't sat back and twiddled our thumbs and +started at shadows because we enjoyed it, you know." + +"Now my plan is this," said Mollie, ignoring Grace, who shrugged her +shoulders and reached for her candy box. "Suppose we take a tramp +through the woods to the head of the falls? It is a beautiful hike and +the scenery at the falls is magnificent. But aside from that we will +have a chance to find out something about this thing that will do away +with the mystery." + +"If it doesn't do away with us at the same time," said Amy so ruefully +that they had to laugh at her. + +"Well, what do you say?" asked Mollie, looking around the circle of +thoughtful faces-- her glance a dare. + +For a moment it looked as if they all might refuse to go, but then +their sporting blood came to the fore and they decided for the +adventure. + +But when they told Mrs. Irving about their project and begged her to +say yes to it, she looked very doubtful and only consented at last on +the proviso that she was to go with them. This they were only too glad +to have, and a few minutes later the lodge hummed with excitement and +preparation once more. To the Outdoor Girls, active and fun-loving by +nature, to be quiet for a few days was nothing short of torture. So +now, even though there was still more than a little fear of the +"Thing" in their hearts, they found relief in the promise of +adventure. + +They put up some sandwiches and fruit in a basket in case they were +not able to get home by noon. Then they locked the door of the little +lodge and started down the steps. They hesitated before starting into +the woods, and Mollie had a happy thought. + +"We can go part of the way along the road," she said. "And then there +is a path that leads directly through to the head of the falls." + +The celerity with which they accepted this suggestion seemed funny to +them afterward, but at the time they had other things to think about. +Mostly they were wondering if they would realty be able to hold on to +their nerve long enough to see the adventure through. + +"I wish," said Betty wistfully, as she had wished so many times of +late, "that the boys were here. They could help us out so +beautifully." And she sighed, for when she spoke of "the boys," she +always thought of one boy most-- and that one was Allen. + +"Well, there's no use wishing for what can't possibly happen," Grace +was saying, when there came a whistle so clear and penetrating that it +made them jump-- then another, and another. Was it just that they were +nervous or was there really something peculiarly familiar in the +sound? At any rate they stopped and turned around to see who the +whistlers could be. + +There were three soldiers coming down the road, broad-shouldered, +vital looking fellows who swung along toward the astonished girls as +though they owned the world. + +"Betty, oh, Betty!" whispered Grace in a tense voice, grasping Betty's +arm so hard it hurt. "It can't be, oh, it can't be the boys!" + +But Mollie had broken away from the group and was rushing toward the +soldier lads like the wild little tomboy she was. + +"Girls, it's the boys! it's the boys! it's the boys!" she yelled. +"They're all tanned and they're at least ten inches taller, but it's +the boys just the same." + +And before any of the other girls knew what she was about she had +kissed each one of them twice and was hanging on the tallest one's +arm, who happened to be Frank, laughing and crying at the same time. + +Then the girls seemed to decide that she had had the lads to herself +long enough, and they immediately entered the contest, all laughing at +once, all crying at once, and all talking at once, until it was a +wonder the boys did not lose their heads entirely. + +The only one who was not absolutely and completely and deliriously +happy was Betty. For the other three boys were there, but Allen had +not come! + +As though reading her thought, Will, who was much handsomer and more +manly than when he went away, put an arm about the Little Captain's +shoulder big brother fashion and drew her aside from the rest. + +"You are wondering about Allen," he said, and Betty nodded eagerly. +"You see," continued Will, his face lighting up in a smile that would +always be boyish, "since Allen became one of the big bugs-- which is +another name for officer, you understand-- he had to pay the penalty +and stay over there with them for a little while longer. He will +probably be over on the next transport, although of course you can +never be sure about that. Oh, and I forgot," he put his hand in his +pocket and drew forth a pocketknife, a wad of string and-- a little +three-cornered note. "He asked me to give this to you as soon as I saw +you. So now you can tell him that 'I seen my duty and I done it +noble.' " + +With a twinkle in his eye Will turned back to the others and Betty was +left to open her note. This is what she read: + + "Gosh, some fellows do have all the luck, don't they? But never + mind, little girl. I'm coming to you by the very first boat, and + when I get there do you know what I'm going to do? Do you?" + +Betty wanted to run away by herself and read the note over and over +again. But she could not do that. With a sigh she hid the little +message in a pocket of her skirt and turned back to the others. + + CHAPTER XIX + + LIKE OLD TIMES + +It was a long time before the boys and girls woke up to the fact that +they were still standing in the center of the road and that they might +be ever so much more comfortable on the porch of the lodge, if any one +had had sense enough to think that far. + +Mrs. Irving, who had been keeping herself rather in the background +during the first rapturous greetings, now came in for her share of +salutations and boyish greetings. The young soldiers crowded about +her, patting her hands and her shoulders and telling her how awfully +fine she looked and how glad they were to find her here until the lady +actually blushed with pleasure and begged them to stop their nonsense. +In fact, it was she who finally suggested that they go up to the lodge +again. + +"I don't see why we didn't think of that before," said Mollie, +joyfully slipping an arm into Frank's and turning him +right-about-face. "We are due to talk all day anyway, so we might as +well do it in comfort. Don't forget the lunch basket, Betty," she +called back to her chum. + +Betty would have forgotten the basket and left it where it stood just +as she had dropped it at the side of the road-- and small wonder if +she had-- but as she stooped to pick it up, Will's strong brown hand +whipped out in front of her nose and seized the handle firmly. + +"That's the idea," said Grace approvingly, adding with a sisterly pat +on his shoulder: "You run along with Amy and Mrs. Irving. I want to +talk to Betty." + +So Will, being a well-trained brother, did as he was told, and Grace +drew Betty behind the others. + +"What about Allen, honey?" she asked, her blue eyes honestly worried. +"We all missed him so, but we didn't like to say too much for fear-- +for fear----" + +"He's all right," said Betty, her heart glowing again at thought of +the little note hidden away in her pocket. "He has only been delayed a +little, that's all. Will says he will probably be over on the next +transport." + +"Oh, I am relieved," said Grace with such fervor that Betty looked at +her quickly. Could it be, she wondered, that what she had half sensed +before could be really true? Was Grace fond of Allen? But because the +idea made her unhappy, she decided that she was just trying to think +up trouble and dismissed it from her mind. All the girls loved Allen +of course-- who could help it?-- but they couldn't any of them, she +told herself fiercely, care for him the way she did. + +"Well, what are you thinking about? You needn't look so fierce," she +heard Grace saying, and she forced a smile to her face. + +"I'm not looking fierce," Betty answered gayly. "Don't you know that +that is just my natural expression, Gracie dear? That's the way I make +little girls like you afraid of me." + +"Well, I'm not afraid of you, not one little bit," asserted Grace, +squeezing Betty's arm fondly. "Oh, Betty dear, isn't it wonderful +having the boys back and don't they look fine-- especially Will?" + +"Don't they? Especially Will," agreed Betty with a sly little glance. +"If you don't look out you will give the impression that you're rather +fond of that worthless old brother of yours, honey." + +"I love him awfully," replied Grace, adding with a little puckering of +her forehead: "But I am going to tell you something, Betty, that I +wouldn't tell to any one else for the world. I'm jealous, actually +jealous! of Amy." + +Betty gave a merry little laugh and slipped an arm about her chum. + +"Gracie dear, we never would have known that if you hadn't told us," +she said dryly, "Don't, you know," as Grace looked at her +reproachfully, "that we have all been perfectly well aware of that +ever since Will first began to make eyes at Amy?" + +"I can't help it," Grace retorted, while sudden tears sprang to her +eyes. "I've known him longer than she has, and we've loved each other +ever since he was two and I was two weeks! Did you see the way he +looked at her?" she finished dolefully. + +"Yes. But of course you couldn't see the way he looked at you," said +Betty quickly. "And I did." + +"Oh, did he look glad to see me? Did he?" demanded Grace with pathetic +eagerness. + +"Of course he did, you little goose," said Betty, adding with a +chuckle: "You've been spoiled, that's all. You've been so used to +being the only pebble on the beach, dear, that you can't be content +with being just one of two." + +By this time they had reached the lodge and were greeted noisily by +the others, who had already seated themselves on the porch as though +they intended to stay all day. + +"Hello," called Frank. His handsome face, though somewhat thinner than +the girls remembered, was better looking than ever and he had +developed a trick of flinging the hair back from his forehead that the +girls thought immensely attractive, + +Roy, who had seated himself on the railing of the porch and was +swinging his feet, looked more unchanged than either of the boys, +though the girls were soon to find out that he had changed the most. + +Will, who had settled Amy in a chair and was sitting cross-legged on +the floor at her feet, was gazing up at the girl with his heart in his +eyes. As for Amy-- well, the girls had never known she could look so +radiant. + +"Have a seat," invited Roy, rising lazily to the dignity of his six +feet as Betty and Grace came up on the porch. "It would seem like old +times to see you girls perched on the railing." + +"I'll have you know, sir," said Betty very demurely, as she pulled +Grace down beside her on the top step of the porch, "that we have +quite grown up since you have been away. We will sit here where we can +get a good view of you all." + +"And we want to hear about everything you have done over there," broke +in Amy eagerly. "Please, everything-- right from the beginning." + +The boys fidgeted, looked dismayed, and Roy burst forth in protest. + +"Oh, I say!" he cried. "We'll do anything else for you, but please +don't ask us to do that." + +"We don't want to talk about ourselves or the war," muttered Frank, +almost as if to himself. "We want to forget about it-- if we can." + +"You see," Will explained, and there was a stern note in his young +voice, "we worked and we sweated and we fought. We lived under +conditions week after week and month after month that it makes us +shudder even to think of now. For months we lived in a perfect +inferno-- and do you know what our idea of heaven was then?" + +They said nothing and he went on in a lighter tone. + +"It was just to get back alive and, well, to God's country and you +girls-- to sit for hours, days if we could, where we could look at you +and listen to you and not do a thing but just be happy. I wonder if +you can understand that?" + +"Of course, we can, Will!" cried Betty, impulsively reaching over and +laying a hand on the boy's arm. "You have earned the right to sit and +be amused, and we'll do it till you cry aloud for mercy. And you +needn't tell us a single word about yourselves until you get good and +ready." + +"You're a brick, Betty," said Will warmly, laying his hand over her +little one. "I might have known we could count on you." + +"By the way," Roy broke in suddenly, his eye on the basket of eatables +that the girls had prepared for their adventure, "what's in that +hamper, anyway? If it's anything to eat, let's have it." + +Betty pulled the basket over to her, lifted the cover and passed it +over to the ravenous one. + +"Eat while there is anything left," she commanded, adding with a +chuckle: "Our adventure seems to be over for to-day, at least." + +"Adventure?" repeated Frank inquiringly, as he reached for a sandwich. + +"Yes," said Mollie, adding with a sigh: "And you boys had to come +along just in time to spoil it all." + + CHAPTER XX + + VERY MUCH ALIVE + +That is complimentary, I must say," grinned Will, getting up from his +seat on the porch and going over to join Roy on the railing. "After +being away for months we are told the minute we get back that we've +'spoiled everything.' " + +"'Tis rather hard lines," said Mollie with an answering grin. "But one +must tell the truth, you know." + +"By the way," put in Grace curiously, "I know Betty promised that we +wouldn't ask questions, but there is just one thing I want to know." + +"Speak, fair damsel," Roy replied, thinking meanwhile how much +prettier Grace had grown. "We will promise to answer faithfully +anything that is not connected with war." + +"When did you get in?" asked Grace, "and how did you get here?" + +"We came in yesterday," answered Roy, helping himself to another +sandwich. "And of course we beat it for headquarters right away." + +"Yes'm, and I'll tell you we were a disappointed lot when we found +that you girls had flown," added Frank ruefully. "We were all set for +a jolly reunion----" + +"But we wrote you about spending the summer here," Betty interrupted. +"And we were mourning because you couldn't be at the lodge with us." + +"We missed your letters, I guess," said Will. "We sailed very +suddenly, and there is probably a stack of them piled up there at the +old service station." + +"We found out where you were all rightie, though," Roy continued. "So +we took the first train out this morning, debarked at the nearest +station south of here, and proceeded to walk the rest of the way. It +was thus that you came upon us." + +"You came upon us, you mean," Amy corrected. "We ought to know well +enough, because you nearly gave us heart failure." + +Will looked at her as if he wanted to say something but did not quite +dare in public. However, she intercepted the look and with a little +panicky feeling turned her eyes away. + +"I imagine," said Grace softly, looking up at Will, "that mother +wasn't glad to see you or anything." + +"Not at all," returned Will, a soft light in his eyes as he remembered +the greeting between him and his parents. "I was a little afraid," he +added soberly, "that mother and dad wouldn't like my skipping off like +this the day after I'd got home. But they seemed to understand all +right." + +"Gee, but this is great," said Frank, stretching contentedly and +looking about the group with happy eyes. "I wonder how many times +we've seen this all in our dreams, fellows. Only we couldn't have +imagined it half as perfect as this." + +"It sure is like old times," agreed Roy, adding with a smile as he +turned to their chaperon, who had been quietly enjoying herself: "We +even have Mrs. Irving with us. Gee, it's just like that summer at Pine +Island! All the old crowd together----" + +"Except Allen," put in Will, frowning a little. "Gosh, it didn't seem +right at all to leave the old fellow behind. You wouldn't know him," +he added, his face flushing enthusiastically, "I've never seen a +fellow change the way Allen has-- for the better." + +"Was there so much room for improvement?" asked Betty demurely, and +they looked at her laughingly. + +"Nobody would expect you to think so," Will replied, his eyes +twinkling, then added seriously: + +"Of course we all know that Allen was the finest kind even before the +war, but, gosh! I wish you could just see how all the fellows love him +and how even his superior officers consult him and seem to value his +judgment. I tell you, I'm glad to have him call me his friend." + +"You bet!" exclaimed Frank, nodding soberly. + +"Allen sure has come out strong," Roy agreed; and at this glowing +praise of the only absent one Betty felt her heart swell with pride +and she wanted to hug the boys for being so loyal to her Allen. Also, +deep down in her heart, she began to feel a little trepidation about +the homecoming of this hero. Who was she, Betty Nelson, to call this +glorious Lieutenant Allen Washburn, her Allen? + +So engrossed was she in these and other absorbing thoughts that it was +some time before she noticed that the conversation had taken another +turn. Also that the boys and girls were becoming rather excited. + +"I didn't say it was a ghost," Mollie was declaring hotly. "In fact I +have always thought of a ghost as wearing a sheet and pillow case sort +of garb. And this thing certainly wore nothing of the sort." + +"Tell us all about it," said Frank, leaning forward. + +"Yes, it sounds as if it might prove interesting," added Roy. + +So the girls told them all about it from that first night when they +had been so badly frightened by the "Thing" that had hidden in the +shadows of the porch. The boys listened with scarcely an interruption +till they were through. + +"Gosh, I don't like the sound of that at all," said Will, when they +had finished. "It isn't a pleasant thing to have a lunatic roaming the +woods while you girls are all alone here in this place. Could you +possibly put us up for the night?" he asked, turning abruptly to Mrs. +Irving. + +"Why, there isn't any room," said the latter slowly, frowning a little +as she tried to think up ways and means. "There aren't any extra beds, +but there is a large settee in the living room and a couple of you can +sleep on that. I found plenty of blankets stowed away." + +"Fine!" cried Will enthusiastically. "Just the very thing! One of us +can take turns sleeping on the floor. It won't be the first time we've +slept on harder things." + +"Goodness, any one would think they were going to stay a month," said +Mollie in dismay. + +"No, we won't stay a month," Will went on. "But we are going to stay +until we find out what it is that has been bothering you girls. Do you +suppose we would leave you unprotected here? I should say not!" Grace +noticed that when he said this his glance was first for Amy, and, +afterward, for her. + +So it was settled. Mrs. Irving went inside to see about getting lunch. +"Though how the boys can find any room for lunch after eating all +those sandwiches, I don't know," Amy had commented wonderingly. + +Mrs. Irving had refused absolutely to let any of the girls even so +much as help with this lunch, saying they must stay outside and visit +with the boys on this momentous occasion. + +"Since you are convinced that this thing is not a ghost," Will went +on, while appetizing odors began to waft toward them from the open +kitchen windows, "we will take it for granted that it is a man, and a +man who has, presumably, lost his mind." + +"A crazy man," murmured Betty. "Worse and worse-- and more of it." + +"Girls," cried Amy, jumping suddenly to her feet, "I have an idea." + +"Impossible!" drawled Grace. + +"Why," went on Amy, unheeding Grace's remark and growing visibly more +excited as she talked, "you know, Professor Dempsey went crazy-- or at +least we supposed he did-- and ran away into the woods. Now since Will +thinks this man is crazy too, why, they may be one and the same + +"Amy!" cried Mollie, her eyes beginning to shine as she realized the +possibility of what the girl had said. "You are a wonder, child! Why +didn't any of us think of that before?" + +"Because it is rather far-fetched and absurd, I suppose," said Grace, +the suggestion of a sneer in her voice bringing a quick flush to Amy's +face. + +"I don't see that it is so far-fetched-- or absurd either," Betty +broke in quietly. "Remember, we are only a little over fifty miles +from the place where Professor Dempsey had his cottage, and it would +be easy for him to wander this far." + +Here Frank broke in on behalf of the very much mystified boys. + +"Before you stage the hair-pulling contest," he said, "would you mind +telling us poor benighted males what it is all about?" + +So the girls told them all about Professor Dempsey, and while they +talked the boys became more and more excited. Finally Will could keep +quiet no longer. + +"Say," he asked, leaning forward, "did the two sons of the cracked old +professor happen to bear the names of James and Arnold?" + +The girls gaped at him, "Yes," they breathed. "How did you know?" + +"Because," said Will, "those very same fellows were in our regiment. +In fact, I was beside Arnold when he was wounded in that last +engagement. Strange thing that James was wounded at the same time." + +"Wounded?" repeated Betty, who like all the girls was feeling rather +dazed at this new development. "Then they weren't killed?" + +"Not a bit of it," Will replied vehemently. "Why, even their wounds +weren't serious enough to lay them up for long. The last I heard of +them they were coming over on a hospital ship and expected to be here +almost as soon as we were. For all I know, they may have landed by +this time." + +"Oh," said Amy, still too dazed to take it all in. "Then all this time +we have thought of them as dead, they were alive--" + +"Very much so," said Will, with a grin, "and probably kicking too-- +just like us!" + + CHAPTER XXI + + OUT OF THE DARK + +It took the Outdoor Girls a moment or two to digest this rather +startling information. And when it did finally seep into their +consciousness, their first feeling was one of joy for the poor +professor whose sons would be restored to him after all. + +But quick on the heels of this thought came another. How could the +sons be restored to their father, if the father were nowhere to be +found? + +"You say the old chap skipped out, decamped?" Will broke in on their +meditations. "That sort of complicates matters, doesn't it?" + +"Rather," agreed Roy, frowning. "It is going to be rather tough on +those fellows, James and Arnold, to come home, expecting to be +welcomed by a rejoicing parent, only to find said parent missing." + +"Humph, that's the first time I've thought of the boys' side of it," +said Betty. "We have been too much occupied right along in being sorry +for the poor old professor." + +"Well, if you had known the boys, you would have thought of their side +of it all right," said Frank seriously, "They are mighty good scouts, +both of them, and they think a lot of their old dad, too, I can tell +you. Why, many a night"-- his voice took on a reminiscent note and the +girls felt once again that they were privileged in having a brief +glimpse of the life "over there"-- "when a surprise attack was +scheduled for the next morning or we were waiting for some such +manoeuvre from the enemy, Arnold would talk to me about his dad-- that +was the time when fellows got chummy, you know, and got to know each +other's souls-- and once he gave me a note for the old chap and asked +me to deliver it if I came through and he didn't. I think I have it +about me somewhere." He fumbled about in his pockets while the girls +waited silently. + +Presently he drew forth a little slip of paper, muddy and worn and +dust-stained from being carried about for a long, long time in a khaki +pocket. + +"He told me," Frank went on, still holding the slip of paper in his +hand but making no attempt to open it, "that his mother had died when +he and Jimmy were young and that since then his dad had been father +and mother both to them and that he had worked himself nearly to death +to give them a chance for the college education that he had had. He +said that the one thing that had always threatened to floor the old +boy was when either he or Jim got mad and threatened to give up school +and go to work so as to take some of the load from the old pater's +shoulders. So they were glad, actually glad, when the war came along +and gave them a chance not only to serve their country and earn some +money-- even if it was only a miserable pittance-- so that they could +send some home to their dad and feel that they had stopped being a +drag upon him. He used to tell me," Frank went on, for the spell of +those old thrilling times was strong upon him again, "with tears in +his eyes-- and I'll tell you there was no braver man in all the +American army than Arnold Dempsey; he was good for two Boches any +day-- that it would be the happiest moment of his life when he got +back to the old country and announced to his proud and admiring pater +that he had come home to turn the tables; that Jimmy and he were going +to make the old fellow take a rest and do the work themselves for a +change. And he asked me, in case anything did happen to him and Jimmy, +to be kind to his dad and try to make up to him as much as I could. I +gave him my promise that night." Frank looked about the intent group +of faces soberly, "In case the boys had been killed, I would have +regarded it as a sacred trust." + +Something swelled in the girls' hearts and for a moment they could not +speak. Then, + +"I guess we all love you for that, Frank," said Betty simply. With a +little nod of her head toward the slip of paper he still held, she +added: "What about that-- now?" + +Frank looked down at the slip of paper for a moment uncomprehendingly, +for his thoughts had been far away. + +"Oh, the note," he said. "Why, that was only to be given to his father +in case anything happened, you know. But now that the boys are coming +back to him themselves, I suppose the thing is worthless." He made a +motion as though to tear the note up, but Grace stopped him with a +quick exclamation. + +"Don't!" she cried, adding as they all looked at her in surprise: +"Don't you suppose there might be something in it that would give us a +clue to the professor's whereabouts now, perhaps? Don't you think it +would be wise to look, at least?" + +But Frank slowly shook his head. + +"Arnold Dempsey's message, written to his dad when he thought he might +never see him again, doesn't belong to us," he said decidedly. "The +note was given in trust to me, and since I can't deliver it-- or at +least, since there is now no reason for delivering it-- the only thing +I can honorably do is this." And very slowly and very decidedly he +tore the note into little bits and threw the pieces among the wild +roses at the side of the porch. + +It was the first real glimpse the girls had had of the man who had +come back in the old Frank's place, and with all their hearts they +admired him. + +Even Grace, who had seemed inclined to pout a little, could not but +admit that the action was splendid in him. + +"And now," said Will, "after all that, the boys will come back to find +their dad gone, heaven knows where, dead perhaps----" + +"Oh, I wonder if there isn't some way we can follow him and find out +at least what has happened to him?" broke in Amy earnestly. "It seems +dreadful just to sit back and not even try to help," + +"I don't see what we can do," said Will judicially, just as Mrs. +Irving appeared in the doorway. "We will postpone the discussion for +the present anyway," he added, in a different tone, rising with +alacrity and dusting off his uniform. "Something tells me that lunch +is waiting. Come, let us eat!" + +So ended all serious discussion for that day, and the girls and boys +gave themselves up to the delight of being together again. Only +Betty's thoughts seemed to wander at times and she had to be brought +back by sundry mischievous and significant remarks from the young +folks. + +Worn out with fun, the young soldiers slept like tops that night in +their improvised beds and rose the next morning professing to feel +like "two year olds" and ready for whatever new fun and adventure the +day might bring them. + +And for the first night since their arrival at Wild Rose Lodge the +girls slept soundly without being bothered by the haunting fear of the +"Thing"-- at least, so they said. + +That day they wandered through the woods together, searching for some +sign of their strange visitor, but found not a trace of anything +unusual and alarming. + +"I'm really beginning to believe that you girls have let your +imaginations run away from you," Will remarked, when they sat about +the living-room after a satisfying supper, just luxuriating in +idleness. + +"Or perhaps the gentleman has been frightened away by our coming," Roy +suggested in a superior tone that made the girls want to throw +something at him. "Perhaps he is afraid of the uniform of the U. S. +A." + +"He may be afraid of the uniform," sniffed Mollie scathingly. "But he +certainly couldn't be afraid of you." + +"Now you don't mean that, you know you don't," laughed Roy, drawing +her down beside him on the couch and holding her there with an iron +grip of his brown fingers. "Say you didn't, like a pretty little girl, +and I'll let you go." + +"I won't say any such----" Mollie began, then suddenly her gaze +stiffened into such a stare of wonder, and even alarm, that it made +the girls fairly hold their breath. + +"Mollie, what is it?" demanded Roy commandingly. + +"Over there!" she shrieked. "At the window, Roy! Do you see it?" + + CHAPTER XXII + + TRAGEDY + +There, pressed so close to the pane of the window that the nose was +flattened grotesquely, eyes wildly staring, hair disheveled, was a +face that even in that tense moment the girls recognized-- the face of +Professor Dempsey! + +It took the boys perhaps a second to fling out of the room, jump down +the steps of the porch and circle the house to the window. + +And yet, in that second, the man was gone, leaving no more trace than +if the earth had opened and swallowed him up. For almost an hour the +boys searched the woods about the lodge, refusing to allow the girls +to accompany them, saying truly that they would hamper them more than +they could help. + +"You see, I was right after all," Amy stated for at least the tenth +time. "From the moment the idea came to me, I felt almost sure that +poor crazy Professor Dempsey was this thing that was frightening us." + +"But did you ever see such an awful face in all your life?" said +Mollie, shuddering at the recollection. + +"And the look in his eyes as he stared at Roy," Grace added in a +hushed voice. "I shouldn't wonder if-- if we hadn't been there, he +might have murdered him." + +"Oh, Gracie, don't!" Amy clapped her hands to her ears. "We are +frightened enough without having you say things like that." + +"Suppose," said Mollie, in a sepulchral voice, "he should come back +before the boys do?" + +"That's just what I was thinking," said a quiet voice behind them, and +they jumped and cried out in alarm. The next moment they saw it was +Mrs. Irving and felt ashamed of themselves. + +"I think you had all better come into the house till the boys come +back," their chaperon continued. "I shall feel safer when we are +behind locked doors." + +The girls shivered, but Mollie protested. + +"Suppose anything should happen to the boys?" she asked, but here Mrs. +Irving chose to exercise her authority. + +"We will talk about that when we are inside the house," she said very +firmly, and Mollie had nothing else to do but obey. + +The girls did breathe a little more freely when the door was locked, +but they found themselves wishing even more ardently that the boys +would come back. + +The window against which the horribly distorted face had been pressed +seemed to hold a peculiar fascination for the Outdoor Girls and they +found themselves unable to turn their eyes away from it. + +"Oh, I wish the boys would come back," moaned Amy, after a few moments +more had passed in strained silence. "If anything should happen to +them I'm sure I would die." + +"Nonsense, Amy," snapped Mollie. "What could one little mad old man do +to three big husky soldier boys?" + +The words had hardly been spoken when the sound of voices could be +heard coming toward the house, and a moment later the boys themselves +stamped up on the porch. + +"Not a sign of him," said Will in response to the girls' eager +questions. "I don't see how he could have disappeared so completely in +such a short time." + +"We all took different directions, too," said Roy, taking a seat on +the couch again and staring fascinatedly at the window. "If all the +rest of you hadn't seen it too, I should certainly think I had been +mistaken." + +"You weren't mistaken," Mollie assured him grimly. "I can vouch for +that." + +"Didn't one of you girls call out something about Professor Dempsey?" +asked Frank, abruptly. + +"Yes," said Betty, going over to him, and putting an excited hand on +his shoulder. "That's the thing that startled us so, Frank. We are +sure it was Professor Dempsey's face. But, still, it was so wild and +distorted that we really wouldn't feel like contradicting any one who +told us it wasn't he," she added slowly. "Do you understand what I +mean?" + +Frank nodded, and Will broke in excitedly: + +"But the poor old codger's looks would naturally be changed," he +argued, "after he had spent all this time wandering around the woods-- +out of his mind at that. I am inclined to think that the girls are +right and that it is really Professor Dempsey." + +"If only I could have gotten my hands on him!" mourned Roy. "We +wouldn't have been in any further doubt." + +"There is really no doubt, boys. We just want-- oh, I don't know what +we want!" exclaimed Mollie, who was excited and unstrung and nervous. + +Soon after that they all went to bed, having first decided to make a +more thorough search of the woods in the morning and take the +postponed trip to the head of the falls. + +They slept fitfully and were glad when at last they woke to find the +sun shining in their windows. For once Amy and Grace did not have to +be coaxed or wheedled or forced to get out of bed, but dressed quickly +and were ready almost as soon as Mollie and Betty. + +"You know I rather hated to leave the boys in that room last night," +Betty confided to Grace, stopping before the mirror for one final +little pat of her hair. "I was afraid that-- he-- might come back----" + +"Oh, Betty, what a horrid idea," said Grace. "Come on, let's see if +everything is all right." + +But they found that their fears had been wasted. The boys were in the +kitchen hilariously helping Mrs. Irving get the breakfast to the +accompaniment of continual good-natured scolding from that flushed and +perspiring lady. It was Amy's day to get the breakfast, but, as usual, +she was late in getting down. + +"You make a good deal more trouble than you mend," Mrs. Irving was +saying as the girls came to the door, then added relievedly as she +caught sight of them: "For goodness' sake, get these young ruffians +out of the kitchen, my dears, or we'll not have any breakfast until +noon." + +So amid much fun and nonsense the boys were shooed forth into the +bright sunshine of the out-of-doors, and all the girls fell to to help +their chaperon, not wanting to put the extra work the boys made +entirely on Amy's shoulders. + +Breakfast was good, but they ate hurriedly, anxious to get at the +business of the day. They wanted more than they had wanted anything in +a very long time to find Professor Dempsey and tell him the joyful +news that his sons were alive. + +"I'm horribly afraid of him at night," Mollie confided, as they +started out at last, "but in the daytime I am only sorry for him." + +"Do you think we shall find him, Will?" asked Amy, with a helpless +little look into Will's self-reliant young face. "I do want to so +much." + +Will looked down at her with an expression that said to any one who +would read it: "I would give you anything in the world you asked for, +if I only could." + +But all he really said was: "That remains to be seen. He proved +himself a rather slippery customer last night, and the chase we put up +may only serve to put him on his guard. Crazy people are tricky, you +know." + +"Goodness," said Grace, looking fearfully over her shoulder. "There is +nothing in the world I am so afraid of as a crazy person." + +"That's why she has always been so afraid of me, I suppose," grinned +Mollie. + +"Afraid of you," said Grace, her eyebrows raised in mock surprise. +"Little shrimp-- who are you?" + +There followed a characteristic scene that somewhat lifted the +oppression they had all been feeling, and it was not till they had +nearly reached the river at the head of the falls that they became +serious again. + +"It was right about here," said Betty soberly, "that we saw him the +night that he started to jump into the river-- or I suppose it was the +same one," she added. + +"Let us hope so," said Mollie fervently. "I wouldn't like to think +that there were two lunatics wandering round these woods. One is quite +enough." + +As they came closer to the river they became more and more conscious +that they were not alone, that some one, hidden in the bushes, was +craftily watching them. + +So strong did this feeling finally become that once the boys +separated, thrashing the bushes in all directions. They did not find +anything, and finally continued along the path, a little ashamed of +what they thought was an attack of nerves. + +"Phew, this is getting a little hot for me," said Frank, running his +hand through his shock of fair hair. "I don't mind fighting anything +in the open--" He left the sentence unfinished, for at that moment +they broke through the bushes at the river's edge upon a sight that +struck them speechless. + +Not twenty yards down the bank stood a ragged scarecrow of a man, so +unkempt, so wild, so abandoned in its crouching attitude as to appear +hardly human. + +Before they had time to utter a word or move a muscle, the man threw +up his arms in a gesture indescribably terrible, and with a hoarse +shout disappeared in the swirling waters. + +It all happened so quickly that for the space of a dazed second they +wondered if they had really seen it at all. Then they recovered their +powers of motion and rushed to the spot where the man had disappeared. + +Though they leaned far out over the water they could see no sign of +anything human, and with a creeping feeling of horror they began to +speak of what had probably already happened. + +"It's certain death down there," Roy muttered, as though to himself, +gazing into the rushing river. "The poor old fellow! He has got his, I +guess." + +"Look here, fellows, here are some clothes," Will called out suddenly, +and the boys rushed over to where he stood, a tattered old hat and an +equally ragged coat in his hands. "Maybe there will be something in +the jacket to tell us where the poor fellow has been staying and what +he has been up to." + +They searched through the coat and finally pulled out a wallet. + +"Now if it only has some writing in it," said Mollie breathlessly. + +There was a card, and the card bore the words which they expected, yet +dreaded, Arnold Dempsey, Ph. D. But there was nothing else, and +suddenly tears dimmed their eyes and they had to turn away. + +"It will be mighty hard on Jimmy and Arnold," muttered Roy, gazing +somberly at the fast-flowing river. "To have their dad go that way! +They'll take it mighty hard-- those boys." + + CHAPTER XXIII + + A MOONLIGHT APPARITION + +"Let's look around a little anyway," Betty suggested. "He may possibly +have been swept up on the shore farther down the river." + +"If such a thing were possible he would probably be dead anyway," +Frank protested, but the girls paid no attention to him. The mere +suggestion that the professor might still be alive and in need of +assistance was enough for them, and they set about feverishly to scour +the woods on both sides of the river and for a considerable distance +down its shores. + +After an hour of vain search, however, they were forced to conclude +that the old man was indeed dead, and so reluctantly and with heavy +hearts they turned their steps back toward Wild Rose Lodge. + +They talked very little on the way back, for they were too occupied +with their own gloomy thoughts. Only once Betty spoke what was in the +minds of all of them. + +"It seems such a terrible waste-- such a pity," she said. "Just a +mistake on the part of the Government to have resulted in this +tragedy. Arnold and James Dempsey coming home, safe and well and +hopeful to find their father-- dead!" + +The boys stayed on for several days at the lodge, and for all the +Outdoor Girls but Betty their stay was unmitigated joy. But in the +heart of the Little Captain, hard as she tried to fight against it, +was a little sense of injury to think that her chums had got their +boys back and she had been denied hers. + +To be sure, all the boys made much of her and petted her-- for there +was not one of them who had not competed for her favor in the old days +before Allen had shouldered them all out-- but no amount of attention +from any one else could make up for one little word from Allen. + +At each sunrise she awoke thrilling with the thought that perhaps +Allen would be with her before the sun went down. And as each evening +came without him she sighed and thought, "Perhaps to-morrow." + +Since the tragic death of Professor Dempsey they felt that they need +no longer fear the woods, although they never ventured near the river +or the falls without a heartache and the fervent wish that they might +have reached the poor demented man with the glad news of his sons' +safety in time to avert the tragedy. + +However, they did enjoy their liberty, and took long tramps with the +boys through the woods and picnicked with them beside little +unexpected brooks and streams, quite in the nature of old days. + +Then at last came the day when the boys announced that they would have +to return to town and to the military camp to obtain their formal +discharge from the army. + +"We may surprise you by coming back in 'civies' a week or two from +now," Will laughed, as the girls prepared to spin them to the railroad +station in the cars. "So you had better be prepared for the shock." + +"Maybe they won't care for us any more when they see us out of +uniform," grinned Roy, as he shook hands with Mrs. Irving. "You know +the old saying that a uniform has made many a hero of a bootblack." + +"Goodness, I hope you aren't a bootblack," said Mollie from her car, +where she was "doing things" with the engine. + +"I'm not," answered Roy, adding with a grin: "Nothing half so honest." + +Although the girls knew that they were only saying good-bye to the +boys for a few days, the parting was hard just the same, and half an +hour later they watched the train wind serpent-like down the shining +track with a sinking feeling at their hearts. + +"Aren't we a lot of geese?" said Grace impatiently, as they climbed +back into the cars. "We have done without the boys for a couple of +years, and now when they have just gone as far as Deepdale for a +couple of weeks, we are almost crying about it." + +"I suppose it is just because we have had so much separation that we +can't bear any more of it-- even a little," suggested gentle Amy, +feeling as if she had just awakened from a blissful dream. + +"Never mind," said Mollie, putting an arm about Betty's waist and +giving it a little squeeze. "Just think how lovely it will be to see +the boys in regular clothes again, and maybe," with a sly glance at +Betty, "by the time they come back they will have added one to their +number." + +"Goodness, I hope so!" said Betty, unashamed. + +In spite of some regret at not having the boys, the girls managed to +enjoy themselves in the days that followed. They motored and swam and +fished and hiked, and got as becomingly sunburned and tanned as young +Indians. It was not until two or three days before the boys returned +that anything untoward happened to disturb their peace of mind. + +Then one night the moon came out with such dazzling brilliance that +Betty was seized with a strong desire to be out in it. + +"Let's go for a moonlight swim," she suggested excitedly, as they all +stood on the porch of the lodge staring up through the trees to where +the moon shone glitteringly down. "We haven't done it since we came, +and surely our vacation wouldn't be complete without one." + +"Or more," said Mollie, seconding the plan with enthusiasm, "Come on. +Let's tell Mrs. Irving where we are going. Maybe she will wish to go +along, but I doubt it." + +Mollie was right: Mrs. Irving did not wish to go, and the girls rushed +upstairs to don bathing suits in preparation for the lark. + +A few minutes later they were racing like slim young ghosts through +the woods, laughing and calling to each other and entirely abandoned +to the joy of the moment. + +"Race you to the old swimming hole," Mollie called out, as they neared +the river; and away they all raced in response to the challenge. + +Betty won, in spite of the fact that Mollie had had a short head +start, and the girls, wild in their exuberance, would have lifted her +to their shoulders had not Betty herself laughingly fought them off. + +"I have another challenge," she cried. "My fresh box of candy to +whoever swims to the other side of the swimming hole first. Are you +on?" + +"We're on!" yelled Grace enthusiastically, adding: "I'd swim from here +to Jericho for that box of candy, Betty." + +As a matter of fact, whether it was really the thought of the candy or +whether it was because the other girls were tired from the last spurt, +Grace really did get to the other side of the swimming pool first, +and, pulling herself up on the other bank, dripping and triumphant, +demanded the prize. + +"You surely did win it, and you shall have that box of candy-- much as +I hoped to keep it in the family," laughed Betty, shaking the water +from her eyes and drawing herself up beside her chum. "Goodness, isn't +that water delicious to-night?" she added, wriggling her toes +luxuriously in the rippling wavelets. "Just cool enough to be +refreshing and not cold enough to chill you----" She broke off +suddenly and sat staring, her eyes widening and her body tense. + +"Girls," she said in a queer voice, for Mollie and Amy had also drawn +themselves up on the bank, "have I gone crazy, or what is the matter +with me? Do you see-- what-- I see-- up there?" + +Alarmed, the girls followed the direction of her strained gaze, and +suddenly they seemed to feel themselves congeal with momentary horror. + +Far above them on the bank near the falls and on the other side of the +river, stood the crouched-up, animal-like figure of-- the "Thing!" + + CHAPTER XXIV + + RECOVERED + +The sight was almost too much for the girls. What they felt was sheer +animal panic and they wanted to run away-- anywhere-- just so they put +distance enough between them and that figure on the bank. + +"Sit still," Betty commanded them, recovering her presence of mind. +"That is Professor Dempsey up there, and if we make any sudden sound +we are sure of frightening him away." + +"But he was killed-- we saw it," moaned Amy. "That must be his +g-ghost." + +"Don't be ridiculous," snapped Mollie, her thoughts working along with +Betty's "You know you don't believe in ghosts." + +"But how--" Amy was beginning when Betty interrupted sharply. + +"Listen," she said. "I came across an old derelict of a rowboat the +other day when we were exploring the upper river, but I didn't say +anything to you girls about it because I thought it was too much of a +wreck to bother with. For all I know it isn't even water tight + +"Betty," Mollie broke in excitedly, "I see what you mean! We can row +across the upper river to where Professor Dempsey is-- Were there oars +in the boat?" she broke off to ask. + +"A couple of old sticks that would serve for oars," Betty answered. +"Of course it's taking a big chance----" + +"Say no more," cried Mollie, jumping to her feet and wringing out her +bathing suit. "Big chance is our middle name anyway. Lead on, Betty. +Where do we find this craft?" + +"I'm not quite sure that I can find it," said Betty, leading the way +into the woods, "but it was down this way somewhere. Don't make any +noise, girls, and let's hurry, or we won't get there before he +disappears again." + +Grace and Amy were now entering into the spirit of the thing, and they +followed at Betty's heels eagerly, careful not to step on stick or +stone that might betray their presence. + +Luckily Betty managed to stumble directly on the old derelict rowboat +where it lay in ancient helplessness in the concealment of a thick +grove of bushes along the upper reach of the stream. + +"Goody! This is almost too much luck," cried Betty exultantly. "You +get in the stern, Amy, and Grace in the bow. Mollie and I will do the +rowing." + +"I only hope the old thing doesn't take in too much water," said Amy, +as she and Grace got gingerly into the rickety old craft and Betty and +Mollie pushed it off from the shore. + +"That remains to be seen," answered the Little Captain as she handed +one of the ancient oars to Mollie. "There is one thing we shall have +to remember, Mollie," she said, as they pushed clear of the bank and +glided out into the swift water of the river, "and that is to keep far +enough this side of the falls to guard against being swept over it. +Bear hard on your right hand, Mollie honey. It wouldn't be much fun if +we upset here, you know." + +"Oh!" gasped Grace, holding fast to the side of the boat and noting +with dismay how plainly the roar of the falls came to them. "I wish we +had another oar, I'd help--" + +"You can help most, Gracie," cut in the Little Captain briskly, "by +keeping your nerve and helping us to keep ours. Mollie," she called in +a whisper that carried the length of the boat, "can you see-- It-- +yet?" + +"Yes," Mollie telegraphed back in the same tense whisper. "It's got +its back to us, I think." + +"Good," said Betty softly, adding as she threw all her weight against +her oar, "now let's keep still and work." + +It was queer how they referred to that presence at the head of the +falls as "It." Some way, in the weird moonlight, under the more than +unusual circumstances, it seemed almost impossible to give the thing a +name. + +"Was it Professor Dempsey?" they kept asking themselves over and over +again. But he had committed suicide. Or at least they had seen him +fall into the river, and they could have vowed that he did not come +out again. They had searched both sides of the river. How could they +have missed him? And yet, if that motionless figure at the head of the +falls was really Professor Dempsey, he must have been washed ashore +that day and evaded them as he had succeeded in evading them so many +times before. + +And all the time the roar of the falls was growing louder and louder +in their ears and they knew that theirs was a race with life and +death. + +Could they succeed in reaching the opposite bank before the deadly +current of the river should suck them over the falls; to almost +certain annihilation? + +The answer to the question came a moment later when, without warning, +the prow of the little boat struck on an unexpected projection of the +shore and they came to a standstill. + +"Thank heaven!" said Betty under her breath as Mollie jumped out and +pulled the craft further in to shore. "That was nearly the riskiest +thing you ever did, Betty Nelson." + +Once on shore again, the girls' confidence returned and they hurried +silently through the woods toward the spot where they had seen the +figure. Then Betty, who had taken the lead, suddenly motioned to them +to stop. + +She had caught a glimpse through the trees of the man, who resembled +more than ever a scarecrow in his crazy makeshift garments-- and at +the sight of him her heart unaccountably skipped a beat. + +Her thoughts had not gone beyond this moment. Strangely enough all her +energy had been concentrated upon reaching the man before he +disappeared. But now that they had succeeded so far she was at a loss +what to do next. + +But at that moment she inadvertently stepped on a dry twig that +snapped sharply under her foot, and at the sound the man had turned +fiercely, like an animal at bay. Then he wheeled about and made as +though to flee for the shelter of the woods. + +In this emergency Betty followed impulse. She ran out into the open, +calling to him wildly that his sons were alive. Not to run away, +because his sons were safe and well. They were coming to him---- + +The pitiful wreck of a man paused in his flight as the import of the +words seemed to sink into his befuddled brain, but he turned upon the +Little Captain a look of ferocious hatred that would have terrified a +less courageous girl than Betty. But her whole heart was in her +mission, and she had utterly forgotten herself. + +"Won't you please believe me?" she said, advancing toward him, hands +outstretched pleadingly. "I know what I'm talking about. Your sons, +Arnold and Jimmy----" + +As though the names of his boys had released some cord in his brain, +the man cried out hoarsely: + +"Jimmy and Arnold-- my sons, my little boys!" Then, turning fiercely +to Betty, he cried: "You're not lying to me, are you? Because I'll +throw you into the river! I'll cut you into little pieces!" + +As the man advanced menacingly, Grace screamed and Mollie ran forward +with some wild idea of protecting her chum, but Betty waved them back. + +"I'm not lying to you," she told the crazy man, looking straight into +his glaring eyes. "Your boys were wounded, but not seriously, and they +sailed a few days ago for this country on a hospital ship. They want +to see you more than anything else in the world," she added, playing +on the sudden softness that had crept into his wild eyes. "And they +sent their love to their dad." + +At sound of the old loving name all the fight went out of the old man +and he sank to his knees on the grass, sobbing horribly. + +They let him alone for a moment, then Betty motioned to Mollie, and +together they lifted him to his feet. The sight of his tear-stained, +unkempt old face, creased and lined with suffering, but with the +wildness gone out of the eyes, stirred a profound pity in the girls +and they wished more than anything in the world to make him happy +again. + +"We are going to take you home, Professor Dempsey," Betty told him +soothingly, as with Mollie's help she half led, half carried, him +through the woods toward the spot where they had left the boat, Amy +and Grace following awed and silent behind them. "And as soon as your +boys reach home we will bring them to you. Be careful of this big +rock. Ah, here's the boat." And talking all the time, softly and +soothingly as one would to a child, Betty at last succeeded in seating +the derelict old man in the equally derelict old boat. + +The girls tumbled in after him, and with a prayer in her heart Betty +pushed off from shore. + +That ride back across the river was as weird and unreal as any +nightmare the girls had ever lived through. Their queer passenger, +seeming the most unreal of all, was quiet for the most part but +occasionally he would sit up and look about him wildly and could only +be soothed back to reason by Betty's sweet voice telling him of his +boys-- Jimmy and Arnold. + +Somehow they reached the opposite shore, and, after pulling the boat +up among the bushes once more, they started back, the old man with +them, to Wild Rose Lodge. + + CHAPTER XXV + + THE OLD CROWD AGAIN + +Mrs. Irving, who had been worried by their prolonged absence, met the +girls at the door as they stumbled with the almost exhausted old man +up the steps of the porch. + +At sight of the latter she grew deathly pale, and leaned against the +door for support. She felt that all the world was growing black---- + +"Oh, please, please don't faint!" she heard Betty's young voice +calling to her desperately as it seemed from a long distance. "We've +depended upon you to help us." + +With a great effort she fought off the dizziness and drew herself away +from Betty's supporting arm. + +"It's all right," she said dazedly, "The shock, I guess. Betty what-- +who-- is that----" + +"Oh, please don't ask any questions now," Betty begged feverishly. +"Just help us, and we will tell you all about it later. This is +Professor Dempsey," she added, turning to the broken old man who stood +staring at them uncomprehendingly. "He can have Mollie's and my room, +can't he, Mrs. Irving? and we will bunk somewhere else." + +Mrs. Irving nodded automatically, still too dazed by the suddenness of +the thing even to think, and they helped the old man into Betty's room +and laid him on the bed. The tired, ragged, unkempt old head had +hardly touched the pillow before its owner had sunk into a heavy +sleep. + +For a moment the girls were startled, for it almost seemed as though +he were dead, but Betty put her hand on the ragged old shirt above the +heart and found that the action was strong and regular. + +"Perhaps it is the very best thing that could happen to him," she said +softly, and, laying a light cover over him, tip-toed from the room, +followed quietly by Mrs. Irving and the other girls. + +Once in the other room, with the need for action over, the girls felt +weak and spent, and it was only then that they realized that they had +been through a terrible ordeal. + +In broken sentences they told Mrs. Irving all that had happened and as +she listened she grew more and more appalled at the risk they had run +and the danger they had gone through. + +"Girls, girls," she cried when they had finished, "I was half wild +about you as it was. But if I had known the truth I think I should +have gone crazy. Just the same," she added and her eyes shone with +pride in them, "it was a glorious thing for you to do-- an unselfish, +wonderfully courageous thing. I'm proud of you!" + +In spite of the fact that they were tired out, the girls insisted upon +standing watch and watch that night. They felt that some one should be +with Professor Dempsey all the time in case he should wake in the +night with his old madness upon him. + +It was the longest night any of them had ever spent, and the morning +dawned upon a hollow-eyed, worn-out set of Outdoor Girls. + +"I never," said Betty, looking around at her white-faced chums +wearily, "spent such a terrible night in my life. How is the patient?" +she added, taking up the subject that had not left their minds for a +minute. "Who was in there last?" + +"I," said Grace, brushing out her hair, listlessly. "He is still +asleep." + +That report continued good all morning, and it was almost noon before +the ragged, unbelievably unkempt old man on the bed opened his eyes. + +The girls had been looking forward to, yet dreading, this minute. It +had been decided that only one of them should be in the room with him +when he awoke, but the rest were hovering close to the door ready to +give assistance if it should become necessary. + +But they need not have worried. The magic of his long sleep, together +with the glad news he had heard the night before, seemed to have +transformed the man overnight to his old gentle self. + +To be sure, he was amazed at his strange surroundings, and looked +uncomprehendingly into Betty's face is she bent compassionately over +him. But all he said was: + +"I declare, this is all very strange, young lady-- very strange. Would +you mind-- er-- telling me where I am?" + +At the tone, even more than the words, the girls felt a wild desire to +shout aloud their relief. For the tone was the same, gentle, polite +one that they remembered hearing that day when the little man had +entertained them in his cabin in the woods. + +Then Betty, as gently as she knew how, told him a little of what had +happened to him, and the girls could see by the surprise on his face +that he had no recollection whatever of the matters of which she was +speaking. + +"I declare it is most strange-- most strange," he declared when she +had finished, adding as he looked down and plucked distastefully at +his tattered shirt: "And this is the result of my-- er-- temporary +aberration, is it? Ah, but I remember," he sat up suddenly, a gleam of +fear in his eyes. "It was when I read of the death of my boys. +Something snapped in my brain, I think. You say"-- he turned to Betty, +grasping her hand imploringly-- "you say that my sons are well-- that +they are coming to me?" + +"Yes," said Betty soothingly, pressing him back upon the pillow. "They +are well and safe and will be with you soon-- in a few days, perhaps." + +"Ah," said the little man, submitting to Betty's touch, a happy smile +on his lips, "that is good. That is very-- very-- good--" and with a +sigh like a tired child's, he fell asleep again! + +"Did you hear what he said?" whispered Betty, her eyes shining as she +tip-toed from the room, closed the door softly behind her and faced +her awed and incredulous chums. "He's well, girls. He's completely +sane again." + +"It's a miracle," said Mollie breathlessly. + +And so it came to pass that some little time later four good-looking +young fellows, recently in the service of the greatest country on the +earth, and one of them still wearing his regimentals, saw a rather +unexpected sight as they swung down the path toward Wild Rose Lodge. + +On the porch sat an elderly, contented looking man, clad in garments +that would easily have accommodated two men of his size-- garments +belonging to Mollie's Uncle John, and seated about him in attitudes of +lazy comfort were four young girls. + +These young girls who were, at least from the standpoint of the four +young men, exceedingly good to look upon, were engaged in doing some +sort of fancy work. All but one of them, that is; for the fourth, a +girl with wavy brown hair and bright brown eyes, pink cheeks, and a +dream of a mouth, was reading to the elderly man who sat in the chair +of state. + +"Gee, Allen," whispered one of the tall youths to the one who still +wore the uniform of his country's service, "I feel as though we were +crabbing your act. Can't we fellows do the disappearing act----" + +But just at the moment the girl with the brown eyes and the pink +cheeks looked up, gave one little startled cry, and dropped the book +to the porch. + +The other girls looked up and then followed a scene that very nearly +made the temporarily forgotten and neglected old man on the porch drop +out of his chair in surprise. + +"Allen!" screamed the girls, all except the brown-haired, pink-cheeked +one, who, for some unaccountable reason hung back behind the others. +"You perfect angel!" + +"Why didn't you let us know you were coming so that we could have been +prepared?" + +"Oh, isn't your uniform lovely!" + +"And look at the dressed-up leggings!" + +These and various other exclamations like them, coupled to the fact +that all the girls, except the one that he wanted to most, had kissed +him, rather overwhelmed young Lieutenant Washburn and took his breath +away. + +His three companions, however, finding themselves neglected and out in +the cold, interfered at this point and saved his life. + +"Betty, what are you hiding away back there for?" cried Mollie to the +Little Captain, whose cheeks were pinker than ever and whose eyes were +shining very brightly with a sort of mixture of joy and fright. "Don't +you know Allen in his uniform?" + +"Aren't you going to kiss him?" chimed in Grace wickedly. + +"We all did," added Amy. + +But Betty had no intention of kissing Allen, although he begged her to +with his laughing eyes and she continued backing into the doorway, +until Mrs. Irving, coming up behind her, caught her up and pushed her +out upon the porch again. + +However, the chaperon monopolized Allen for a few minutes and gave +Betty time to catch her breath. She found Mollie introducing Professor +Dempsey to the astonished boys. These young soldiers wanted to ask a +hundred questions, but, catching a warning look from Betty, decided to +wait till later, when the little man himself was not present. + +Frank, who was perhaps more glad than any of them to see the father of +his chums alive and well, settled himself near the man and began to +pour into his starved and eager ears news of his sons and tales of +adventures in which they had figured. + +And while Betty was still smiling in sympathy with the look of +absolute happiness on Professor Dempsey's face, Allen dragged himself +away from the group of his admirers and came over to her. + +Boldly he pulled her hand through his arm and led her past the +laughing boys and girls, down the steps, and along the path that led +into the woods. + +"Be back in time for supper," Will called after them. "Something tells +me we are going to have some feed." + +"Oh, don't bother them," they heard Mollie's voice in laughing +reproof. "Remember, you were young yourself, once!" + +"And now," said Allen, when they had gone just far enough for the +trees and bushes to screen them from the view of the people on the +porch, "I want you to look at me, Betty. You haven't yet, you know." + +"I c-can't," said Betty in a muffled voice. "I guess--" she added +whimsically, "I guess I'm a little afraid of you, Lieutenant Allen +Washburn." + +With a glad laugh Allen put his strong young arms about her. + +"Do you think you can keep on all your life being afraid of me-- like +that?" he asked. "Little Betty?" + +And Betty, with the radiant joy of all youth in her heart, slowly +nodded. + _______ + +And what glorious days followed! The young folks never tired of their +tramps through the woods and walks in the vicinity of Moonlight Falls. +They gave themselves up to a good time and had it in full measure. + +"Gee, what an improvement over the trenches in France!" remarked Will +one day. "No more wars for me!" + +"So say we all of us!" sang out Frank. + +When they had to return to Deepdale the boys took Professor Dempsey +with them and Frank saw to it that the old man was made comfortable +until his wounded sons returned to him. Both of the hurt soldiers were +recovering, and the reunion of father and sons was most affecting. + +"Now for a final swim below the falls!" cried Mollie one day, when the +outing was coming to an end, + +"We ought to have a good time-- now there is no ghost to disturb us," +put in Amy. + +"A chocolate for the first one to enter the water!" exclaimed Grace, +waving her ever-present candy box in the air. + +"That settles it-- I'm off!" burst out Betty; and then all made a wild +dash for the swimming pool. And here let us say good-bye to the +Outdoor Girls. + + THE END + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT WILD ROSE LODGE *** + +This file should be named 4988.txt or 4988.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, wrlod11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, wrlod10a.txt + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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