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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..30b113c --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #60211 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/60211) diff --git a/old/60211-0.txt b/old/60211-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 5999456..0000000 --- a/old/60211-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6345 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's The Outdoor Girls Around the Campfire, by Laura Lee Hope - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: The Outdoor Girls Around the Campfire - or, The Old Maid of the Mountains - -Author: Laura Lee Hope - -Release Date: September 2, 2019 [EBook #60211] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AROUND THE *** - - - - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Sue Clark and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - -[Illustration: “THIS IS THE LIFE!” CRIED MOLLIE. - -_The Outdoor Girls Around the Campfire._ _Frontispiece--(Page 96)_] - - - - - The Outdoor Girls - Around the Campfire - - or - - The Old Maid of the Mountains - - BY - LAURA LEE HOPE - - AUTHOR OF “THE OUTDOOR GIRLS OF DEEPDALE,” “THE - OUTDOOR GIRLS IN THE SADDLE,” “THE MOVING - PICTURE GIRLS,” “THE BOBBSEY TWINS,” - “BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE,” - “SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT GRANDMA - BELL’S,” “MAKE BELIEVE STORIES,” - ETC. - - _ILLUSTRATED_ - - NEW YORK - GROSSET & DUNLAP - PUBLISHERS - - Made in the United States of America - - - - -BOOKS FOR GIRLS - -BY LAURA LEE HOPE - -12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. - -THE OUTDOOR GIRLS SERIES - - THE OUTDOOR GIRLS OF DEEPDALE - THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT RAINBOW LAKE - THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN A MOTOR CAR - THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN A WINTER CAMP - THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN FLORIDA - THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT OCEAN VIEW - THE OUTDOOR GIRLS ON PINE ISLAND - THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN ARMY SERVICE - THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT THE HOSTESS HOUSE - THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT BLUFF POINT - THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT WILD ROSE LODGE - THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN THE SADDLE - THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AROUND THE CAMPFIRE - -THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS SERIES - - THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS AT OAK FARM - THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS SNOWBOUND - THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS UNDER THE PALMS - THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS AT ROCKY RANCH - THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS AT SEA - THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS IN WAR PLAYS - -THE BOBBSEY TWINS SERIES - - (Sixteen Titles) - -THE BUNNY BROWN SERIES - - (Thirteen Titles) - -SIX LITTLE BUNKERS SERIES - - (Nine Titles) - -MAKE BELIEVE STORIES - - (Eleven Titles) - -GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK - - - - -COPYRIGHT, 1923, BY GROSSET & DUNLAP - -THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AROUND THE CAMPFIRE - - - - -CONTENTS - - CHAPTER PAGE - - I Plans 1 - - II Almost a Collision 10 - - III Enter the Twins 18 - - IV More Plans 26 - - V The Matter of a Will 36 - - VI The Little Old Lady 44 - - VII The Death of a Client 52 - - VIII Starting Adventure 60 - - IX Tramps 69 - - X A Toy Pistol 77 - - XI Burned Down 85 - - XII Making Camp 94 - - XIII Night in the Tent 103 - - XIV The Prowler 110 - - XV A Shadowy Bulk 119 - - XVI Air Mattresses 128 - - XVII The Old Maid of the Mountains 136 - - XVIII A Feast for a King 145 - - XIX The Storm 154 - - XX The Hold-Up 162 - - XXI Loneliness 173 - - XXII A Clew 179 - - XXIII The Lean-to 186 - - XXIV Romance 195 - - XXV Young Hearts 206 - - - - -THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AROUND THE CAMPFIRE - -CHAPTER I - -PLANS - - -“Putt--putt--putt!” came the rhythmic throb of the motor as the little -motor boat sped over the glassy surface of the lake, stirring up the -water on either side of it and leaving a frothy white trail in its wake. - -“How’s this for speed?” chortled the girl at the wheel, a pretty, -dark-haired girl with dancing brown eyes. “I reckon we could beat any -other boat on this old lake.” - -“And then some!” agreed Mollie Billette, slangily. “I wish some one -would come along and challenge us to a race.” - -“It would provide some excitement, anyway,” sighed Grace Ford, as she -lounged in the bow of the pretty little boat. “Looks like a pretty dull -summer to me, so far.” - -“How do you get that way, Grace Ford?” cried Betty Nelson, she of -the dark hair and dancing eyes whom the girls fondly called “Little -Captain.” “Tell ’em, Amy,” she added, to the quiet, sweet-faced girl -who lounged beside Mollie Billette. “Tell ’em what you told me a little -while ago.” - -Grace Ford sat upright, a chocolate half-way to her mouth, while Mollie -Billette’s black eyes regarded the “Little Captain” severely. - -“Betty Nelson, what have you been holding back from us?” she demanded, -but Betty was still looking at Amy Blackford. - -“Tell ’em, Amy,” she repeated. “The news is too good to keep.” - -“I’ll say it is,” agreed Amy, a smile lighting up her quiet face. “When -Henry spoke of it to me at first I thought it was too good to be true. -I supposed he was joking.” - -“Told you what?” cried Mollie Billette, in an exasperated tone. “If you -are not the most aggravating----” - -“Hold your horses, old dear,” drawled Grace Ford, quietly helping -herself to another piece of candy. “Amy has the floor----” - -“The deck, you mean,” murmured Amy, then added hastily, as the girls -threw impatient glances her way: “I’ll tell you just how it happened if -you give me a chance. You see, Henry,” Henry was Amy’s older brother, -“had a chance to take over an old shack near the upper end of Rainbow -Lake in part payment for a debt. And now that he has the shack, he -doesn’t know what to do with it.” - -The girls leaned toward Amy eagerly. - -“Then what?” asked Mollie. - -“Why,” said Amy, with a smile of quiet enjoyment, “I told him I thought -we girls might help him out, for the summer, anyway. I thought it would -be a great lark to camp out there during vacation.” - -“Amy, you are a wonder,” drawled Grace, but Mollie broke in impatiently. - -“Is he going to let us have it?” she demanded. - -“I should say so!” laughed Amy. “Said he would be glad to put it to -some sort of use. He said it would make a mighty fine summer camp but -that was about all it was good for.” - -“It will be ideal,” broke in the Little Captain, happily, as she -brushed a wind-blown strand of hair from her eyes. “Why, at the upper -end of Rainbow Lake we’ll be as much alone as if we were in an African -forest.” - -“More so, I hope,” drawled Grace, adding with a little shudder: “For in -an African forest they have wild animals for company while here----” - -“We sha’n’t see anything wilder than a chipmunk,” chuckled the Little -Captain. - -“Suits me fine,” said Grace heartily. “Wolves and bears may be all -right, but give me a chipmunk every time.” - -“My, isn’t she brave?” said Mollie, admiringly, and the other girls -chuckled. - -“Tell us more about this little shack, Amy,” said Betty, after a -while. “Is it very tiny, or is it big enough to contain us all without -squeezing?” - -“Henry said it is of fair size,” replied Amy, wrinkling her forehead -in an attempt to remember details. “There are two rooms in it and the -rooms are furnished in a rough sort of way, with home-made furniture.” - -The Little Captain let go of the wheel long enough to clap her hands -gleefully. - -“Great!” she cried. “This gets better every minute. Think of it. A -house ready-made for us, and furnished, at that.” - -“Too much luxury,” drawled Grace. - -It was the first day of July and the Outdoor Girls, never completely -happy unless they were engaged in some outdoor sport, had embarked -in their pretty motor boat _Gem_ for a sail down the Argono river. -Although the motor boat was really Betty’s property, the Outdoor Girls -rather regarded it as their own. And indeed, when it is considered that -none of the four ever used it without the other three, it was the same -to them as though the ownership were actually theirs. As a matter of -fact, what belonged to one of the Outdoor Girls automatically belonged -to all of them. - -Those who have kept in touch with Betty and her chums will need no -introduction to the _Gem_, but for the benefit of those who do not know -these Outdoor Girls so well, we will give a brief description of it. -For in this story the trim little motor boat plays rather an important -part. - -First of all, the _Gem_ had been given to Betty by an uncle of hers, -a retired sea captain by the name of Amos Marlin. The old fellow had -produced the best craft of its size that could be found anywhere. There -was a large cockpit in the stern, and a tiny cooking galley. Also the -little boat boasted a small trunk cabin and an unusually powerful and -efficient motor. Altogether a snappy little craft, well meriting its -name of _Gem_. - -And now, as the girls putt-putted briskly down the river, the thrill -of summer filling them with a fresh eagerness for adventure, it is no -wonder that Amy’s suggestion of a summer camp on the banks of Rainbow -Lake was greeted with enthusiasm. - -So far, having made no plans for the summer months, they had about -decided to spend a rather uneventful summer in Deepdale, the thriving -and busy little town in which they had been brought up. - -It might have been supposed, since Deepdale was situated so pleasantly -on the banks of the Argono--the latter emptying some miles below into -pretty Rainbow Lake--and since the bustling population of the town -itself numbered something like fifteen thousand, that the Outdoor Girls -would have been content to spend a summer there. - -However, although they agreed that Deepdale was “the finest place in -the world,” change and adventure were what they really hankered after, -and Deepdale was too familiar a spot to offer them either. - -But there was real adventure in the idea of camping out in the romantic -little shack so recently acquired by Amy Blackford’s brother, and they -welcomed it eagerly. - -“I suppose we ought to run down there and look the place over,” said -Grace, cautiously. Grace was the only one of the four Outdoor Girls who -really considered comfort where adventure was concerned, and this trait -of hers no amount of ridicule or impatience on the part of the other -girls could overcome. For Grace, who was tall and slim and graceful, -was very fond of her ease. Once she was assured that an outing was to -be “comfortable,” then she could start in to enjoy herself. - -So at this suggestion that they “run down there and look the place -over” the girls exchanged a glance of martyrdom. - -“Why, of course,” said Mollie sarcastically, “Grace will have to be -sure she has a real hair mattress to sleep on and clean sheets twice a -week. Maybe we could manage to get an easy chair aboard the _Gem_--one -like the kind Betty’s dad uses.” - -“A fine idea,” replied Grace, unabashed. “I never gave you credit for -so much thoughtfulness, Mollie dear. Have a chocolate?” - -Mollie sniffed disdainfully. - -“Keep your old chocolates,” she said. “The next time you offer me one -I’ve a good mind to throw the whole box overboard.” - -“Just try it,” said Grace, lazily. “You’d have to toss me over, too, -you know.” - -“Shouldn’t mind in the least,” said Mollie, at which the Little Captain -laughed and Amy Blackford chuckled. - -“Talk about wild animals,” cried Betty, gayly. “We won’t need any with -you and Grace about, Mollie dear. Two wildcats are enough.” - -“Did you hear what she called us?” asked Grace, feeling abused, but -Mollie was looking the other way. - -“We’ve gone a pretty long way down the river,” she said. “Look, Betty, -isn’t that the new lake steamer, the _General Pershing_?” - -Betty, who had been too absorbed in plans for the summer to notice -particularly where she was going, followed the direction of Mollie’s -pointing finger. - -Suddenly her breath caught in a gasp and a thrill of apprehension swept -over her. The steamer was indeed the _General Pershing_, the great -shining new boat which plied up and down the lake and the river, and -it was coming toward them at what, to the Little Captain, seemed an -appalling rate of speed. - -“Betty,” cried Mollie, leaning forward and catching Betty’s arm, “we’re -right in the path of it! For goodness’ sake, sheer over.” - -“I can’t--very far!” said Betty, tight-lipped. “It’s shallow, near the -shore and--the rocks----” - -Mollie took in the situation with a glance and a little groan of dismay -escaped her. At this point the river was very narrow and the shore on -either side bristled with cruel, jagged-looking rocks. A small boat -like the _Gem_ would be dashed to pieces upon them. Betty was right. -It would be madness to encroach too far upon them. - -And yet on the other hand the steamer menaced them with destruction. -Bearing down full upon them, it could not fail to meet them squarely in -the middle of that narrow channel! - -Useless for Betty to stop the motor. They had no time to turn, speeding -back to the safety of the wider water. If Betty kept her head, holding -the boat away from the oncoming steamer and at the same time far enough -from the rocks-- - -Amy and Grace, now fully alive to the peril of the situation, were -leaning forward, their faces white, their breath coming in terrified -gasps. - -The Little Captain, her hand resolutely on the wheel, a prayer for -guidance in her heart, watched the oncoming rush of the big steamboat. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -ALMOST A COLLISION - - -On, on came the big steamboat, looming larger as it bore down upon -them! Nearer, nearer, while the wash from its approach reached the -little motor boat in sickening undulations--a danger not thought of -before! They would be swept on to the rocks! - -Closer, closer! It would strike them! It must! It was over them, -gigantic, overwhelming! The girls nerved themselves for the shock that -was to come. Grace closed her eyes-- - -And then--the steamer had passed. Betty had swerved at just the right -moment to escape collision. The _Gem_ was acting like a drunken man, -swirling and reeling in the heavy wash of the great steamer. - -They were heading straight toward the rocks, driven by the agitated -waves. In another moment they would be dashed upon them-- - -“Betty!” screamed Grace. “We’ll be killed! The rocks!” - -But the wail was drowned in the sudden roar of the motor. The _Gem_ -leaped forward, her nose swung around to meet the oncoming waves. -Gallantly she plowed through the water which was lashed to a froth -by the progress of the steamer, just grazing a jagged edge of rock, -flinging spray over her bows, soaking the girls. - -Then she was free of the channel, speeding for the safety of the open -water. Betty, looking back over her shoulder, saw that the decks of the -_General Pershing_ were black with people who had rushed to the rail to -see the fate of the motor boat. - -The steamer had slowed down and half turned around as though intending -to come to the rescue, but, seeing that this was unnecessary, she -straightened once more, continuing on her way. - -Betty’s hands trembled on the wheel. The reaction left her faint and -sick. As though from a long distance she heard Mollie’s voice saying: - -“Well, if that wasn’t a narrow squeak, I never saw one!” - -“It was the Little Captain saved us,” said Amy. “She knew just what to -do, as she always does.” - -And this indeed was the reason for Betty Nelson’s nickname of “Little -Captain.” For this brown-haired, brown-eyed girl seemed always to know -just what to do at a critical moment and, more than this, she always -did it. She was just eighteen and the only daughter of a rich carpet -manufacturer of Deepdale. It was hard to tell which Betty loved the -more, her kindly, indulgent father or her lovely mother. - -Grace Ford, the second of the Outdoor Girls, was tall and slender, fond -of her comfort and loving candy and sodas and sweets of all sorts. Her -father was a distinguished lawyer and her mother was a fine looking -woman who spent a good deal of her time in club activities. Grace also -had a brother, Will Ford, of whom she was passionately fond. - -Then there was Mollie Billette, daughter of Mrs. Pauline Billette, a -well-to-do, sprightly little widow with more than a dash of French -blood in her veins. Perhaps her French ancestry explains Mollie’s quick -temper. Mollie also had a little brother and sister, twins and seven -years old. The latter were always in mischief, and although Mollie -loved them dearly, she sometimes found it very hard to have patience -with them. - -The last of the quartette of Outdoor Girls was Amy Blackford, whom the -girls had first known as Amy Stonington. She was the ward of John and -Sarah Stonington and at one time there had been considerable mystery -regarding her real parentage. Later, when the mystery was solved, Amy -found out that not only was her real name Blackford but that she was -possessed of a splendid brother as well, Henry Blackford. Like Mollie, -Amy was seventeen, but there the resemblance ended. She was as quiet as -Mollie was hot-tempered, and there was something sweet and appealing -about her that roused the protective instinct of the more vigorous -girls. - -So much for the girls. Then, there were the four boys who almost -invariably accompanied the girls on their adventures. There was, of -course, Will Ford, Grace’s brother, who, as a soldier in the World War -had distinguished himself by some clever secret service work. Will -loved quiet Amy Blackford and Amy, in turn, made no secret of her -feeling for him. - -There was Allen Washburn, the clever young lawyer who thought the -Little Captain was about the nicest person in the world. Allen had -enlisted at the call of the United States to arms. He was made a -sergeant in the American Army and, although he had gone over a -sergeant, he came back with a commission as lieutenant. No wonder the -girls--and especially Betty--were proud of him! - -Frank Haley was another of the boys in the little group. A splendid -young fellow, liked by all the girls, and liking them all, he had been -introduced into “the crowd” because of his friendship for Will Ford. - -There was, too, Roy Anderson, jolly and full of fun, always ready -for everything that came along. Perhaps Mollie expressed the general -sentiment toward him when she said that they were fond of Roy chiefly -because he always kept them amused. And how apt we are to love the -person that amuses us! - -The girls had earned their title of “Outdoor Girls” from the fact that -they almost always managed to spend their vacations in the open. And -because of this they had run into a great number of adventures. - -There was, for instance, their first tramping tour of the country, -the incidents of which are told in the first volume of the series, -entitled “The Outdoor Girls of Deepdale.” There had followed many other -adventures, at Rainbow Lake, at Ocean View, in Florida, and, later, -on an island called Pine Island where they had found many interesting -things, including a real gypsy cave. - -During the war they had served in a Hostess House while the boys, -together with countless others of our fine American lads, sailed off -across the ocean to fight for liberty. - -Another summer they had spent at Wild Rose Lodge, a lovely spot hidden -deep in the woods where they became interested in a poor old man who -thought his two sons had been killed in the war. - -In the volume directly preceding this, entitled “The Outdoor Girls -in the Saddle,” these girls had had one of their most interesting -adventures. Mrs. Nelson, Betty’s mother, through the death of a -relative, had become the owner of a ranch. - -The most important thing about this ranch--in the estimation of the -girls, at least--was the fact that it was situated right in the midst -of a great gold-mining district. How the girls with Mr. and Mrs. Nelson -went to the ranch, spending a glorious few weeks in the saddle, and how -gold was finally found on the ranch is told of in detail in that volume. - -And now we turn once more to the present with Betty Nelson, the Little -Captain, saving her chums from the peril of collision with the great -river steamer _General Pershing_. - -As for Betty, although the girls heaped her with their praises, she had -never felt less like a heroine in her life. - -Scarcely knowing what she did, she turned the nose of the little boat -back toward Deepdale. The thought was unpleasant that once more they -would be forced to pass through that narrow channel, bounded on either -side by the rocky shore. - -However, this time there was no _General Pershing_ bearing relentlessly -down upon them and they passed through the dangerous spot without -further mishap. - -“Goodness, I’m glad that’s over!” said Grace, relaxing once more in her -seat, her voice still tremulous. - -“We couldn’t possibly have met that old boat in a worse place,” said -Mollie, glaring resentfully after the _General Pershing_, whose bulk -was diminishing rapidly in the distance. - -“Well,” said Betty, trying to laugh and not making a very good job of -it, “there’s no use blaming the steamer. We shouldn’t have been there, -you know.” - -“Don’t you want me to take the wheel, Betty?” spoke up Amy, suddenly. -“Come back here in my place and I’ll take the _Gem_ the rest of the -way.” - -But though she smiled at her, Betty denied firmly that there was any -reason why she should give up the wheel. - -“I’m all right,” she said, adding, as she rounded the curve of an -island, skirting the shore toward Deepdale: “Do you want to stay out -any longer, or shall we call it a day and go up to my house? Mother -said there was an apple pie in the refrigerator and some ginger ale on -the ice.” - -“Oh, boy!” sighed Grace ecstatically. “Lead me to it.” - -“So say we all of us,” said Mollie, and Amy joined in the chorus. -Strange how their terrifying experience of a few minutes before -disappeared in the distance as they thought of apple pie! - -“And we can talk over our plans for camping, too,” said Amy, at which -the girls realized that they had not thought of Henry Blackford’s shack -in the woods for five whole minutes. This would never do. - -By the time they had reached the dock at Deepdale they had nearly -forgotten their encounter with the _General Pershing_ and so were -genuinely surprised when they saw Allen hurrying toward them. - -At sight of the tall figure Betty’s heart missed a beat and her face -felt suddenly hot. If only she might stop that miserable habit of -blushing--especially when Allen was around! - - - - -CHAPTER III - -ENTER THE TWINS - - -“Gee Christopher, but you girls gave me a scare!” exploded the young -lawyer, as soon as he came within speaking range. His words included -all the girls but his look was only for Betty. - -“What do you mean, gave you a scare?” asked Mollie, her black eyes -dancing. “We haven’t seen you for almost a week.” - -“Maybe Betty has,” murmured Grace, with a wicked glance at the Little -Captain. - -“No, I haven’t,” said the latter, looking up demurely. The furious -color had subsided and she was just flushed enough to look unusually -pretty. As for what Allen thought-- - -“Look here,” he said, abruptly, his handsome young face very serious as -he searched Betty’s expression, “did Babcock tell me the truth when he -said the _General Pershing_ almost ran you down?” - -On Betty’s face was a look of bewilderment. - -“How did you know?” she questioned. “It only just happened?” - -“Who’s Babcock?” asked Grace, with interest. - -“A lawyer I’ve met once or twice,” returned Allen, still with his -worried eyes fixed on Betty. “We ran into each other a few minutes -ago. Seems he just landed from the _General Pershing_ and he was full -of this incident. Said it was a miracle the boat wasn’t wrecked. The -description he gave me of it sounded very much like the _Gem_.” - -“It was the _Gem_,” said Mollie. - -“But he was wrong about a miracle saving us,” put in Amy, throwing an -arm about the Little Captain. “It was Betty.” - -Allen was on the verge of saying that Betty was a miracle, anyhow, but, -considering that there were a good many people about, thought better of -it. However, his eyes spoke for him. - -“You must be more careful, Betty,” he said, taking the rope from her -with which she was making the _Gem_ fast to the dock. “You mustn’t take -such chances when I’m not around.” - -He was close to her and speaking in a low tone. Amy and Mollie and -Grace had considerately turned away and were walking slowly in the -direction of Betty’s house. Having fastened the little boat securely, -Betty and Allen turned to follow them. - -“Please promise you’ll be more careful when I’m not with you,” Allen -persisted, and Betty glanced up at him with a hint of laughter in her -eyes. But the laughter hid a little hurt, for Betty was feeling a bit -neglected. Mollie was right when she said they had not seen nor heard -from Allen for several days. Of course he had been busy--he always -was--but just the same-- - -So said Betty: - -“If I took chances only when you were around, I wouldn’t take very -many, would I?” - -She tried to speak lightly but she did not quite succeed, not as far as -Allen was concerned. Looking down at her suddenly serious little face -he wished that they might be alone for just five minutes so that he -might explain. And he was in such a rush! - -“That isn’t fair,” he said, gravely. “You know I wouldn’t have stayed -away if I hadn’t had to. Look here, Betty--dear,” they had come to -a corner and he had stopped, facing her. He had an appointment at -three-thirty and here it was three-twenty-five this minute. “I can’t -stay now, I’ve got to rush. Can I see you to-night?” - -What perverse imp in Betty made her answer lightly: - -“I have an engagement to-night, Allen.” - -All at once the young lawyer looked savage. Confound that engagement! - -“Betty,” he said, desperately, “I’m coming to-night anyway, and if you -won’t see me I’ll camp on your doorstep till you do.” - -With this threat he turned and hurried down the street, his back as -stiff as a ramrod, the heavy frown still on his brow. Why, he thought, -gloomily, did Betty always have to look most adorable just when she -was going to be most aggravating? How was he going to keep his mind on -business, anyway, when all he could think of was Betty’s face? - -Meanwhile, Betty had looked musingly after his retreating figure -and then, at the thought of the savage look on his face, chuckled -unfeelingly. Just the same, her eyes were a little wistful as she -hurried to catch up with the girls. She did wish his old business -wouldn’t take up so much of his time! Maybe if he had taken up -medicine, now, instead of the law--but no, that would have been worse -yet. Doctors never had any time at all to themselves. She was still -wondering whether she ought to see Allen that night--knowing all the -time that she would not miss seeing him for the world--when the girls -turned and spied her. - -“Well, did we walk slowly enough?” asked Mollie, teasingly, as together -they turned the corner into the street where Betty lived. - -“Is he coming to-night?” added Grace, with a chuckle. - -“Since I can’t answer both of you at once,” Betty retorted, “I sha’n’t -answer you at all. There’s mother on the porch,” she added, to change -the subject. - -“And now,” sighed Grace, happily, as they turned in at the walk of -Betty’s house, “just lead us to that apple pie.” - -While they ate pie and drank gratefully of the ice-cold ginger ale, -Betty told her mother of Henry Blackford’s cabin in the woods and -explained to her the use they wished to make of it. - -“It looks just providential to us,” she finished, eagerly. “Mother, if -you were so cruel as to say I couldn’t go, I believe I’d take a running -jump and land right in the middle of the lake.” - -Mrs. Nelson’s eyes twinkled. - -“Far be it from me to drive you to that, dear,” she said. “I think the -idea is a splendid one and you all ought to be very grateful to Mr. -Blackford for suggesting it.” - -Whereupon Mrs. Nelson found herself promptly kissed by not only Betty, -but the other girls as well. So sudden was the onslaught that she waved -them away laughing and declaring it would take her a week at least to -get back all the breath she had lost. - -A few minutes later, having finished all the apple pie and ginger ale -in sight, the girls started _en masse_ for Mollie’s house, to gain a -like consent from Mollie’s mother, the sprightly little French widow. - -“And maybe,” said Grace hopefully, as they neared the Billette home, -“your mother has something in the refrigerator for us too, Mollie dear.” - -“Your appetite does you credit, Grace,” said Mollie sarcastically. “But -in the language of our day I must beg you not to kid yourself. If there -ever was anything in the ice box, that dainty has been done away with -by Dodo and Paul long ere this. So if you feel you need any further -refreshment you’d better stop at the pastry shop and fortify yourself.” - -As they were at that moment passing the shop in question Grace gazed -longingly into the pastry-filled windows, then as the girls watched her -laughing, regretfully shook her head. - -“Can’t be done,” she murmured sorrowfully. “Used up half my allowance -already and only three days of the week gone.” - -“It surely gets me, Grace Ford,” said Mollie, a trifle resentfully--for -Mollie was gaining flesh a little too rapidly to suit her--“how you -manage to eat sweets all day and still keep your sylph-like form.” - -“It’s a gift,” remarked Grace, with the sweet, superior smile that -always made Mollie boil. “I sha’n’t tell you the secret, Mollie -darling, even if you did gain five pounds in two weeks.” - -“Didn’t,” retorted Mollie, with a frown. “It was only four and a half. -I don’t see why you always have to exaggerate everything.” - -“What’s half a pound between friends?” returned Grace, airily. - -Luckily they reached Mollie’s home at this minute, which fact probably -averted an exchange of blows, so Betty laughingly declared. - -Mrs. Billette was at home and she listened rather absently to the -girls’ recital of what they hoped to do during the summer. Since -at times they all talked at once it was small wonder that a rather -bewildered expression grew in her eyes. - -“You want to go camping in this cabin in the woods, which belong to -Mr. Blackford, is that so?” she said at last, in her pretty accent. -“Why, yes, I think it will be all right. You have learn’ pretty well -to take care of yourselves,” she added, with an indulgent smile that -for a moment chased the worried frown from her forehead. However, a -sudden sharp sound, like the falling of a heavy body from above stairs, -brought back the harassed expression to her face. - -“Those children, Dodo and Paul!” she said, wearily. “To-day they have -nearly drive me wild. I wish you would take them with you into the -woods, Mollie. It would be all right for them to run wild there. They -could break nothing but their own heads.” - -“Which they would certainly do,” said Mollie, with a wry little face. -The idea of having her fun hampered by the mischievous antics of the -twins was not a pleasant one. - -At that moment there came a terrific bumping and thumping down the -stairs and with one accord Mrs. Billette and the four girls rushed to -the door. - -“It is done at last!” wailed Mrs. Billette. “This time they have kill -themselves!” - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -MORE PLANS - - -But it would take more than a mere matter of falling downstairs to put -an end to the activities of Dodo and Paul. This they proved themselves, -by coming up smiling and chuckling and very much alive at the foot of -the stairs. - -“Oh, you will be the death of me yet, you li’l rascals,” moaned Mrs. -Billette, picking them up and feeling carefully over their small bodies -to make sure that there were no bones broken. “I shall die of heart -failure, if nothing else. Why will you not behave yourselves? Dodo, -Paul, tell mother, are you hurt, darlings?” - -Dodo and Paul regarded their mother and the girls in wide-eyed -amazement at the fuss that was being made over them. - -“Course, we’re not hurt,” said the little girl, rubbing a dimpled knee -as though it had come in too hard contact with the edge of a stair. -“Paul an’ me, we was runnin’ a race to see who could get downstairs -first an’ Paul got in the way----” - -“Den she pushed me,” said Paul, taking up the narrative in an injured -tone. “I would have won de race only she pushed me. Wasn’t fair--” - -“Was too,” interrupted Dodo, hotly. “You pushed me first, right up -there at the head of the stairs an’ so I pushed you too.” - -“Ooh,” said Paul, his eyes wide and injured. “Dodo Billette what a big -story-teller----” - -“Paul,” interrupted his mother sharply, “that will do. How many times -have I told you that you must never call your little sister names?” - -“Well, but she is,” insisted the round-eyed Paul, whereat his -exasperated parent pushed him gently but very very firmly toward the -front door. - -“There, go outside, both of you,” she said. “And see if you can stop -quarreling for five minutes. What have I done to have such terrible -children!” - -As the door closed upon the obstreperous twins she raised her hands in -a typically French gesture and turned to the girls, despairingly. - -“You see how it is,” she said, leading the way once more into the cool -peace of the living-room. “Not five minutes in the day do they give me -peace. Sometime I think I shall go mad.” - -“Poor mother,” said Mollie, putting her arm about the little woman -and seating her in the easiest chair in the room. “I know they’re a -dreadful pest, but just think how much worse it would be if you didn’t -have them. Remember the time when they were kidnapped----” - -But Mrs. Billette stopped her with a quick gesture. - -“Do not remind me of that!” she commanded, sharply. “Have I not done -my best to forget that dreadful time? But you do well to speak of it, -after all, Mollie,” she said, more gently, patting Mollie’s hand. “It -make me more contented to bear with them. They are very little yet and -it is natural for children to be always in mischief.” - -Those who are familiar with the Outdoor Girls will remember when the -mischievous, adorable twins, Dodo and Paul, had been kidnapped by a -villain who demanded an outrageous sum of money for their safe return -and how the same twins had been rescued from a ship, wrecked on the -rocks of Bluff Point near the cottage where the Outdoor Girls were -summering. And it was true that whenever Mrs. Billette or Mollie were -tempted to be impatient with the twins they remembered the despair of -that dreadful time and dealt gently with the erring Dodo and Paul, -aggravating little wretches that they could be. - -“Just the same,” said Grace as, a few hours later, the girls started -for home and dinner, “I’d just as soon leave the twins behind when we -go on our vacation.” - -“Poor kiddies,” said Betty, with a twinkle in her eye. “Just think how -they would enjoy themselves!” - -“Yes,” retorted Grace, unmoved. “But just think how we would enjoy -ourselves.” - -“Speaking of our vacation,” said Mollie, who had agreed to walk as far -as Betty’s house with her. “It seems as though things were just about -settled for one grand and glorious time.” - -“How about you, Grace?” asked Amy, as they paused at the corner before -separating for their respective domiciles. “Do you suppose your folks -will give you the O.K.?” - -“Amy, what slang!” chuckled Betty. “If we don’t look out, you’ll be -giving us points.” - -“Impossible,” retorted Amy, at which Betty grinned still more. - -“Why, yes, I guess,” said Grace, in reply to Amy’s question. “The folks -will let me go anywhere as long as Will comes along.” - -“Good gracious, are we going to let the boys in on this?” asked Mollie, -wide-eyed. - -“Did you ever know of a time we were able to keep the boys -out--altogether?” retorted Grace, favoring Mollie with a pitying -glance. “We’ve tried it, haven’t we?” she added, as Mollie still -stared at her. - -“We-ell, not very hard,” said Betty, impishly, and, looking at her, the -girls had to laugh. - -“You’re enough to demoralize anybody, Betty Nelson,” said Mollie, -giving her a hug. “You won’t even let us pretend we don’t want the -boys.” - -“I don’t see why we should pretend,” said Amy, boldly, flushing as the -girls turned their laughing eyes upon her. “We always have a lot better -time with them,” she persisted, and the Little Captain hugged her -impulsively. - -“Of course we do. Don’t let ’em tell you different,” she said gayly, -then turned decidedly on her heel. “I don’t know about the rest of -you,” she flung back at them over her shoulder, “but I do know I’ve got -to be getting home. Mother will think I’m lost. Coming, Mollie?” - -And so they parted, promising to get together on the morrow for a grand -“pow-wow” and to make definite plans for their outing. - -“Is Allen coming to-night, Betty?” asked Mollie of the Little Captain, -as they stopped before Betty’s door. - -“He said he was,” said Betty, lightly, adding ruefully: “And he left -before I had a chance to contradict him.” - -“Which of course you wanted to do,” teased Mollie, adding, soberly: -“Have you noticed anything unusual about Allen, Betty?” - -Betty looked startled, but her answer sounded indifferent enough. - -“I haven’t had much of a chance to notice anything about him lately,” -she said, but sharp little Mollie was not one whit deceived. - -“He’s got something on his mind,” she said, thoughtfully. “Once or -twice I’ve met him on the street and he was in such a hurry going -somewhere that he didn’t even notice me. The last time I called after -him and he stopped and apologized for not seeing me, just like a -gentleman. But for all that, he was in a dreadfully big hurry to get -away.” - -“Just busy, I guess,” said Betty, adding, as she answered her mother’s -call from within the house: “He’s getting to be terribly popular, you -know.” - -Although Betty had denied that she had noticed any change in Allen, in -her own heart she knew that she had, and wondered what could be the -matter. She ate her dinner absently and hurried through her dessert--it -was a good one, too, plum cake with hard sauce--so that she might -“pretty” herself before Allen arrived. - -As she brushed her dark curls into some semblance of order and -regarded her flushed face in the mirror over her pretty dressing table, -Betty reflected whimsically. - -“And I was wondering,” she said, a little quirk at the corners of her -mouth, “whether I should see him or not. It would really be better if -I didn’t. It might teach him that he can’t stay away for a whole week -without even ’phoning--” She paused and regarded her image thoughtfully. - -Then, with a smile, she patted the last unruly lock of hair into place -and went over to her closet to select the prettiest gown she had. - -“And all the time,” she mused, “I knew I’d see him. I had to when he -spoke in that tone. And he knew it too. Well,” with a sigh, “there -isn’t any use worrying over it, I suppose.” - -The dress she took from the hook was a fluffy organdie of that popular -and becoming color known as “American beauty.” And when Betty slipped -it over her dark head and stood once more before the mirror, the color -of it miraculously matched the color in her cheeks. Betty--and the -Little Captain was not at all conceited--was well satisfied with the -effect. - -Before she had quite finished putting the last touches to her pretty -toilet she heard Allen talking and laughing with her father on the -porch. - -“It’s a wonder,” she thought, resentfully, “that he can spare any -time at all from that old business of his. I wonder,” she added, -inconsistently, “if he will like my dress.” - -As a matter of fact, it is doubtful if Allen really saw the dress at -all. For he was staring straight at Betty and no dress, however lovely, -could compete with Betty’s face when she looked as she looked to-night. - -Mr. Nelson, enjoying an after-dinner cigar, noted the direction of the -young lawyer’s glance and chuckled to himself. He liked Allen Washburn -very much, and, strange as it may seem, he liked his pretty daughter -even better. So it is very easy to see that everybody was happy. - -After a while, like a very thoughtful and obliging parent, he went -inside, ostensibly to play the phonograph, but really to ask proudly of -his wife if Betty wasn’t the prettiest thing she ever saw. - -To which Mrs. Nelson replied, that, though she hadn’t seen Betty yet -to-night, she would agree, just on general principles, that she was. - -“And the best of it is,” added the woman, softly, “Betty doesn’t know -how lovely she is. She is just as sweet and unspoiled as she was at -ten.” - -“Let’s hope that she will always be so,” replied Betty’s father, -gravely. - -Meanwhile, out on the porch the last warm rays of the sun had given -place to the soft summer twilight and Allen brought his chair closer -to Betty’s so that he might watch the expression on her face. She was -smiling a little, as though enjoying some joke that he could not share -and he wondered if she were going to let him be serious. It was very -seldom that she did. - -“Are you laughing at me?” he asked, suddenly. - -Betty’s face became, on the instant, demurely grave. - -“How could you think it?” she murmured, looking up at him innocently. -“What is there funny about you, Allen?” - -“A good many things, I’ve come to believe,” answered Allen, ruefully. -“At least, every time I see you, you seem amused.” - -“I haven’t been amused very much lately then, have I?” she murmured, -and once more Allen began to look savage. - -“Stop it!” he said, and Betty looked at him, wide-eyed. Her mirth -nearly bubbled over. - -“Were you speaking to me?” she asked, and then at the look on his face -she began to laugh and the more savage he looked the more she laughed. - -Allen got up and walked to the other end of the porch. A moment later -Betty’s voice, still choked with laughter, reached him. - -“Allen, don’t be a goose,” she said. “Come here and talk to me. I won’t -laugh. Truly I won’t.” - -Allen came, still forbidding, and sat down beside her. He was quiet so -long that she finally reopened the conversation. - -“What’s the matter, Allen?” she asked, gently. “Are you worried about -anything?” - -At her changed tone he turned to her eagerly. - -“Will you listen to me without laughing?” - -There was a sparkle in Betty’s eyes but her lips were grave. - -“Yes, anything you say,” she said, meekly. - -Allen looked suspicious, but he went on, just the same. - -“There _is_ something on my mind,” he said, so gravely that immediately -Betty became grave too. “I’d like to tell you, little Betty, and then -maybe you will realize why I haven’t been able to come around lately.” - -“Tell me,” said Betty, softly. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -THE MATTER OF A WILL - - -Allen paused a moment, his hands clasped on his knees, his eyes -thoughtfully upon them. - -“I have a client,” he said at last. “He’s an old, old man. Though he -retained me a week ago, it was only to-day that I was able to persuade -him to put his last will and testament into writing. Poor fellow, he -seems to have had a horror all his life of making a will. Thought that -the moment he did, it would be the signing of his death warrant.” - -In spite of the warm evening breeze Betty shuddered. - -“I don’t wonder,” she said. “A will has always seemed a horrid thing to -me.” - -“But a very necessary one,” Allen reminded her. “The old fellow has -considerable of this world’s goods and since he can’t hope to take them -with him where he’s going, it’s only sensible to dispose of them justly -before he goes.” - -“Oh,” said Betty, pityingly. “Is he dying, Allen?” - -The young lawyer nodded soberly. - -“And his dying isn’t the most pitiful thing about it,” he said. -“Everybody has to make up his mind to die sometime and he has lived -longer than most. But what worries me,” he paused and the frown -deepened, “is that he has something on his mind that, it seems, he -can’t bring himself to confide to anybody. Even the will that he drew -up to-day isn’t final--or at least, I judged that it wasn’t by the fact -that he told me to come back to-morrow.” - -“You think he wants to change his will?” asked Betty, puzzled. “I -wonder why.” - -“If I knew that,” said Allen, with a sudden smile, “I’d know -everything, most likely. The other day when he was out of his head--but -there,” he checked himself, drawing himself up short as though he were -about to say too much, “I can’t betray the confidence of a client. Not -that he’s given me his confidence to any marked extent,” he finished -with a rueful smile. - -Betty was quiet for a moment, thinking over what he had said. She knew -Allen well enough to be sure that he had not told her everything he -knew. That, as he said, would be to betray the confidence of a client. - -There was something very pathetic in the thought of the aged man dying -with something on his conscience, a misdeed possibly, perhaps an -injustice to some innocent person, and unable even in his extremity, -poor stubborn old fellow, to confess. - -“Suppose, Allen--” she said suddenly. “Suppose he dies without making a -confession?” - -Allen shrugged his shoulders. - -“That’s probably what he will do,” he answered. “And in that case the -mystery--if there is one--will die with him.” - -“It’s a pity,” said the Little Captain thoughtfully. “I wish we could -do something to help him.” - -“Well,” said Allen, turning to her with a queer little smile on his -lips, “it’s just like you to wish that. But if I were you I wouldn’t -pity the old codger too much. I reckon he’s been a pretty hard man in -his day.” - -Allen’s lips tightened, and again Betty thought that there was -something more behind his words than he was free to tell her. She saw -also that the matter of this queer old man and his will had taken a -great hold upon him. There surely must be some mystery. Allen was not -one to let himself get wrought up about nothing. - -“I like that red thing,” said Allen, suddenly, and Betty, looking at -him, surprised, saw that he meant her dress. - -She laughed and made an impudent little face at him. - -“Thanks,” she said. “But it isn’t red. It’s American beauty.” - -“Same thing,” said he, with masculine indifference to names. “It’s -pretty anyway. I say, Betty,” after a pause, during which Betty’s gaze -had been steadily averted from him, “am I forgiven?” - -“For what?” she asked, knowing perfectly well what he meant. - -“For staying away. You know I wouldn’t have done it if I could have -helped it.” - -“I know that,” replied Betty, and then, as he leaned closer, went on -hurriedly: “I’ve something to tell you, too. We’re going camping this -summer.” - -“We? Whom do you mean by we?” he asked, laughing. - -“Whom should I mean?” retorted Betty. “Us Outdoor Girls, of course.” - -“Oh, then I’m not invited----” - -“If you want to come----” - -“Betty----” - -“Allen, if you won’t be sensible, I’ll--I’ll have to send you home, -that’s all.” - -At which threat Allen subsided, though Betty had an idea it would not -be for long. She hurried on to tell him about the cabin at Rainbow -Lake and the young lawyer was very much interested. - -“Ought to be no end of fun,” he said. “I suppose you’ll wear sporting -suits and sit around the campfire at night and fight off the wild -animals----” - -“There aren’t any wild animals,” protested Betty. - -“I’m sure you’re mistaken,” disputed Allen, earnestly. “I’ve heard -there are no end of man-eating critters around there. You’ll need some -strong men--one strong man, at least--to protect you.” - -“Don’t know any,” retorted Betty, flippantly, at which Allen only -laughed indulgently. - -“You just think you don’t,” he said. - -And after awhile Mrs. Nelson called down, wanting to know if Allen had -the correct time, and Allen, taking the hint, said good-by--or rather, -he started to say good-by. To be exact, it took Betty just ten minutes -by the clock to shoo him off the porch. - -And after he was gone Betty sighed and looked up at the moon. - -“It’s just ten-thirty,” she thought resentfully. “They might have let -him stay a little longer!” - -As they had agreed, the girls met the next day to make definite -arrangements for their trip. Since the distance was only a few miles to -the upper end of Rainbow Lake and they could go by water all the way, -they decided to go in the _Gem_. - -When Allen, a few nights later, heard of their decision he protested -strenuously. Since the day the girls had so nearly collided with the -_General Pershing_ he had had a dread of letting Betty go anywhere in -the motor boat. - -However, as the girls had no idea whatever of allowing him to spoil -their plans, they finally talked him down. - -“The idea!” said Mollie, indignantly. “If you had seen Betty handle -the boat that day you wouldn’t be afraid to let her go anywhere. I bet -there isn’t one of you boys who could have done as well.” - -As the three other boys, as well as Allen, were present, they protested -vehemently, and it was an hour or more before quiet was restored. - -However, it was eventually decided that the girls were to have their -way, leaving for Rainbow Lake in about a week. A few days later, the -boys would join them, bringing their tent and camping paraphernalia. - -They were all tremendously excited over the plan, and the time they had -set for the start seemed awfully far away. However, as Grace insisted -she could not go a step without the right kind of clothing--she wanted -one of the latest knicker suits--and since she was sure she could get -a smarter outfit in Kayford, a neighboring town, than she could in -Deepdale, the other girls were finally argued into agreeing to the -delay. - -“But one thing I do know,” Betty said at last. “If you go to Kayford -for a knicker suit, we’re all going to Kayford too, and for the same -purpose.” - -“Suits me,” Grace had drawled. “We can go in Mollie’s car.” - -And so it came about that on one fine morning a day or two later the -Outdoor Girls climbed merrily into Mollie’s six and departed for -Kayford. - -It was a gorgeous day and the girls’ spirits matched the weather. -It was always fun to go shopping anyway, and under the present -circumstances it promised to be even more fun than usual. - -Mollie’s car was running in fine form and it fairly ate up the miles -between Deepdale and Kayford. They glided into the main street well -before noon. - -“We’ve plenty of time to shop before lunch,” cried Betty gayly. “And -then we can go to that new little tea shop and get something good. I -think I’ll have some chicken à la king.” - -“Hear the child!” sighed Grace. “And it’s one whole hour to lunch time.” - -Half of that hour they spent in buying knicker suits that fairly made -them ache for the woods, if only for the joy of wearing them. Then, -when they no longer had any excuse for lingering in the fascinating -shop, they sauntered down Main Street toward the little restaurant of -which Betty had spoken, looking in the store windows as they went. - -As they were passing the Woman’s Exchange, Betty suddenly stopped and -uttered a cry of delight. - -“Girls,” she cried, going nearer to the show windows, as though drawn -there irresistibly, “look at those embroideries. Did you ever see -anything so perfectly stunning in your lives?” - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -THE LITTLE OLD LADY - - -Lured by the lovely, hand-embroidered centerpieces and doilies in the -window, the girls entered the Woman’s Exchange. - -“I’m going to see those stunning things close to,” declared Betty. - -“I wonder if they are really hand-made,” said Amy, and Mollie sniffed. - -“If they’re not, then I never saw a hand-made article in my life,” she -said, positively. - -“But that drawn-work!” marveled Grace. “I don’t see how it could be -done by hand.” - -“It looks to me like Danish embroidery,” said the Little Captain, -thoughtfully. “Mother had a Danish maid once and she used to do the -most exquisite embroidery I’ve ever seen.” - -Upon inquiry they found that the embroideries were on the second floor -of the building. - -Dainty things of all sorts and descriptions lined the glass-fronted -shelves--exquisite baby clothes and filmy dresses for older children, -to say nothing of lovely things that would have fitted well in the -wardrobes of the Outdoor Girls themselves. - -“Oh, for a million dollars!” sighed Mollie, her eyes as wistful as a -starving puppy when he sees a bone. “I believe I could spend it all -without moving from this spot.” - -“What good would those pretty things do us now?” Betty argued, -reasonably. “We couldn’t possibly wear them on a camping trip. Come on, -I see those embroideries over there.” - -She half-dragged, half-led the reluctant girls over to the counter -where reposed such exquisite creations of the embroiderers’ art that -the girls fairly caught their breath. - -A young woman hovered suggestively close to them, hoping, no doubt, to -make a sale, but it was a long time before they realized her presence. - -They handled the lovely things lovingly, exclaiming over them in awed -tones. - -“Wouldn’t mother like to have this centerpiece!” said Grace, softly. “I -wish now I hadn’t spent so much of my allowance.” - -“And this luncheon set,” sighed Betty, ecstatically, holding up a doily -of such rare design and exquisite workmanship that it seemed more the -fabric of a dream than anything else. “My birthday is coming pretty -soon. I wonder if anybody here is bright enough to take a hint.” - -“Rather give it to you for a wedding present,” suggested Mollie, -wickedly. - -Betty said nothing, merely bending closer over the lovely thing she -held in her hand. - -“I do believe it’s Danish work,” she said, and at that moment the alert -young saleswoman spoke up. - -“You’re right, Miss,” she said, looking as proud as though she herself -were the maker of the luncheon set. “It is Danish embroidery of the -finest sort--and hand work, every stitch of it. I’ve seen fine work in -my day, but nothing that could equal that.” - -“I believe you,” murmured Betty, adding, with a quick, upward look: “Do -you happen to know the person who does this work?” - -“Yes, indeed,” said the young woman briskly. It had been a slow morning -and she was glad of the chance to talk to sympathetic listeners. “An -old lady she was--as quaint an old soul as I ever saw. We were quite -fond of her around here. Every Saturday morning she used to come in, -often with some new piece, prettier than the last, to sell.” - -“Why do you say she ‘used to come?’” asked Amy, gently. “Doesn’t she -come any more?” - -The young woman shook her head and a frown puckered her forehead. - -“No, Miss, she doesn’t. And the worst of it is we don’t know what has -become of her.” - -“Didn’t you know where she lived?” asked Betty, with interest. - -Again the young woman shook her head. - -“Nor yet can we find anybody who does,” she said. “She was a queer old -soul and she came and went as quietly as a mouse.” - -“And you don’t even know her name?” asked Mollie, idly. - -“No, Miss. You see,” the girl went on, warming to her subject, -“she had been coming here so long with her beautiful work that -we’d come to think of her as part of the Exchange--like a door, or -something--somebody who would always be here. And we none of us knew -how fond we were of the gentle old soul until she failed to show up. -Even then we thought she’d turn up in a week or two, but she didn’t. We -think now that maybe she’s dead. She was very old and feeble.” - -“Too bad,” said Betty, her warm heart instantly touched. “Do you sell -many of these?” she added, touching a piece of embroidery. - -“Not so many,” returned the clerk. “You see the work is so rare that we -have to charge a pretty good price for it. People come here and say how -beautiful it is--and go away. And yet we can’t honestly sell it for -any less. We promised the old lady a pretty good price for it, you see. -It’s worth it.” - -“Oh, dear,” murmured Grace, petulantly. “How unfortunate.” - -“What’s the matter, now?” asked the Little Captain, politely. - -“Oh,” said Grace, replacing the centerpiece she had been studying upon -a little pile of pieces, “I had my mind set on buying that for mother’s -birthday, but if it’s so very expensive I guess I can’t.” - -“We might make a special price for you,” said the young saleswoman -obligingly, and straightway they fell to bartering while the other -girls moved away to study other articles of interest on the floor. - -“I feel sorry for that old woman,” said Amy, absently staring at some -filmy embroidered handkerchiefs. “It must be pretty bad to be old and -friendless----” - -“Well, I don’t see much use in our worrying about it,” said Mollie, -briskly. - -“There’s Grace with the centerpiece under her arm,” chuckled Betty. -“Wonder how she did it.” - -“By pretty near breaking herself I suppose,” said Mollie, adding -ruefully: “What do you bet we have to treat her to lunch?” - -But both Amy and Betty were too wise to bet on anything so sure to -go against them, and in this way they proved their shrewdness. Once -outside the store Grace confessed, not at all shamefacedly, that -after buying the centerpiece the entire extent of her resources was -twenty-five cents. - -“That,” said Betty, with a twinkle, “will just about buy you one -sandwich.” - -“Have a heart,” protested Grace. “The way I feel one sandwich would -just about whet my appetite.” - -“Well, girls, I suppose we can’t see her starve,” sighed Betty, as they -entered the tempting little tea shop, all white tables and blue walls. - -“A blight on our soft hearts,” murmured Mollie, at which Betty and Amy -giggled and Grace smiled sweetly. And the way she ordered from the -delectable dishes on the menu, one might have been excused for thinking -that Grace herself was treating to the luncheon. - -“All right,” grumbled Mollie, as she prepared to cut into her chicken -patty. “You just wait, Grace Ford. Next time we come here all of us -girls are accidentally going to forget our pocketbooks. That ought to -fix you.” - -“Let the future take care of itself,” said Grace, airily. “Just at -present I’m having a lovely time!” - -After lunch they thought of some more shopping they had to do--mostly -for things which they needed on their trip--so that it was late -afternoon before they reached Deepdale once more. - -As Mollie stopped the car before Grace’s door to let her get out, she -handed her a paper parcel containing the precious centerpiece which -Grace had overlooked. - -“Don’t forget anything,” said Mollie, with elaborate politeness. “And -don’t forget--next time is your treat!” - -“I envy your mother, Gracie,” Betty called after her, as Mollie started -the motor. “I reckon she has a happy birthday.” - -Amy’s house was the next stop and on the way Betty remarked how quiet -the girl was. - -“What’s the matter, Amy dear?” she asked, curiously. “You act as if you -had lost your last friend.” - -Amy shook off her thoughtful mood and smiled. - -“I suppose you’ll think I’m foolish,” she said, a bit shyly. “But I -just can’t get that old lady out of my mind--the one who does the -embroidery.” - -“Listen, Amy,” remarked Mollie, screwing around in her seat until the -girl came within her range of vision, “if we should feel bad about -every poor unfortunate person in this world, we would all be joy -killers. So stop worrying.” - -“I suppose so,” sighed Amy, but the troubled look did not leave her -eyes. - -“I’d hate to have Amy’s conscience,” chuckled Mollie to Betty, after -they had left Amy at her door. “She’s a darling, of course, but she -makes herself no end of trouble worrying about other people. If she -could help any by worrying, it would be different.” - -Betty nodded, but her eyes also were thoughtful. - -In a few minutes she was standing on her porch waving good-by to Mollie -as the big car sped up the block and turned the corner. - -“What a perfect day it’s been,” she sighed, as she turned to enter the -house. “I do wish everybody could be as happy as we girls are.” By this -it may be seen that the Little Captain, like Amy, was still thinking of -the little old lady who sold embroideries through the Woman’s Exchange. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -THE DEATH OF A CLIENT - - -The next few days were crowded with final preparations for the trip. -Although the girls had assured themselves that there would be “nothing -to do” to get ready, they found, as usual, that there was a great deal -more to do than they had counted on. - -But at last everything was ready, the last utensil packed, and the last -“canned heat” can crammed into its appointed place. The _Gem_ had been -overhauled by loving hands, its decks “swabbed” and its brasses scoured -till they shone like gold. - -And as they stood regarding their work and realized that at last -everything was finished, Mollie proposed that they all come over to her -house that evening for a little farewell party, they being scheduled to -start early the following morning. - -“The party will be very exclusive,” Mollie declared, “including only -the four boys and our four selves.” - -“And we’ll shoo the boys home early,” said Betty, preparatory to -hurrying home for a hasty dinner. “If we hope to get a reasonably good -start in the morning Grace will have to be in bed by eleven.” - -At this direct insult Grace drew herself up haughtily. - -“Speak for yourself, old dear,” she said, at which the girls chuckled -derisively, thus adding insult to injury. - -And so came the evening and with it three of the boys in fine spirits -and ready for “a bang-up time,” as they expressed it. There was only -one thing that checked the hilarity, and that was Allen’s absence. - -Although she tried to join in the fun as if nothing was amiss, Betty’s -eyes constantly wandered to the door and she grew anxious as the time -passed and still no Allen appeared. - -Finally Mollie cornered her and asked a question. - -“Didn’t Allen say he’d be here, honey?” she asked, with a glance at the -clock. - -“He said he might be a little late,” interrupted Frank Haley, who had -overheard the question. “Said he had a little business to attend to.” - -“Mighty busy chap, Allen, these days,” added Roy, admiringly. “If his -reputation grows much bigger I guess this little town won’t be able to -hold him.” - -“Oh, bother work,” said Mollie, crossly. “Who wants to work, anyway, -when they might have a good time?” - -“I guess he doesn’t want to,” Betty spoke up, gravely, and as though -they realized that there was something behind her words they looked at -her expectantly. - -“Hand us the news, Betty,” commanded Roy. - -“He’s drawing up a will for an old man who doesn’t seem to know his own -mind,” replied Betty promptly. “As soon as he draws up a will he tears -it up and sets to work making another one.” - -“Lots of fun for Allen,” commented Grace. “I should think he’d tell the -old man to get another lawyer.” - -“Guess he’d rather do it himself,” said Betty, her eyes once more -wandering to the door. “You see he thinks he’s got wind of some mystery -connected with his crusty client, and you know what Allen is when he -smells a mystery.” - -“Regular old sleuth-hound,” agreed Will Ford, with a grin. “Always told -Allen he should have been a detective instead of a no-’count lawyer. -Don’t look at me that way, Betty. I promise never to do it again.” - -As a matter of fact Betty had not looked at him at all, being too busy -watching the door. But she did look at him now, just long enough to -send him one withering glance. - -“Well, all I have to say is,” said Mollie, indignantly, “that if Allen -passes up my perfectly good party, just for the sake of drawing up a -worthless old will, then all I say is----” - -“Say it to my face, woman, say it to my face,” commanded a laughing -voice, and Allen stepped into the room. - -Mollie giggled and promptly forgot to be indignant. - -“You know what I think of eavesdroppers, don’t you?” she countered, and -Allen grinned. - -“I wasn’t,” he said. “I could hear your voice raised in anger, fair -maid, all the way down to the corner.” - -“Goodness, I didn’t know it was as penetrating as all that,” she said, -adding, with an hospitable wave of her hand: “Come in, stranger, come -in. Hang up your hat and make yourself at home.” - -“Thanks,” returned Allen, and was immediately the center of merry -bantering. - -“How is our famous sleuth this evening?” queried Frank. “Have you run -the villain to earth or is he still running?” - -“Give us the inside stuff, old boy,” urged Roy, leaning forward -confidentially. “Has the old gentleman left you all his money or only a -couple of millions? Don’t be close, old man. Remember, we’re all your -friends.” - -“I doubt it,” retorted Allen, and over the heads of the “rabble” -exchanged a glance with Betty. “I judge from your remarks,” he said -then, “that Betty has told you about my mysterious old client and his -taste in wills.” His voice lowered and his face took on the grave look -which it so often wore of late. “The poor old man has made his last -will. He is dead.” - -A silence fell upon them all and they felt suddenly and solemnly -depressed. Death, even the death of a stranger, is not a thing to be -taken lightly. - -Mollie was the first to rally. - -“I don’t see why you should tell us about it,” she said, reproachfully. -“Didn’t you know it would spoil our party?” - -“I don’t know why it should,” said Allen, shaking off the thoughtful -mood with an effort. “None of you knew the old man and we can’t help -him any by glooming. I reckon he’s happier now than he has been for a -good while, anyway.” - -They all felt, as Betty had felt the night when Allen had first spoken -to her about his client, that he knew a great deal more than he was -at liberty to talk about, and though, their curiosity aroused, they -pressed him for details, they soon found that the attempt was useless. -When Allen once made up his mind not to talk, wild horses could not -draw another word from him. - -But this did not keep them from wondering considerably what Allen knew -about the queer old man and why he would not talk to them of what he -knew. - -But as the evening wore on they gradually forgot everything but the -good time they were having--all that is, but Allen and one other. That -other was the Little Captain. - -Underneath Allen’s forced gayety she saw that he was grave, that -something was on his mind, and she longed to help him. But Allen -guessed nothing of this. As he watched Betty, laughing and gay, the -center of all the fun, as she always was, it was little wonder he did -not guess how serious her thoughts were. He was a little resentful, -too, because he had so little chance to be near her. - -When they danced and he started for Betty it seemed as though everybody -in the room got in his way and one of the other boys whisked her off -beneath his very nose. - -“Too slow, Allen,” Roy called once, as he whirled the Little Captain -off to the music. “You think you’re popular, but I’ll say Betty can -give you points.” - -Allen grunted and made for the seclusion of Mollie’s side porch. He -wasn’t in the mood for music and dancing anyway, and as for Betty, she -did not seem to know he was in the world. - -Lost in gloomy reflection he was startled by a light touch on his -shoulder. He looked up to see Betty herself smiling impishly down at -him. He caught her hand and drew her down on the couch beside him. -It--the couch--was a wicker one of the porch furniture variety and a -more uncomfortable object to sit on could hardly be imagined. However, -if either Betty or Allen was uncomfortable, neither of them noticed the -fact. - -“So you did notice me hanging around on the outskirts of the crowd,” he -reproached her, adding with a sigh: “My, but it’s good to get you out -here away from all that.” - -By “that” he evidently meant the music and Betty leaned forward, her -brow a little puckered. - -“You’re worrying about that poor old man who died to-night. I know it!” -she said, adding before he could interrupt: “Is there anything you can -tell me, Allen, just to get it off your mind? I’d like to help if you’d -let me.” - -Allen covered her hand with his and for just a moment she let him do it. - -“I’d tell you if I could tell any one,” he said gratefully. “You know -that, Betty. But I can’t say any more just now.” - -“Then come in and dance,” said Betty, jumping to her feet in one of her -swift changes of mood. “We can’t stay out here, you know.” - -“Why not?” he demanded. - -“Well, it isn’t being done,” said Betty whimsically, adding, with -apparent innocence: “Listen, that’s a waltz, isn’t it? Frank just loves -to waltz with me!” - -“You little wretch!” laughed Allen, as he followed her into the -brightly lighted room. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -STARTING ADVENTURE - - -The girls awoke next morning to a day that seemed just made for them. -The air was balmy and unusually cool for that time of the year. The sun -shone brightly and there was not a cloud to spoil the even blue of the -sky. - -The boys had agreed to carry their luggage for them down to the dock. -As the latter consisted of a few blankets, with utensils and some other -small and necessary articles wrapped snuggly inside, the burden would -not be great. - -They had laid in quite a stock of canned goods, bacon, and other -foodstuffs which they had already stowed away in the _Gem_. - -“I hope some tramp doesn’t take it into his head to investigate,” Betty -had said the day before, when they were leaving the little boat. “If -so, we might find ourselves minus provisions.” - -“At the worst, we could always buy more,” Mollie had retorted, and the -matter had dropped there. - -Since Henry Blackford’s cabin would serve them for ample shelter the -girls had no need for a tent or for tent furnishings. This had, of -course, simplified their preparations considerably. - -According to Amy’s brother, there was a good oil stove in the cabin, -also several utensils. However, as the girls had no way of knowing what -condition these utensils were in, they preferred to furnish their own. - -It had been arranged the night before that, promptly at seven-thirty -the next morning, Allen was to repair to Betty’s house, Frank Haley to -Mollie’s, Roy to Amy’s. Will Ford was taking down his sister’s luggage. - -Although Grace had argued that seven-thirty was an unheard of hour to -start and absolutely unnecessary, considering the short distance they -had to go, she had been ruled down by a majority of three to one. - -“It’s always more fun to start early,” Betty had declared, adding: “And -you never know what trouble we may run into. If anything should happen -to the engine it might take some time to get it going again.” - -“And we want to get to camp while it’s light enough to do plenty of -exploring,” Mollie had finished, resolutely. - -Just the same, Betty, excited and flushed with a sense of adventure, -standing on her front porch waiting for Allen the next morning, was not -at all sure that Grace would be true to her promise. - -“If she keeps us waiting this morning----” she began, to break off as -she saw Allen coming at a swift pace up the street. - -“Hello,” he called, his eyes lighting up as he spied Betty. “Where did -you get the new togs? My, but you look great!” - -“Thanks,” said the Little Captain, demurely, glancing down at the trim -tweed of the knicker suit she had bought in Kayford. “I rather like me, -myself.” - -And then they laughed together, merrily and for no particular reason -except that it was the kind of day which seems just made for laughing. - -On the way down to the dock where the _Gem_ lay rocking in the gentle -swell from the river, they were still gay. But when they reached -the pier and found that they were the first to arrive, Allen became -suddenly grave. - -“Somehow I don’t like the idea of your going to this lonely cabin all -alone,” he said, as, under Betty’s instructions, he disposed of the -small blanket roll in the stern of the _Gem_. “There may be tramps up -there.” - -“Yes,” retorted Betty gayly. “And there may be wild elephants too, and -cyclones or maybe an earthquake. Anything may happen, but I’ve a strong -hunch it isn’t going to.” - -“Just the same, I’ll feel better when we fellows get up there with you.” - -“You’re coming then, Allen?” she asked, quickly. “Do you think you can -leave your horrid old clients long enough?” - -“Long enough for week-ends, anyway,” said Allen, with a smile, adding -soberly: “It’s going to be mighty lonesome down here without you.” - -“Oh, well, you’ll always have your work,” said Betty, wickedly. It was -not a fair remark at all and she knew it was not. She had seen the boys -and girls coming down the street which led to the dock and a moment -later they were completely surrounded, leaving Allen not one chance to -retort. - -Every one was joyful, even Grace--which was unusual at this early -hour--and they got under way amid a bombardment of persiflage from the -boys. - -As the motor of the _Gem_ began its rhythmic putt-putt, Roy began to -sing in a far from melodious voice “The Boys They Left Behind Them.” -The others joined in, ending the song in a joyful shout. - -Just before they passed out of earshot Allen made a megaphone of his -hands and shouted something which only Betty understood. - -“I’ll get even yet,” he yelled, and for answer Betty waved a mocking -hand. - -“Now what have you been doing to him?” asked Grace, adding virtuously: -“I think it’s a shame the way you treat that poor boy, Betty Nelson. -You never give him an easy moment. Dancing so much with Frank last -night, for instance. I could see murder in Allen’s eye.” - -“Just the same,” remarked Mollie as the _Gem_ gathered speed and they -left the shore further and further behind them, “I notice he always -comes back for more. You must admit, Grace dear, that Betty has a way -with her.” - -“Altogether too much so,” said Grace, with a sigh. “When she’s around -none of the rest of us has a chance.” - -“Don’t mind me, ladies,” chuckled Betty. “I’m not listening.” - -“You don’t have to,” said Mollie, the ever-generous. “You know it -anyway, without our telling you. All the boys are crazy about you----” - -“Even Percy Falconer,” murmured Grace, and Betty wrinkled up her pretty -little nose. - -“Why spoil a perfect morning by mentioning Percy?” she inquired. “I -should think you’d know better, Gracie.” - -Percy Falconer, a native of Deepdale, was a fast and fatuous young -man with more money than brains. He was a dandy with a liking for the -extreme in style, and on several occasions had attempted to ingratiate -himself with Betty. However, Betty had always managed to discourage -his budding attentions, and usually in a manner most discomforting to -Percy. It goes without saying that the youth was a standing joke with -the girls. - -“I hear Percy isn’t going with that fast crowd any more,” spoke up -gentle Amy. “Maybe he’s reformed.” - -“Well,” remarked Mollie, her nose in the air, “I’ll say he can stand a -good bit of it.” - -For a while everything went well with the girls and they were beginning -to see visions of getting to camp in time to cook luncheon when -suddenly something went wrong with the _Gem’s_ engine. It did not go -dead, but there was a queer note in its putt-putting that worried Betty. - -As they were passing Triangle Island--one of the many picturesque -islands which dotted the Argono River--Grace suggested that they run -into shore while Mollie and Betty “looked the engine over.” - -“Be sure you say Mollie and Betty,” snorted Mollie. “What’s the matter -with your ‘looking the engine over?’” - -“I’d feel sorry for the engine,” chuckled Betty, and even Grace joined -in the laugh at her expense. - -Having visited the island before, Betty knew the very spot where -conditions were best for landing. This was a little inlet from the -river, deep enough to allow the _Gem_ to come close to shore. - -As soon as they came near enough Grace and Amy grasped the overhanging -branches of trees and swung themselves to firm ground, leaving Betty -and Mollie in the boat to do the “dirty work.” - -After considerable tinkering Betty announced that they were ready to -start again but so much time had passed in the operation that Amy and -Grace declared they were starving, despite the fact that it was not yet -twelve o’clock. - -“This is the best place ever for lunch,” Grace argued. “And we had our -breakfast so early I really think we need something to eat.” - -As the girls had thoughtfully brought along a picnic lunch in case -they were not able to reach camp till later in the afternoon, Betty -and Mollie brought it to light and then scrambled nimbly on to shore, -the Little Captain with a rope in her hand with which she intended to -fasten the boat to some sort of mooring. - -“It would be a great thing, wouldn’t it,” she said, as she wound the -rope about a stout tree and tied a seamanlike knot in it, “to wake up -and find the _Gem_ sailing out to sea with us marooned on a desert -isle?” - -“More thrilling in the movies than in real life,” drawled Grace. “Now -let’s get busy, girls. I’m starved.” - -“Oh, not down here,” Betty protested. “I know of a perfect duck of a -place on the other side of the hill up there--flat rock for a table and -everything.” - -“But the boat!” protested Amy. “Suppose it should----” - -“Now don’t go imagining things,” interrupted Betty, gayly slipping an -arm through Amy’s and drawing her upward. “The _Gem_ couldn’t get away -from her moorings if she tried. Trust your aunt Elizabeth.” - -They found the “perfect duck of a place” Betty had mentioned and all -agreed that she had not said half enough for it. There was the great -flat rock surrounded by mossy grass and on the rock they spread their -lunch while they plumped to the soft and yielding ground with signs of -content. - -“We’re as alone as though we were at the end of the world,” said Grace, -contentedly munching a sandwich. “I wouldn’t change places with the -King of England just now.” - -“I don’t suppose many people come here, except to picnic like us,” said -Amy, and then sat up suddenly as though she had heard something. - -Betty made a grab for a glass of crabapple jelly which had almost been -upset by Amy’s sudden motion. - -“What’s the matter, Amy?” asked Grace, lazily. “You look like a scared -jack rabbit.” - -Amy made a motion for silence. - -“I hard a noise,” she said, with an uneasy glance over her shoulder. -“It was like some one stealing through the woods. Oh, girls!” - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -TRAMPS - - -Of course the other girls laughed at Amy, as they usually did at her -“imaginings.” - -“Maybe it was a squirrel----” began Mollie. - -“Planning to attack us from the rear,” finished Betty. - -“Or perhaps it was only a cricket chirping in the tree,” drawled Grace, -biting into her third sandwich with relish. - -“Chumps, all of you,” said Amy, in mild disgust, while the girls -giggled enjoyably. “You can make fun all you like, but I know I heard -somebody.” - -“Well, suppose you did?” asked Betty, easily. “Maybe some summer -picnickers like ourselves, seeking a cozy spot wherein to dine.” - -“Maybe,” said Amy, doubtfully, sticking to her point with unusual -stubbornness. “But picnickers wouldn’t go sneaking around, spying on -us, would they?” - -“Oh, Amy dear, desist,” begged Grace, lazily. “We came here for lunch, -not melodrama.” - -“Well, have it your own way,” retorted Amy, feeling a bit abused by the -general lack of belief. “But don’t be surprised if, when we get back to -the water, we find the _Gem_ gone.” - -Betty sat up, startled. The next moment she was briskly gathering -together the remains of the lunch. - -“What’s the great hurry?” protested Grace. “Here, come back with that -sandwich, Betty Nelson. It’s only half eaten.” - -“Your hard luck, old dear,” said Betty, unfeelingly, adding, as she -scrambled to her feet and brushed away the remaining crumbs: “I don’t -know whether Amy was dreaming or not, but I’ve got a hankering to get -back to the _Gem_, all the same.” - -Mollie got to her feet, eyeing the Little Captain curiously. - -“Amy got you scared?” she queried. - -“Not scared--just curious,” retorted Betty, as she led the way back -toward the spot where they had left the motor boat. - -Amy and Mollie followed close behind her, leaving Grace to arrange her -hair with the aid of a tiny mirror she always managed to have somewhere -about her person. - -So it came to pass that, a few seconds later, she was startled by the -sound of voices lifted angrily. She scrambled to her feet, thrust the -mirror hastily into the pocket of her jacket, and made after the girls. - -[Illustration: “PLEASE GET OUT OF OUR BOAT,” SAID BETTY. - -_The Outdoor Girls Around the Campfire._ _Page 71_] - -Coming in sight of the _Gem_ she witnessed a most amazing tableau. -There, sprawling on the deck of the pretty boat, lazily taking their -ease in the pleasant sunshine, were two men. By their ragged clothing -and the two weeks’ growth of beard on their faces they were easily -classed as tramps of the most unpleasant order. - -One was short and fat, red of countenance, with a bald head and -black, beady eyes that made Grace think of a canary bird. The second -was a tall, lanky fellow with a long, lantern-jawed face and a cruel -thin-lipped mouth. - -Grace thought her heart would stop beating. In a moment, the unpleasant -truth flashed upon her. They were alone on this remote island with two -disreputable men who might be, probably were, desperate characters. - -Wide-eyed, she looked at the Little Captain. What would she do? Betty -was not long in answering that question. - -Her little nose was up in the air and her eyes looked black as they -flashed at the men. - -“Please get out of our boat at once,” she said in a voice that was -deadly quiet. “You have no right there and you know it.” - -“Findin’s keepin’s, lady,” returned the fat tramp in an oily voice. -“We’re havin’ a fine time. Why should we move?” - -“Because I say so,” Betty shot back at him. “And I happen to own that -boat.” - -“Ah, now, lady,” whined the tall fellow, in a thin nasal voice, while -he shifted his position to a more comfortable one, “you wouldn’t -disturb two old fellers who are restin’ so pretty, would you now? You -look like your heart wuz as kind as your face is pretty.” - -At the look that followed these words Mollie stepped forward -impulsively, flinging an arm about the Little Captain. - -“You great big loafer!” she cried furiously, “you wouldn’t dare say a -thing like that if we had a man with us. He--he’d duck you in the river -till you were nearly dead.” - -“’Twould be a nice cool death to die this kind of weather,” retorted -the tall rascal, with his evil grin. “Bring on your hero, lady. We’d -like to meet him.” - -“Sure,” sneered the other. “Where is the little dear?” - -Mollie was about to retort when Betty laid a warning hand on her arm. - -“Go over there,” she directed in a whisper, indicating by the barest -motion of her hand the tree about which the rope attached to the _Gem_ -was wound, “and untie the knot in the rope. Don’t let them see you do -it. Leave the rest to me.” - -Mollie shot a sharp look at the Little Captain and by the light in her -eyes decided that Betty had thought of a plan. She began immediately -sidling over toward the tree, but seeing that the eyes of the tramps -followed her, she paused and stooped over as though she were tying the -lace of her boot. - -At the same moment Betty’s voice came to her, clear and sharp as a -pistol shot. She looked up and saw that the Little Captain grasped a -black, ominous looking, object in her hand. - -“It’s a pistol!” Mollie whispered, gaspingly. - -Then seeing that the attention of the tramps was diverted from herself, -she slipped over to the tree and began deftly pulling out the knot -which Betty had put in the thick rope. - -“A pistol,” she thought, her heart hammering. “How in the world did -Betty get it?” - -Meanwhile Betty was getting in a little fine work, the artistry of -which the Outdoor Girls did not fully appreciate till afterward. - -“Now I think you’ll move,” the Little Captain called to the startled -tramps. Her voice was not like Betty’s at all, so thin and metallic -it was. There was resolution in that voice, and the tramps knew she -meant what she said. “I’ll give you till I count up to ten,” she went -on. “Then if you’re not both completely out of sight I’ll try my aim on -you. I’m very much in need of a little practice.” - -But she did not need count up to five. Out of that boat leaped the two -men, the tall one’s long legs carrying him a little in advance of his -fat comrade. - -Headlong they scuttled up the side of the hill, making wildly for the -shelter of the trees while Betty, turning so as to keep them covered, -counted calmly and not too slowly, up to ten. - -As the fleeing tramps disappeared from view at the counting of the last -numeral, Betty excitedly turned her weapon on the girls. - -“Get in the boat--get in!” she urged, flourishing the pistol wildly. -“Get in before they find out it’s all a sh--sham. Don’t stand gaping -there. Get in, I tell you!” - -The girls obeyed, more for the sake of getting out of range of that -wildly moving pistol than from fear of the tramps. They were still -gasping and a bit dazed from the suddenness of what had happened when -the putt-putt of the _Gem’s_ engine fell reassuringly on their ears. -At the same moment the little boat fairly leapt away from shore, Betty -tensely grasping the wheel. - -It was not till they were well out upon the river that Betty relaxed -her position. Then, to the girls’ utter surprise and horror, she began -to laugh hysterically. - -“Mollie! Take the wheel! Do!” she cried, as the _Gem_ zigzagged crazily -across the water. “I’ve got to have my laugh out or I’ll d-die.” - -Obediently Mollie took the wheel and the Little Captain made room for -her. Then she covered her face with her hands and rocked back and forth -with merriment--or tears. The girls were not sure which. - -“Betty, are you crazy?” cried Mollie. “Stop it this minute and tell us -what’s the matter with you.” - -“There’s n-nothing the matter with me,” gasped Betty, lifting a face -that was flushed with laughter. “Only it’s so--so--funny.” - -“Come out of it, Betty Nelson, and explain yourself,” demanded Grace. -“What’s so funny?” - -“That!” replied Betty, making a little helpless movement with her hand -toward the pistol which had dropped unnoticed to the deck. “They--those -men--looked so--funny----” She began to laugh again while the girls -looked at one another in despair. - -“Poor Betty,” sighed Grace. “She was such a happy girl!” - -“Never,” retorted Betty, her voice still tremulous with laughter, “as -happy as she is at this minute. Oh, girls, it was such a good joke and -it got across so beautifully.” - -As she threatened to go off again into another paroxysm of mirth, -Mollie leaned forward and picked up the pistol from the deck, holding -it gingerly. - -“If you don’t explain at once, Betty Nelson,” she threatened, -“I’ll----” then she stopped while her eyes widened in amazement and -dawning comprehension. “Why, it’s--it’s--a fake,” she stammered. - -“You wretch,” cried Grace, while Amy leaned over Mollie’s shoulder to -peer at the counterfeit weapon. “And all the time you fooled us as much -as you did the tramps!” - -“Well, you must admit they were some fooled,” said Betty, leaning -back, weak with her laughter. “To see them galloping up the hill with -a perfectly harmless little toy pointed at their backbone was a sight -I’ll never forget. I--I wouldn’t have missed it for anything.” - - - - -CHAPTER X - -A TOY PISTOL - - -The girls were sailing out in mid-stream now with the mouth of Rainbow -Lake only a short half mile before them. And they were still discussing -the tramps and Betty’s masterly treatment of them. - -In spite of the joke that had been played with the toy pistol, there -was an undercurrent of gravity in their conversation. It was impossible -to help wondering what might have happened had not Betty been possessed -of the toy pistol. - -“How did you happen to have it?” asked Amy, curiously, referring to the -weapon. “You didn’t say anything to us about it.” - -“Didn’t think of it,” returned Betty. Once more she had the wheel and -every once in a while she listened to the sound of the engine as though -she were not yet quite satisfied with it. “Dad brought it home to me,” -she was still speaking of the pistol, “a few nights ago. Said it might -come in handy sometime, but if he were in my place he wouldn’t shoot -unless it was absolutely necessary. Of course he meant it as a joke, -but he didn’t know what a serious purpose it was going to serve.” - -“I’ll say he didn’t,” said Mollie, thoughtfully. “I tremble to think -what might have happened if you hadn’t had his little present handy.” - -“Oh,” said Betty, confidently, “we’d have gotten rid of the tramps -somehow.” - -“I don’t know,” returned Mollie, soberly. “They looked like a pretty -mean pair, and I don’t think they had any notion of giving up the _Gem_ -till you flashed the pistol at them.” - -“Do you think,” asked Amy, wide-eyed, “that they meant to steal the -boat?” - -“More than likely,” said Grace, opening a box of fudge bought for this -occasion. “They knew we couldn’t do anything. What are four girls -anyway against two men?” - -“A great deal if they happen to be Outdoor Girls,” said Betty -staunchly. “We haven’t lived in the open so much without developing -pretty good muscles, you know.” - -“Just the same,” Grace persisted, “I reckon we’d have had a pretty hard -time making them move.” - -“Well, we did make ’em move, anyway, which is the main point,” said -the Little Captain, sensibly. “And now suppose we forget about them. -Look,” she pointed eagerly ahead of them, “there’s where Rainbow Lake -begins. Not very far now, girls.” - -“Hip, hip, hooray!” shouted Mollie irrepressibly. “I can’t wait to get -a glimpse of your brother’s shack, Amy.” - -Amy smiled dreamily. - -“I tell you what,” she said. “Let’s make a big campfire to-night after -dinner and all sit around it and tell stories. I’m just aching for a -sniff of burning wood.” - -“We’ll give you more than a sniff, honey,” returned the Little Captain, -merrily. “We’ll build a fire that will make the birdie’s eyes pop out.” - -“Sounds good to me,” said Mollie, longingly. “I say, Betty, don’t you -suppose we could work a little more speed out of the _Gem_? We don’t -seem to be making much progress.” - -Betty looked worried. - -“I’m doing my best,” she said. “But somehow she doesn’t work very well. -There’s still something wrong with the engine. It’s kicking like a -bucking broncho.” - -“Let’s hope it holds out till we get to camp, anyway,” said Grace, -prayerfully. “We don’t want to stop at any more islands for repairs.” - -“It’s getting late too,” said Amy anxiously. “We don’t want to get -there after dark.” - -Betty laughed. - -“Why, there isn’t a chance in the world of that now,” she said, adding -with a chuckle: “Why, we’re near enough now to get out and tow the -_Gem_ along shore and still get there before dark. Isn’t that the rock -your brother spoke of, Amy?” she asked eagerly, pointing to a huge -rock, whose jagged contour suggested a horse’s head, looming directly -ahead of them. - -Unless she was mistaken it was this rock which Henry Blackford had told -them to look out for, as the cabin was situated a scant mile further -down the lake. - -Amy followed Betty’s pointing finger and cried out eagerly. - -“That’s it,” she said. “There couldn’t be two rocks like that at this -end of the lake.” - -“Looks as if our journey were almost ended, girls,” said Grace, sighing -as she reluctantly placed the cover on her box of fudge. “We shall soon -see the spot where we are to spend two riotous months----” - -“Maybe so and maybe not,” interrupted Betty in so chagrined a voice -that they looked at her in surprise. And then they noticed that the -rhythmic sound of the engine had ceased. - -“Now what’s the matter?” asked Mollie, frowning. - -“Search me,” returned the Little Captain, cheerfully. “I beg your -indulgence, ladies, till I find what’s up.” - -But she could not find “what was up,” and neither, for that matter, -could any of the other girls. The only fact that they knew positively -was that for some mysterious reason and in some mysterious way -the engine of the little boat had “lain down”--gone suddenly and -irrevocably “dead.” - -“Well, I’ll say this is our unlucky day,” said Mollie, disgustedly, -straightening up from her work on the engine to face the Little -Captain. “Beginning with engine trouble, then tramps and now more -engine trouble----” - -“Well, there’s one comfort,” spoke up Amy, trying to be optimistic. -“We’ve had about all the trouble we can have. Things can’t be any -worse.” - -“Oh, yes, they can,” contradicted Grace, in a voice of patient -resignation. “Has any one happened to notice that it’s raining?” - -“Raining!” they gasped, and with one accord, turned startled faces to -the sky. What they saw there did little to cheer them up. - -Mollie groaned. - -“This was all we needed,” said she, “to make it a perfect day.” - -“Oh, for goodness’ sake, cheer up,” commanded the Little Captain. -“Anybody would think from the way you talk that you’d never been rained -on before. Didn’t we buy these suits especially for knockabout wear? A -drop or two of rain can’t hurt them.” - -“They may shrink,” said Grace doubtfully, carefully wiping a drop of -water from her “knickers” with a square of lace handkerchief. - -In spite of their plight, the sight appealed to the girls’ sense of -humor. - -They giggled, and Mollie, taking out her own rather soiled and grimy -handkerchief, carefully and gravely wiped another spot from Grace’s -suit. - -“Stop your nonsense,” cried Betty, her eyes searching the gray and -lowering sky. “If we don’t get busy we may all be drowned. Amy,” she -added, in the tone of authority she always used when they faced an -emergency, “get out those oars, will you? I’m going to give you some -elbow work to do.” - -As Amy obeyed, the girls thanked their stars for Betty’s -thoughtfulness. They had laughed when she had first suggested the oars, -asking “if she did not realize what a reflection it was on the _Gem_,” -but Betty had insisted, just the same, and now it seemed as though the -oars were to play a rather important part in their adventure. - -The girls took turns rowing while Betty kept the wheel, steering a -straight course along the shore, meanwhile edging in steadily closer -to it. She was looking for the second land-mark Henry Blackford had -suggested, a small inlet off the main lake, like the one near Triangle -Island, in which it would be easy to run the _Gem_. - -The cabin, Henry Blackford had assured them, was situated on a rise of -ground directly over the inlet. Betty remembered his words perfectly. - -“If you follow your nose straight up the hill,” he had said, laughing, -“you can’t fail to find it. The house is situated in a small cleared -space at the very top of the hill.” - -And so Betty searched with anxious eyes for the inlet, now and then -allowing her gaze to travel to the gray sky. - -Luckily for them the storm seemed in no great hurry to overtake them. -Although the clouds gathered blacker and more threatening every moment -the rain reached them only in an occasional drop and Betty began to -hope that they might gain the shelter of the cabin before the downpour -overwhelmed them. Luckily they had brought the tarpaulin for the _Gem_ -so that the little boat should not suffer. - -Although the girls rowed steadily and hard they made slow progress, -pulling as they were against the wind. It seemed to Betty’s impatience -that they fairly crawled along. - -“Oh, dear, where is that old inlet, anyway?” sighed Amy, unconsciously -uttering Betty’s thought. “Do you suppose we could have passed it, -Betty?” - -“Not with my eagle eye doing duty,” Betty assured her, cheerfully, but -she was beginning to feel a bit anxious about it herself. Was it really -possible that they had passed the spot? The foliage was very heavy all -along the shore, the branches of trees, weighted with leaves, fairly -dragging in the clear water. And there was another drop of rain--and -another---- - -And then suddenly, almost in the act of passing, she saw the inlet, a -narrow, beckoning little strip of water, welcoming them home. - -Almost at the same moment the other girls espied it also and let out a -yell of pure joy. - -“Turn to the right!” shouted Mollie jubilantly. “We are making camp at -last!” - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -BURNED DOWN - - -Skillfully Betty maneuvered the little boat down the narrow neck of -water, carefully avoiding the overhanging branches of trees. She was -looking for just the right place to land. - -The next moment she found it--a spot just made for the purpose. There -was a smooth stretch, entirely cleared of bushes and tree stumps with -an out-jutting bank that made an ideal landing. - -“Right you are!” exclaimed Mollie, as the Little Captain steered close -to shore, bidding Amy “let up” on the oars. “Couldn’t have been better -if we’d had it made to order.” - -“And we beat the rain at that,” observed Grace. - -“Your precious suit is saved,” said Mollie, sarcastically. “Of course -that’s what you mean.” - -But Grace was too glad to straighten her cramped legs and scramble -on shore to take notice of the words or the tone in which they were -uttered. - -The other girls followed her example while Betty remained to cover the -_Gem_ with the tarpaulin. - -“We’ll find the shack first,” she said as she followed the girls -and paused to make sure that the boat was well fastened and could -be trusted to remain where she was. “Then we’ll come back for the -eatables.” - -“Gladly,” agreed Grace, for she was again beginning to feel the first -pangs of hunger. - -“And now,” said Mollie, as arm and arm she and Betty led the way up the -rather steep ascent, “here’s hoping we find the shack.” - -“I guess there’s not much doubt of that,” said Betty, confidently. “All -we’ll have to do now will be to take possession.” - -And so, of course, they were bewildered when, upon reaching the cleared -space at the top of the hill which Henry Blackford had described to -them, they found no cabin. - -They stopped and rubbed their eyes while Grace and Amy, bringing up the -rear, stopped and stared also. - -“Wh-where is it?” asked Grace, too astonished to know just what she was -saying. “It must be here.” - -“I’m glad you’re so sure of that,” snapped Mollie. “Now perhaps, -you’ll tell us where it is.” - -“Don’t let’s quarrel,” cautioned the Little Captain, adding with a -puzzled frown: “Perhaps we came up the wrong hill.” - -“No,” said Amy, positively. “I’m quite sure from what Henry told me -about it, that this is the place. See, there’s the huge gnarled old -oak up there. He thought we’d have lots of fun seeing how far we could -climb up it.” - -“But where is the house?” cried Grace in a voice that was almost a -wail. “Trees may be all very well, but I never heard of one keeping the -rain off.” - -“Look here!” called Betty. As usual she was the first to regain her -wits. Going forward and looking around, she discovered what was hidden -from the other girls where they stood, and the discovery filled her -with dismay. - -“Ashes,” she explained, as the girls hurried over to her. “I guess -there’s no doubt but what this is the place all right. And probably the -shack stood here once.” - -“Burned down!” said Mollie, in a low voice. “Oh, Betty, now what are we -going to do?” - -And she might well ask the question. Except for the tell-tale ashes, -no one would have known that there had ever been a cabin on that -spot. The blaze which had consumed it had destroyed every timber. All -that remained intact--and these were blackened and tarnished by the -fire--were some pieces of metal which had probably been door hinges. -Even the ashes looked as if they were not too recent. They were sodden -and beaten into the soft earth as though by a terrific torrent of rain. -There was a desolate look about the whole place, a depressing smell of -burned wood lingered in the air. - -Well might Mollie ask: “What are we going to do now?” - -“I don’t know,” admitted Betty in reply to the question. But the next -moment she had rallied and spoke in her ordinary voice. - -“It’s hard luck, of course,” she said, “but after all it’s nothing to -cry about. We’ll have to put up a tent, that’s all.” - -“But we haven’t any,” protested Amy. “You know we didn’t bring any with -us.” - -“And we can’t stay in this forsaken place, without some sort of -shelter,” added Grace, looking up anxiously to where the sky shone -grayly through the trees. “Oh, girls, I think this is awful.” - -“Well, what do you want to do about it?” asked the Little Captain, -exasperated into losing her patience. “Do you want to go home and -confess that you were stumped by the first little obstacle you found in -your way? That would be fine for the Outdoor Girls, I must say.” - -“No, of course we don’t want to do any such thing,” said Mollie, -stoutly. “We’ll stay and face it out some way. Although I must say,” -she could not help adding, “that I don’t see how it’s to be done.” - -“There’s the tarpaulin,” said Betty, her quick brain already working -eagerly. “We’ve been camping enough and seen the boys erect enough -tents to know how the job is done.” - -“Oh, we could put up a real tent all right,” agreed Grace, enthusiasm -for the adventure beginning to revive as she saw Betty’s plan. “But I -don’t see how we can use a tarpaulin----” - -“Neither do I,” confessed the Little Captain, with a whimsical chuckle. -“But before I’m many minutes older I’m going to find out. Amy dear, -would you mind stealing the tarpaulin from the _Gem_? It’s a mean thing -to do I know, but we need it just now more than the boat does.” - -Amy agreed, and Betty fell to work giving orders like any general. And, -like any general who is worth his salt, she herself headed the fray, -working twice as hard as any of her army. - -“Suppose you bring me some of those fallen branches, Grace and -Mollie,” she said. “Thank goodness for the storm they must have had -here that ripped off all those perfectly good props for us. - -“Try to bring me only those of the same length, girls, and pass them -up if they’re brittle and rotten. I tell you, if we keep on like -this we’ll have a perfectly good shelter before we know it. Just a -minute--I’ll run and get my knife.” - -Betty ran back to the _Gem_ and passed Amy carrying the tarpaulin. - -“Back in a minute,” gasped the Little Captain, adding to herself as she -clambered aboard the boat: “It’s stopped raining. That’s one stroke of -luck.” - -Then she was back again, starting to point a couple of the sticks which -the girls had brought for her approval. - -This done, she stacked up a small pile of shorter props, whittling -these to a point as she had done the others. It was a neat job and, -considering that Mollie and Amy and Grace pitched in with a will, soon -completed. - -Then Betty chose a spot where the trees were in pretty good position -for the erecting of the tent and, squarely in the middle of this space, -planted one of the long poles. - -When they had fixed it securely, fastening it down with pieces of rope -to short stakes driven deep into the ground, Betty stood off to regard -the work critically. - -“Pretty good, so far as it goes,” she said, adding whimsically: “Unless -we have a strong wind during the night. I don’t believe we even need -the second long prop. Now let’s get busy and plant the short ones.” - -As the girls caught the idea, their spirits began to soar and they -worked feverishly. After the first shock of their discovery that the -cabin which was to have served as their camp for the summer was no -cabin at all but merely a heap of sodden ashes, they began rather to -enjoy the new turn of affairs. - -This was romance and adventure of the highest order, and with Betty’s -resourcefulness and wit to do away with obstacles, they certainly -intended to make the most of the circumstances. - -They buried the short stakes in the ground at regular intervals, -fastening them the same as they had the center one, and then, when all -was in readiness, Betty, with Mollie’s help, stretched the tarpaulin -over the supports. - -By making small holes in the latter and passing pieces of stout rope -through them and around the supports, the girls finally completed a job -of which they were justly proud. - -Ropes were also stretched from two of the smaller supports to the -trunks of trees, and Betty fastened the loose end of the tarpaulin back -with a safety pin, making an admirable flap. - -“Pretty neat, for amateurs,” chuckled the Little Captain, when -everything was done that could be done to make the improvised little -tent secure and water tight. “It will give us shelter for the night -anyway, and to-morrow we can think of something better to do.” - -“Looks pretty nifty to me,” said Mollie, regarding their handiwork with -intense satisfaction. “I reckon the boys themselves couldn’t have made -a better job, considering the tools we had to work with.” - -“Humph,” said Grace, “I bet they couldn’t have done as well.” - -“My, we don’t like ourselves or anything, do we?” laughed Betty. “Now -suppose, instead of patting ourselves on the back, we get busy and make -a fire. I reckon we could stand a little something to eat.” - -“I’ll go back to the _Gem_ and get some of the supplies,” volunteered -Amy, adding, as she started off: “Somebody’d better help me though. -It’ll be quite a job.” - -“Go with her, will you, Mollie?” directed the Little Captain. “Grace -and I will get some brushwood together and start the fire.” - -“There surely is plenty of firewood lying around loose,” remarked -Grace, when Amy and Mollie had gone. “It wouldn’t take long to gather -enough to start the whole woods blazing.” - -“That’s what puzzles me,” said Betty, and Grace looked at her -inquiringly. - -“What do you mean?” - -“Why,” said the Little Captain, straightening up and regarding Grace -with a puzzled look, “I can’t understand how a shack the size of this -one here could have burned to the ground without starting a serious -fire in the woods. There must have been a terrible blaze.” - -“I suppose,” said Grace thoughtfully, “there either was no wind at all -or so very little that the flames went straight upward.” - -“I hope,” said the Little Captain, as though speaking aloud, “that -there aren’t any tramps around here.” - -“Tramps!” Grace echoed the word, horrified. “Betty Nelson, what ever -made you think of that?” - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -MAKING CAMP - - -Betty regretted her recklessness in speaking out her thought about -tramps several times during the next two or three hours. Grace repeated -what she had said to Mollie and Amy when they came back with the -provisions. Mollie only laughed and said: - -“That’s a long shot, Gracie, and I, for one, will bet there has never -been a tramp within five miles of this place.” - -Amy took the idea more seriously. - -However, as there was plenty of work still to be done before dark -they soon forgot everything but the delight of making a real, -“honest-to-goodness” camp. - -Betty and Amy had stacked up a huge pile of firewood while Mollie and -Amy lugged up the blanket rolls and other paraphernalia from the _Gem_ -and Betty busied herself with making a fireplace that would have done -credit to many a more experienced woodsman. - -First she scooped out enough soft earth to make a fairly deep hole -which was about a foot and a half wide across the top. The inside of -the hole she lined with stones and small pieces of rock, building up a -sort of stone “fence” around the top of it. - -And then looking about her for something that might serve to put over -the top of her “stove” she came across what was undoubtedly the find -of that afternoon. This was a large wire grill--rusted and old, to be -sure--but a gift of the gods, nevertheless. - -“Look here, girls! Who says we’re not lucky?” she fairly crowed, -holding up the “find” before their enraptured eyes. “If we don’t have a -good supper to-night, then it won’t be because we haven’t a per-fect-ly -marvelous stove.” - -“Hooray!” cried Mollie, waving a frying pan joyfully about her head. -“Which shall it be, Little Captain? Bacon and eggs or potatoes and -onions?” - -Betty’s eyes twinkled. - -“From the way I feel,” she said, “I think it had better be both.” - -“So be it,” replied Mollie, happily, and a moment later was busy -finding the potatoes and onions. - -“Here,” she said, shoving the latter strong-smelling vegetable in -Grace’s direction. “Stop looking in your mirror, vain thing, and get -busy. You peel the onions and I’ll tend to the potatoes.” - -“Such lack of delicacy,” sighed Grace, as she obediently put away her -mirror and took up an onion. “Who suggested onions, anyway? They always -make my eyes water.” - -“Notice you eat ’em just the same,” returned Mollie, unfeelingly, -adding, as Betty put a match to the fire which she and Grace had laid -with the greatest care: “Whee, there goes Betty. That’s right, old -girl, let her roar!” - -“Such language!” laughed Betty, as she turned her face away from the -flood of smoke that threatened to suffocate her. - -The blaze from the dry wood leapt up merrily and the girls gave a whoop -of sheer joy. - -“This is the life!” cried Mollie, putting even more than her usual -“pep” into the peeling of potatoes. “Hustle up, Gracie, and we’ll soon -have an aroma around this little old camp that will draw the hungry -coyotes for miles around.” - -“Goodness, I hope not,” said Betty, as she put a generous supply of -butter in the frying pan and Grace dumped her first consignment of -onions into it where they sizzled and fried delightfully. “If we -attracted too many animals I doubt if we’d have enough onions to go -around. More butter, Gracie?” - -“Oh, pile it on,” returned Grace, extravagantly. “You can’t have too -much butter when you’re frying onions. Got those potatoes ready, -Mollie? The onions are browning.” - -“Right here,” replied Mollie, as she added the potatoes to the golden -brown deliciousness in the frying pan. “Now what shall I do next, -Betty?” - -“You might get out the bacon,” suggested the Little Captain. “We’ll be -ready for it in a few minutes. Meanwhile, I guess our fire needs more -wood.” - -And while Mollie rummaged for the bacon and Betty put more wood on the -fire Amy “set the table.” There was home-made nut bread which Mrs. -Billette herself had prepared for them, delicious ginger cookies, a -jar of home-made preserves, and a huge coffee cake contributed by Mrs. -Nelson. - -“Looks as if we wouldn’t starve,” remarked Grace, contentedly. “Get out -that pack of paper dishes and napkins, Amy, and we’ll be ready to eat. -The grub’s ready.” - -“Such language!” exclaimed Amy, as she set out four paper plates, four -paper cups, and two or three larger plates which she announced were -vegetable dishes. “You should say ‘Dinner is served.’” - -“Grub’s all right,” protested Grace. “When in camp speak the language -of campers, you know.” - -“Bacon and eggs are ready,” announced Mollie at this point. “Who wants -some?” - -“What a question!” laughed Betty. “Here, hold your plates, everybody. -First come gets the biggest piece of bacon.” - -There was some wild old scrabbling over this, with Amy coming out -winner. - -“You nearly pushed me into the butter,” complained Grace, when Amy -returned triumphantly with her prize. - -“Goodness, what a waste of good butter,” Amy retorted. - -Any one who has, after several hours’ work in the fresh air, been -treated to potatoes and onions and bacon and eggs, to say nothing of -nut bread and coffee cake, can appreciate just how the Outdoor Girls -enjoyed that supper. - -Not until they had cooked a second panful of bacon and eggs and cleared -up the last scraps of coffee cake, did the girls really feel satisfied. - -Then, after lazing for a few minutes, they scouted about to find some -water in which to wash their cooking utensils. They found it in the -form of a delightful little spring that fed the merriest of merry -little brooks further down the ravine. - -It was an enchanted spot, there beside the brook--rich, heavy moss -beneath their feet, the tinkle of rushing water in their ears, the -chirping of sleepy birds overhead. - -They lingered there, held by the beauty of the spot until reminded by -the growing dusk that they must complete preparations for the night -before complete darkness fell. - -So, having filled a pail with water, they returned reluctantly to their -camp and placed the pail over the fire. In a few moments the water -was bubbling merrily and Mollie began briskly to wash the cutlery and -utensils they had used. - -“All the comforts of home,” she laughed. “Even hot dish water. Who -could ask for more?” - -“And while you girls are fixing the dishes,” said the Little Captain, -“I guess I’d better get busy and make up the beds for the night. It -won’t be so easy to do after dark.” - -“Beds,” echoed the girls, staring up at her. It was honestly the first -time they had realized the need for beds. - -“That’s what I said,” returned Betty, whimsically. “They may only -consist of a couple of blankets apiece but we can call ’em what we -like.” - -“What’s in a name?” murmured Grace, adding wistfully: “Oh, my comfy -home and my still more comfy bed.” - -“Stop it,” commanded Mollie. “You know very well, home was never like -this. What if we do have to sleep with nothing but blankets between us -and the cold, cold ground for one night? It will be all the more fun.” - -As Betty began to spread the blankets within the shelter of the tent -Amy came in to see if she could help her and Betty welcomed her -gratefully. - -“I can’t seem to manage the old things alone,” she said. “The blankets -are so big and the tent is so small. Spread down that corner, will you, -Amy--there’s a dear. Now, I wonder,” she paused to consider, “if one -blanket under us and one over will be enough.” - -“More than enough, I should say, considering that the night is just -about as hot as any we’ve had,” said Amy. “I’d just as soon sleep -without anything over me.” - -“Oh, you’ll need a cover toward morning,” said Betty, as she spread -four blankets side by side in a neat row, doubling the edges under so -that the beds when finished resembled nothing so much as sleeping -bags. “It gets pretty cold around dawn out here in the woods. Now,” she -added, regarding her finished work thoughtfully, “I guess that’s about -as right as I can make it.” - -“It’s just fine,” returned Amy, enthusiastically, adding as she slipped -an arm fondly about the Little Captain: “You always know just what to -do to make people comfortable, Betty dear. I don’t know what we’d do -without you.” - -“Oh, nonsense,” retorted Betty gayly. “Probably you’d get along a good -deal better. Now let’s go out and see what those girls are doing.” - -Mollie and Grace were very busy as Amy and the Little Captain stepped -from the tent. They were gathering more firewood--enough, Mollie -explained, to make a “rip-roaring campfire.” - -Betty and Amy went to work with them and it was not long before they -had a pile of wood large enough to satisfy even their longing in the -matter of a fire. - -Then, having piled the dried timber up neatly with a skill born of long -experience, they fired it and stood about happily as the flames licked -upward, crackling and hissing merrily. - -As the blaze grew the heat from the fire became intense and they were -forced to retreat from it almost to the opening of their tent. Here -they flung themselves to the ground, watching the flames in dreamy -content. - -“Well, Amy, are you satisfied?” asked Grace at last, breaking a rather -long silence. “You wanted a fire, you know.” - -“Oh, it’s gorgeous,” returned Amy, happily. “Don’t you think it needs a -little more wood on this end, Betty?” - -“Perhaps,” said the Little Captain, lazily. “Can you reach the wood, -Amy?” - -For answer Amy threw a handful of twigs on the blaze where they twisted -and sputtered, sending out that acrid smell of burning wood that is so -beloved of campers. - -“I wonder,” said Mollie, breaking another long silence, “what happened -to Henry Blackford’s shack, anyway. It’s sort of mysterious, burning -down all by itself.” - -“That’s probably something we’ll never know,” said Betty, softly. - -And so they sat about their campfire, not realizing the swift passing -of time till the blaze burned low and in its flickering glow Betty -looked at her watch. - -Then she began softly to whistle “Taps.” - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -NIGHT IN THE TENT - - -It was decided not to let the campfire go out entirely. In the first -place, they had brought no mosquito netting and a fire was necessary to -keep off insects. - -And then, though this they did not acknowledge even to themselves, they -felt a wee bit lonesome, away out here far from everybody, and the fire -would give them just the sense of security that they needed. - -And so they banked it, with the agreement that whoever woke in the -night was to put more wood on it and stir it up generally. - -They had great sport crawling into their sleeping bags. - -“Oh, dear, all the rocks in the place are under my spine!” cried Grace, -as she strove in vain to shift to a comfortable position. “I’ll be all -holes in the morning, if I last that long, I know I shall.” - -“Quick! Who has Grace’s hair mattress?” cried Mollie, urgently. “Hurry -up and hand it over, Betty Nelson. I know you’re lying on it.” - -“I’d hate to tell you what I’m lying on,” chuckled Betty, lifting up a -corner of the blanket and uprooting a broken-off twig. “I’ll exchange -my place for Grace’s in a moment.” - -“No, you don’t,” retorted Grace. “This place is bad but it might be -worse.” - -A chuckle in the darkness. Then the sound of a tremendous yawn. - -“Oh,” said Amy, “I wish you’d stop talking and let me go to sleep. I’m -nearly dead.” - -And then there was silence while the girls, despite their uncomfortable -beds, slept heavily. Outside the tent the fire sputtered sleepily while -in the distance a night owl sent its mournful cry echoing through the -still woods. After a while the moon, fighting its way through the film -of clouds, flung its soft radiance down through the trees, filling the -woods with silvery magic. And still the girls slept on. - -When they awakened moonlight had fled before the merciless onslaught of -the sun. Where the fire had been the night before were a few smoldering -ashes, for no one had wakened to attend to it. - -Having scrambled from the discomfort of their beds out into the -brilliant sunshine, the girls regarded the spot where the fire had been -with considerable amazement. - -“Well, who would have thought we’d sleep like that?” said Mollie, -rubbing a bruised shin which had reposed in too close proximity to a -sharp stone during the night. “We might have been visited by any number -of wild animals and tramps and we’d never have known it.” - -“What we don’t know will never hurt us,” said Grace sententiously. “I -only hope the _Gem’s_ all right.” - -But Betty had already seen to that and, coming back at that precise -minute, announced that the motor boat was “feeling fine.” - -“And now for breakfast,” she said, briskly. “We’ve got a lot to do -to-day and we can’t afford to lose any time.” - -Not till later when they were hungrily devouring rolls and coffee did -they stop to ask her what she meant. - -“I suppose you have some plans,” said Mollie. “So you might as well -tell us about them.” - -“All right, only hand me another roll first,” returned Betty. “Thanks. -Well, it’s like this. Of course we all know we can’t go on like this -forever.” - -“Tell us something we don’t know,” commanded Mollie, flippantly, and -the Little Captain eyed her severely. - -“If you’re going to interrupt----” she began, whereupon Mollie became -becomingly humble. - -“I didn’t mean to start anything, honest,” she said. “Proceed, fair -damsel, proceed.” - -“Well,” Betty began again, “I thought the best thing we could do would -be to get back to Deepdale----” - -“Betty Nelson, you’re never going to give up the trip!” cried Mollie, -horrified, and Betty broke in impatiently. - -“You do get the wildest ideas, Mollie,” she said. “Who said anything -about giving up anything, I’d like to know! I was going to remark that -a couple of us might return to Deepdale where we can get a regular -tent. The boys had several tents, you know----” - -“And Will said the other day,” Amy broke in eagerly, “that he had had -a chance to lay in a lot of air mattresses cheap. He thought we might -need them sometime----” - -“Lovely,” said Mollie, adding with a chuckle: “Now Grace can take her -comfort.” - -“Funny Will didn’t say anything to me about buying air mattresses,” -said Grace, resentfully. Worshiping her brother as she did, Grace had -always been a little jealous of his affection for quiet Amy. “He might -have told me,” she added. - -“They’ll be just the thing, anyway,” said Betty, enthusiastically. -“I’ve heard those air mattresses are as soft as down.” - -“Anything would be better than what we had last night,” agreed Mollie. -“But go on, Betty. You and Amy, say, go back to Deepdale for a tent; -and then what do Grace and I do?” - -“Nothing, I guess,” dimpled Betty, “except see that the lake doesn’t -run away while we’re gone. We may be away over night,” she added, more -soberly. “If we can’t get in touch with the boys right away, we might -be too late to make camp again before dark. You wouldn’t be scared?” -she asked. - -“Scared!” Mollie hooted the idea scornfully. “What’s there to be scared -of? You go ahead, Betty. You needn’t worry about us.” - -“Better leave us that fake gun of yours,” Grace suggested as, a little -while later, Betty and Amy started off toward the _Gem_. “We might need -it.” - -Betty laughed and, taking the weapon from her pocket where it had -reposed all night, flung it toward Grace. - -“Here’s good luck to you,” she cried. “And I hope you won’t need it.” - -“Ditto,” cried Grace, as she pocketed the realistic looking toy. - -“You don’t really expect that thing to protect us, do you?” asked -Mollie, regarding her incredulously. - -“Why not?” asked Grace, unabashed. “It did good work once; why should -it not again?” - -“Why, indeed?” echoed Mollie, sarcastically, but she said no more about -it. - -Yet, strange as it may seem, the inadequate little toy gave Grace the -comfortable, satisfied feeling of being well protected. - -She and Mollie had been gathering up the breakfast dishes when the -latter suddenly dropped a sauce pan with a clatter that made Grace jump -nervously. - -“For goodness’ sake----” began the latter, but Mollie did not wait for -her to finish. - -“What geese we mortals be, Grace Ford,” she said. “How does Betty -expect to get back to Deepdale when the _Gem’s_ engine is out of fix?” - -And without waiting for a reply if, in fact, she had expected any, she -took to her heels in the direction where the motor boat lay, Grace -following more slowly behind her. - -But before they could reach the water’s edge a familiar putt-putt came -to them and they were just in time to see Betty triumphantly steer the -little boat away from shore. - -“What on earth did you do to it?” called Mollie, and Betty made a face -at her. - -“Ask the _Gem_,” she shouted above the noise of the motor. “I was -fussing with the engine and I accidentally touched a wire. You see the -result! Good-by, we’ll see you again as soon as we can.” - -Mollie and Grace stood on the shore waving as long as the motor boat -was in sight, then, feeling rather lonely and forlorn, they turned back -to camp. - -“How quiet everything seems without the Little Captain,” sighed Grace, -as they went to the familiar work of cleaning up. “I wish she was -coming back to-day.” - -“So do I,” answered Mollie, and then stopped suddenly, cocking her head -to listen. “Did you hear that?” she asked. “It sounded--Oh, Grace, I’m -getting as bad as Amy!” - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -THE PROWLER - - -So sure had Mollie been that she had heard a sound like somebody -creeping stealthily through the woods that for a long time she was -uncomfortable and nervous, though she strove to hide her uneasiness -from Grace. - -After the first scare, they had combed the woods thoroughly in the -direction of the noise that Mollie thought she had heard, but had found -nothing--and no one. - -“Funny how a person’s ears can play strange tricks sometimes,” said -Mollie, as, their morning’s work done, they wandered down toward the -little brook. “I could have sworn I heard a heavy body crashing through -the brush. And yet I couldn’t have heard it at all. After this,” she -added with chagrin, “I’ll never dare laugh at Amy again.” - -They reached the brook and lay down lazily on the carpet of thick moss -which lined its banks while Grace invitingly opened the box of fudge. -There was about half of it still left, and so they set to work with a -will, the remaining pieces disappearing like snow before the sun. - -Gradually the peace of the place communicated itself to them and -Mollie’s scare disappeared into the background of their contentment. - -“I wonder,” said Grace, after a dreamy interval when she had watched -the water of the brook splashing merrily over the stones in its path, -“what became of that little old woman who did so much embroidery for -the Woman’s Exchange? I wonder if she’s all alone somewhere, sick, -maybe, or too old and feeble to work any more.” - -“I hope she’s not,” replied Mollie, adding with a laugh: “It would be -much pleasanter to think that perhaps she has come into a fortune, or -something, and so doesn’t have to work for a living any more.” - -“Well,” sighed Grace, “as long as we’re not apt ever to hear of the -old soul again, we might as well take the cheery view. Have some more -fudge?” - -“Is this all you have?” asked Mollie, looking anxiously at the fast -dwindling supply. “My, I never tasted such delicious candy in my life.” - -“I would have bought another box if you girls hadn’t been in such an -awful hurry. Now you see what you get.” - -“Well,” said Mollie, philosophically, “give me another piece, anyway. -We might as well enjoy it while it lasts.” - -After a while they thought it might be a good idea to wander around a -bit and see just what kind of country surrounded their camp. - -“We need the hike, too,” Mollie added. “I shouldn’t wonder if we’d be -sick, eating all that fudge.” - -“I’ll be with you in a minute,” said Grace, and hurried back toward the -camp, leaving Mollie to stand looking after her in surprise. - -“Now what’s she after?” was her thought, and a moment later she found -out. - -Grace reappeared through the trees, stuffing something into the pocket -of her coat which Mollie recognized as Betty’s toy pistol. - -“Oh, Gracie, ’tis to laugh!” she chuckled, as they started on their -hike. “What do you expect to kill with that thing? A couple of rabbits -for supper, maybe?” - -“Oh, keep still,” said Grace, feeling a bit sheepish. “If I like to -lug the thing along what difference does it make to you? I wish,” -longingly, “that Betty and Amy were back.” - -“That’s only the tenth time you’ve wished that same wish in the last -two hours,” scoffed Mollie. “And you might just as well stop wishing -till this time to-morrow morning, anyway. I don’t expect them back a -minute before then.” - -Grace was silent for some time while they both trudged through the -woods, climbing bowlders that got in their way, crashing through heavy -underbrush, with now and then a stop to catch their breath and enjoy -the beauty of the wild woodland about them. - -It was during one of these rest periods that Grace again spoke of what -was in her thoughts. - -“I wonder if the boys will surely come up over the week-end,” she said, -pulling a piece of tall grass and chewing it reflectively. “It would be -just like them to have too much work to do.” - -“I guess they’ll all be here--all but Allen, anyway,” was Mollie’s -reassuring reply. “He may be kept on that case he’s trying to -straighten out.” - -“That one about the stubborn old boy and his will?” said Grace, -wrinkling her pretty forehead in an attempt to bring back the details -of the case. “I remember Allen acted pretty mysteriously about it. I -only hope he won’t be silly enough to let work interfere with pleasure.” - -“That’s just what he will do, being Allen,” replied Mollie, promptly. -“That’s one of the things that makes him most popular--he sticks close -to a job till it is finished right. And I suppose he won’t think he -can take a vacation till he has straightened out the case of this old -man’s will to his satisfaction.” - -The girls went on again for a short distance but then, finding -themselves confronted by a veritable fence of intertwined vines and -brambles, decided they had gone far enough and turned back toward camp. - -After a lunch which tasted like nectar and ambrosia to them, they were -at a loss what to do with themselves and finally decided to go fishing. - -“Since we didn’t have sense enough to bring regular fishing tackle,” -grumbled Mollie, as she carefully picked out two supple young branches -which had fallen to the ground, “we’ll have to fish the way the farmer -boy does at the old swimming pool.” - -“We haven’t even got an old swimming pool or fishing hole, or whatever -it is we need,” said Grace. “I imagine that’s even more important than -the tackle we use.” - -“Oh, well, we’ll find one, a hole I mean,” promised Mollie. “There must -be a deep spot in that brook somewhere, and all we have to do is to -follow it to find out.” - -“Sounds easy,” agreed Grace, adding, as she laughingly held aloft her -branch with the string attached to it: “Now that we have our bent pins -firmly in position, shall we go?” - -“You bet,” said Mollie gayly. “Mark my words, we’ll come back with -enough fish to last us a week.” - -But alas for her high hopes. They caught not one fish, though they -spent a cramped motionless afternoon on the banks of as pretty and -promising a fishing pool as one would ever want to see. - -“I guess,” said Grace, with an attempt at persiflage as they returned -wearily to camp, “Betty’s fake pistol would have done as much damage as -our fishing lines, Mollie.” - -“Couldn’t have done much less,” agreed Mollie, adding with a chuckle: -“Lucky we didn’t depend on that fish for our dinner.” - -“In that case, Betty and Amy would have found only our starved remains -when they returned,” said Grace, adding eagerly, as their improvised -tent came in view: “I say, how about a can of pork and beans to-night?” - -“Perfectly topping, perfectly topping, old thing,” returned Mollie, in -her best English manner. “An inspiration, that. No other word would fit -it, truly.” - -And then they giggled and went merrily about the preparation of the -“inspiration.” Later they built another campfire and sat beside it for -a long time. They did not acknowledge to each other how reluctant they -were to “turn in” that night. - -For although they had carefully refrained from speaking of the scare -Mollie had given them early that morning, they had not forgotten it and -the night shadows made them uneasy. - -However, as even a campfire can lose some of its charm if gazed upon -too long, the girls finally found their eyes closing from weariness. A -day like this spent entirely in the open always made them very tired, -and at last the moment came when they could not put off the business of -“turning in” for another second. - -“The tent will seem pretty large for the two of us,” said Grace as, a -few moments later, they rolled themselves in their blankets. - -“Shouldn’t wonder if we’d rattle around some,” agreed Mollie. “But -it’ll be nice to have plenty of room anyway.” - -Strange that, lying there quiet, waiting for sleep to come, the girls -heard so many more noises than they had heard on the night before. - -It seemed to them that the entire woodland was alive with flutterings -and queer crunchings and snapping of twigs, and once Grace even raised -herself on her elbow, so sure was she that something was sniffing about -the door of their tent. - -But there was nothing there, and at Mollie’s impatient command she lay -down again. Her fingers stole under the edge of the blanket where she -had hidden something. It was Betty’s toy pistol! - -Toward the middle of the night Grace’s eyes sprang wide open as though -she had touched a spring. The moment before she had been heavily -asleep, now she was as wide awake as though she had never slept at all. - -What was it that sent terrified chills chasing up and down her spine? -Was it the rhythmic patter-patter of rain on the tautly stretched -tarpaulin? That would be enough to wake her surely. - -But no, that was not all. She had heard a noise, a peculiar, shuffling -noise that had penetrated even through her sleep, a noise like some man -or animal circling the tent. - -At first it seemed almost impossible for her to move. She felt as -though she were in the grip of a nightmare where she had no control -whatever over her muscles. She tried to call to Mollie, but her voice -died in a weak little gasp in her throat. - -By a great effort she finally succeeded in dragging herself to a -sitting position. Then she waited, her hand at her throat, her eyes -striving to pierce the gloom behind the smoldering embers of the fire. - -She saw nothing, heard nothing but the rhythmic drip-drip of the rain. -The night seemed suddenly and curiously still as though, like her, it -were holding its breath to listen. - -Then the silence was broken by Mollie’s voice, soft and husky with -sleep. - -“What in the world----” she began, but Grace caught her arm in a tight -grip. - -“Listen!” she commanded. - -Wondering, Mollie obeyed and then suddenly she too was sitting upright, -her body rigid. For once again came that shuffling sound like a heavy -body stealthily encircling the tent. - - - - -CHAPTER XV - -A SHADOWY BULK - - -Regardless of Grace’s detaining hand, Mollie sprang to her feet. She -crept to the flap opening, then, flinging it wide, sprang into the -open. Grace, more afraid of being left alone in the tent than anything -else, followed. - -The night was intensely black. The rain had chased away the moon and -stars and the sky was covered with lowering clouds. The chill of the -descending rain made Mollie shiver convulsively. - -There it came, that stealthy dragging sound. It was at the corner of -the tent and Mollie crouched back against the canvas, hoping that the -intruder, whatever it was, might take her for part of the shadows. - -But as she stepped back a twig cracked betrayingly beneath her foot -and at the corner of the tent a black shape detached itself from the -blacker shadows, stood upright for a moment, staring in her direction. -Mollie was quite sure her heart stood still. She gasped and felt as -though she were strangling while her eyes remained irresistibly fixed -on the thing at the corner of the tent. - -She heard a gasp behind her and knew that Grace also had seen. - -Suddenly the shape turned and moved off into the deeper shadows of the -woods. It made no pretense of hiding its movements, but crashed noisily -through the underbrush. - -As though rooted to the spot Mollie and Grace remained motionless until -the last sound of their enemy’s retreat died in the distance. - -Then Mollie half stumbled, half fell into the tent, nearly upsetting -Grace as she did so. Her hands were shaking and her throat felt dry. - -“Where are the searchlights?” she asked in a strained husky whisper. -“Do you know where Betty put them, Grace?” - -“Here,” answered Grace, and, after a moment of groping in the dark, a -hand torch suddenly flooded the gloom with its light. In the glow the -girls regarded one another fearfully, the fright they had had showing -plainly on their faces. - -“Let’s sit down and t-talk this thing over,” suggested Mollie, trying -bravely to get herself in hand. “I g-guess neither of us will want to -sleep for a while.” - -“Sleep!” exclaimed Grace, shakily. “I feel as though I never wanted to -sleep again. M-Mollie, did you see what I saw?” - -“Perfectly,” said Mollie. Her voice was steady once more but it might -be noted that she sat with her face toward the tent flap. “Nothing’s -going to take me by surprise if I can help it,” she had told herself -defiantly. - -“Then what was it?” persisted Grace. She also was watching the tent -flap. “Do you think it was an--an animal?” - -“Nonsense,” retorted Mollie brusquely. “Didn’t you see it stand -upright? And what animal ever does that?” - -Grace giggled hysterically. - -“Well, if it’s a m-man,” she said, “so much the worse. What did he -want, anyway, prowling around our tent in the m-middle of the night?” - -“It’s nearer morning,” said Mollie, regarding her wrist watch and -seeing that the hands pointed to four-thirty. “It’s the rain makes it -seem so early.” - -“Well, anyway, it’s pitch black,” returned Grace, hugging herself hard -to keep from shivering. “What difference does the time make?” - -“None, except that it isn’t so long to wait till morning,” admitted -Mollie, adding briskly: “Now, we’ve just got to buckle on our common -sense and make up our minds not to be scared.” - -“Tell me that at nine o’clock to-morrow morning with the sun shining,” -returned Grace, shivering in spite of herself. “Just now I’m scared -black and blue.” - -“Well, if that’s the way you feel----” - -“It’s the way you feel too,” returned Grace, quickly. “You know you’re -just frightened to death, Mollie. Look at your teeth chattering.” - -Mollie promptly clamped her lips down on this circumstantial evidence -and commanded her teeth to stop chattering. - -“I’m cold,” she defended weakly. “That rain----” - -“Yes and you were foolish to go out there in it,” Grace scolded. -“Suppose it had been a wild animal prowling around out there, what -chance would you have had against it, unarmed?” - -“What chance would we have had against it in the tent?” countered -Mollie. - -“We couldn’t have had less,” came from Grace. “Then, often an animal -will hesitate to go in any place it isn’t familiar with. Anyway, the -tent was all the protection we had.” - -“I suppose so,” said Mollie, wearily. She was beginning to feel -dreadfully drowsy again and, if it had not been for the fact that Grace -had seen exactly what she had seen, she might almost have been able to -persuade herself that once more her imagination had been playing her -tricks. - -At the thought her eyes sprang wide open again and she stared at Grace. - -“Then,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper, “I bet I did hear -some one moving in the woods this morning.” - -“I bet you did, too,” said Grace, moving a little further away from the -flap of the tent. “Mollie, do you suppose there are tramps around here -after all?” - -“Looks like it,” answered Mollie, grimly, adding, with an attempt of -lightness: “Just now, I wish Betty’s fake pistol were a real one.” - -“Sh-h,” warned Grace. “Somebody might be listening. I thought I -heard----” She drew back the tent flap ever so cautiously, but there -was nothing visible. Only the mournful drip, drip of the rain from the -trees came to them. - -“What do you suppose they want?” whispered Grace, drawing nearer to -Mollie as though for protection. “What do they mean by hanging around?” - -“Oh, how do I know any better than you do?” snapped Mollie, for her -nerves were beginning to show the strain they had been under. “And I -don’t see why you speak in the plural, anyway. We saw only one man, -didn’t we?” - -“Where there’s one, there’s probably more,” remarked Grace, gloomily, -at which Mollie gave a little impatient toss of her head. - -“We’re probably making altogether too much fuss about a little thing,” -she said. “If we don’t happen to be alone on this end of the lake, that -doesn’t say that our neighbors are all villains. This--this--prowler -may have come simply out of curiosity.” - -“Humph!” sniffed Grace. “Then why did he choose night time to satisfy -his curiosity and why did he seem scared when he found we had heard -him? Curiosity--huh!” - -“Well, believe the worst if you want to,” returned Mollie, wearily. -“Goodness, but I’m getting s-sleepy----” - -“See here,” warned Grace, in a voice that once more startled Mollie’s -eyes wide open. “If you think you have a chance of going to sleep and -leaving me here to keep watch alone, you were never more mistaken in -your life, Mollie Billette. You’ll stay awake if I have to stick pins -in you.” - -“Oh, all right,” returned Mollie, with a sigh, trying to settle herself -in a more comfortable position, “if that’s the way you feel about -it--But listen here, Grace, if I keep awake just to suit you, you’ve -got to make yourself entertaining.” - -“Well, of all the----” Grace began, breaking off to add with real -curiosity: “Do you mean to tell me that you aren’t scared any longer?” - -“I’m scared to death, but I’m sleepier yet,” returned Mollie, stifling -a tremendous yawn. “Better hurry up, Grace. If you don’t start -something interesting pretty quick I’m apt to drop off despite all the -king’s horses and all the king’s men. Going--going--gone----” - -“Hold on there,” broke in Grace desperately. “I have an idea. Why not -play checkers?” - -“Why not, indeed?” returned Mollie, opening her eyes with what almost -seemed interest. - -And so it came to pass that two Outdoor Girls spent the short time that -still remained to dawn in a very peculiar manner. Luckily the girls -seldom went anywhere without carrying some games with them and this -habit stood them in good stead now. - -From somewhere among the jumble of things within the tent Grace -produced a much battered and worn board and men and so they settled -down to play until daylight should put in its friendly appearance. - -And when at last the first rays of the sun broke through the clearing -sky, the two girls were so utterly exhausted from lack of sleep and the -nerve strain they had been under that they simply sprawled out upon the -blankets and fell into a sound slumber. - -The sun had crept high in the heavens when at last they awoke, staring -at one another stupidly. - -“Was it a bad dream, Mollie, or did it really happen?” queried -Grace, as she rubbed a hand across her forehead. “I declare I can’t -remember----” - -“Well, I can, only too well,” cut in Mollie shortly. Mollie’s temper -was almost always short before breakfast. “Stop staring in that -befuddled fashion, Grace Ford, and help me get breakfast. I feel badly -in need of sustenance.” - -They went about the getting of breakfast in a curiously silent manner, -too busy with their thoughts to say much. And they both looked rather -grave and hollow-eyed. - -It was true the situation did not seem nearly so terrifying in the -broad daylight, but just the same, they knew their adventure had been -rather serious. - -“I’m glad Betty will be back pretty soon,” said Grace at last, breaking -the long silence. “She always knows what to do.” - -“I don’t know that she’ll be able to do much more about this than we -have done,” retorted Mollie. It is to be noted that she had not yet had -her breakfast. “Anybody would think Betty had some sort of supernatural -power of making things come out right.” - -“I don’t know about the supernatural,” returned Grace. “But I do know -that she pretty nearly always makes things come out all right.” - -“Humph,” snorted Mollie, and tossed her head. - -Luckily the girls had thought to put some firewood within the shelter -of the tent before they had turned in the night before, so that they -had enough dry wood to make a good fire. If they had been forced to -try burning wet wood nobody knows what might have happened to Mollie’s -temper! - -And when, just before noon, they heard the familiar putt-putting of the -_Gem_ out on the lake, Mollie, as well as Grace, felt a great relief as -though a heavy burden had suddenly slipped from her shoulders. - -For the Little Captain had come back! - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - -AIR MATTRESSES - - -When Mollie and Grace saw that not only Amy and the Little Captain, but -Will Ford and Frank Haley also, were in the little boat, the relief and -joy of the girls reached a climax. - -“Well, this is something like!” cried Mollie, putting an arm about -Grace and squeezing her ecstatically. “Nothing like having the boys -around once in a while, eh, Gracie?” - -“I’ll say!” returned Grace, as she waved to the quartette in the boat. -They were still too far away and there were too many trees in their -path for the _Gem’s_ occupants to see the wave, but that made no -difference to Grace. - -However, it took only a few minutes for the little motor boat to nose -its way up the narrow inlet to the improvised landing above which -Mollie and Grace were so eagerly waiting. - -Although Betty and Amy and the boys as well had expected a rather warm -greeting, they were entirely unprepared for the kind they really got. - -They were hugged and kissed--boys as well as girls, much to the glee of -the former--till the Little Captain called out laughingly to “Stop it!” - -“What’s the matter with you?” she asked. “Are you going stark, raving -crazy?” - -“If they are, don’t attempt to stop them, Betty,” laughed Frank Haley, -and Will added, happily: - -“Home was never like this.” - -However, in due time the girls calmed down to a more normal key and the -whole party started toward the camp. - -“Hear you had pretty tough luck--shack burned down and no tent,” said -Will. “It surely must have been a facer for you. Wonder you didn’t come -back to Deepdale, full speed.” - -“Will Ford, is that what you think of us?” asked gentle Amy -indignantly, and Will countered lightly with: - -“You ought to know better than to ask me what I think of you, -Amy--especially when there’s a crowd around.” - -The girls giggled and Amy flushed and everybody was happy! - -It was not till after Mollie and Betty had prepared something for the -famished boys to eat--and they had eaten it--that they settled down to -a serious discussion of plans for the future. - -“We’ve brought back a regular, waterproof tent with us,” explained the -Little Captain. “Also four perfectly delightful air mattresses. But the -boys think we oughtn’t to stay.” - -“Humph,” said Mollie, valiantly, “I’d like to see ’em get us away.” - -Strange that with the coming of the boys and Betty and Amy, the -adventure of the night before had lost most of its terrifying aspect. -It seemed almost something to laugh at. - -However, when some time later Grace mentioned the affair to the boys, -they did not seem inclined to laugh at it--not one bit. - -“It’s a pretty serious thing, I think,” said Frank Haley. “I have a -strange prejudice against anything that prowls at night.” - -“Same here,” said Will, looking worried. “Of course, if you girls are -sure you saw some one----” - -“Oh, there’s no doubt about that,” said Mollie, positively. “We both -saw it--or him--it was hard to tell whether it was really a man or not -in the dark. But anyway,” she added, trying to make light of it, “I -don’t think there’s anything to be excited about. Somebody was probably -just--curious.” - -But they hooted this idea as Grace had done some hours earlier. People -did not go prowling about a camp in the middle of the night just out -of harmless curiosity. - -“However, we’re going to spend to-night here, anyway,” said Will, -rising and looking about him. “And to-morrow will be time enough to -decide whether you want to stay here or not.” - -“There’s no deciding to be done about that--it’s settled,” returned -Betty, adding, gayly: “How do you like our tent, Will? Isn’t it a -masterpiece?” - -“Masterpiece is right,” Will returned, admiringly. “It’s about as -thorough a piece of work as I’ve seen. How about it, Frank?” - -“Fine,” returned Frank, as he walked about the makeshift tent, -examining it. “All to the good, girls. Did you say it was rain-tight, -too?” he asked of Mollie, who laughed grimly. - -“I guess we ought to know,” she said. “We sat for hours playing -checkers with the rain pattering on top of it.” - -“Raining, raining everywhere, and not a drop on us,” said Grace, -adding, as they laughed: “Mighty lucky for us, too, that we didn’t get -wet. All we needed was a soaking to make our contentment complete.” - -“You poor children,” said Betty, commiseratingly. “You must have had -one awful time.” - -“So much so that we’d rather think of something else,” said Grace, -adding, as she turned to her brother: “How about the tent you brought, -Will? Aren’t you going to put it up for us?” - -“It’s for that express purpose that we came,” Will returned as he led -the way back to the _Gem_. “Might as well get the business part of our -mission over with first and then we can enjoy ourselves.” - -So they went to work, and it was not long before they had the new tent -up, as snug and pretty a tent as any one would wish to see. It even had -a window in one side of it, a window whose canvas flap could be pulled -up or let down from the inside by means of a convenient cord. - -The boys would not let the girls take down the makeshift tent of -tarpaulin, saying that it would serve as an excellent shelter for them, -the boys, for this one night in camp. And since they had brought along -another piece of tarpaulin to cover the _Gem_ in case of bad weather, -there was no reason why they should not leave the original tent -standing. - -When the boys were unloading the paraphernalia from the _Gem_ Mollie -noticed with surprise that they had brought along their bicycles. - -“What are they for?” she asked, and the boys eyed her pityingly. - -“How did you suppose we were going to get back to Deepdale?” Frank -asked. “We can’t take the _Gem_, and it’s a little too far to -walk--when you’re in a hurry anyway.” - -“Well,” was Mollie’s biting comment, “the only wonder is you didn’t -bring along automobiles. They’d have been much quicker.” - -“We thought of that,” agreed Will, solemnly. “But unfortunately the -_Gem_ protested.” - -But it was when Will produced his air mattresses that the girls were -most deeply interested. When he first unrolled them they looked like -nothing so much as dejected strips of canvas, about six feet long by -two and a half feet wide. - -But when he began to blow one of them up--oh, what a change there was! -Before their enchanted eyes the dejected strip of canvas grew and -assumed shape, blooming out majestically into a bed that, for comfort, -would have delighted a king. - -Betty, lolling luxuriously upon it, declared she felt as though she -were floating on clouds. - -“Get up and give me a feel,” commanded Mollie, and the Little Captain -reluctantly obeyed. - -“But what’s this funny thing lacing down the front?” asked Amy, -pointing to a loose fold of the canvas. “Are you supposed to get inside -that?” - -“Certainly,” answered Will, with all the pride of possession. “That’s -where the beauty of these things comes in. It makes all the difference -in the world between comfort and discomfort.” - -“But how does it work?” asked Mollie, impatiently. - -“Just a moment, fair maid. I’m coming to that,” protested Will. “You -see, it’s this way. You roll all your bedclothes inside this flap, -whatever you think you may need. Then you crawl in----” - -“Allee same Indian pappoose, eh,” murmured Betty, irrepressibly. - -“About the same idea,” agreed Will. “Only a little more so. After -you’ve tucked your covers in comfortably about you, you lace this -outside flap up to your chin and, presto, you’ve got the most complete -sleeping bag in captivity.” - -“Seems almost too good to be true,” drawled Grace. “Won’t this sleeping -bag be a little too warm for comfort?” - -“Depends on how many covers you use,” returned Will. - -“I suppose,” said the Little Captain, “it’s also pretty good for -keeping the bugs off.” - -“Precisely,” returned Will, enthusiastically. “Completely puzzles -the little dears, and by the time they’ve figured out how to get at -you----” - -“They have tired of the hunt and gone to find easier game,” finished -Frank. - -When, some time later, four tired Outdoor Girls tested the wondrous new -mattresses, they did not wonder at Will’s enthusiasm. It was, as the -Little Captain had said, like floating on clouds. - -Betty was the last to go to sleep. She lay for what seemed a long time, -luxuriating in the air mattress and the thought that Frank and Will -were in the makeshift tent so near them. - -“If only----” she murmured drowsily, “if only Allen were with them.” - - - - -CHAPTER XVII - -THE OLD MAID OF THE MOUNTAINS - - -Rather early the next morning, although the girls did their best to -dissuade them, Frank and Will declared that they must be getting back -to Deepdale. - -“If we expect to come up for the week-end,” said Will, “we’ll have to -work hard for the next two or three days.” - -So the girls were forced to let them go, accompanying them quite a -little distance along the rough woods road that led to the main highway -a mile or two further on. - -“If you girls need provisions or anything,” Frank told them just before -they said good-by, “there are several prosperous farms a little further -on that could supply you with fresh milk and eggs and butter.” - -“See you later,” added Will, swinging his bicycle into position, -adding, for Betty’s special benefit: “And next time we come we’ll bring -Allen along.” - -“Be sure you do,” said Mollie, wickedly. “Betty is simply pining away.” - -Then the girls turned back to camp once more, feeling rather lonesome. -They did wish the boys could have stayed. - -“I guess we might as well pull down this thing,” said Betty, eyeing -the tent which they had erected on the first night of their stay in -the woods. “We have a real tent now and when the boys come up for the -week-end, they’ll have that big one of Roy’s with them.” - -So down came the tarpaulin, although the girls had almost as much -difficulty in the dismantling of the improvised tent as they had had in -the erecting of it. - -At last it was down, however, and they set about making the camp as -neat as possible. This done, they wandered through the woods, trying -to find if there were any camp in the neighborhood which might harbor -tramps. - -They found none, and they finally returned to camp more mystified than -before. - -That night around the campfire--the prettiest one they had yet -made--Betty cautioned them that the best thing they could do would be -to put “this scare about tramps” out of their minds. - -“There’s no use ruining our whole summer,” she said. “The chances -are, even if there are tramps about, they don’t mean to annoy us. We -haven’t any jewelry or valuables that they might hope to steal, and -they will probably be only too glad to give us a wide berth.” - -“That’s what I say,” agreed Mollie, heartily. “It’s up to us to say -whether we’re going to let such a foolish thing ruin our fun. I, for -one, don’t intend to.” - -“Nor I,” said Amy, stoutly. “Now that I’m here I’m going to have the -time of my life.” - -“Good,” said Betty, patting Amy’s hand encouragingly. “That’s the way -to talk. And now will you put some more wood on the fire, Gracie? I -feel like telling some stories.” - -“All right,” agreed Grace, with a glance into the black shadows of the -woodland beyond the dancing light of the fire. “Tell as many as you -like, as long as they’re not ghost stories.” - -And so, after this, the Outdoor Girls did really make a determined -effort to forget all about the possibility of tramps lurking in the -neighborhood and set about, as only they knew how, to crowd each day to -the brim with fun. - -They made several trips through the woods to a near-by farmhouse for -supplies, and on one of these trips they decided not to stop at the -farmhouse but to hike a little further on, up into the hills. - -They had never been so far away from camp before, and it was with a -feeling of adventure that they started to climb a miniature mountain -into the denser woodland beyond. - -“Oh, it’s lovely up here,” said the Little Captain. “The higher up you -get the better the air becomes.” - -“Fine,” agreed Grace, adding as she came abreast of Betty: “What’s that -over there, Little Captain? Doesn’t it look like smoke?” - -The girls gazed in the direction of her pointing finger and saw that, -sure enough, right above the rise of the hill, a thin line of smoke was -curling. - -“Somebody’s camp, maybe,” said Mollie, instinctively lowering her -voice. “Funny thing, away out here in the wilds.” - -“About the only place you’d expect to find a camp, I suppose,” drawled -Grace, but Betty interrupted, cautiously pushing them a little further -back down the hill. - -“Listen,” she said, in a whisper, her eyes bright with eagerness. -“Maybe that’s the camp of the tramps that we’ve been looking for. And -if it is we’ll have to be careful not to let them know we’re around.” - -“You said something, Betty Nelson,” agreed Grace, beginning to back -still further down the hill. “I vote we get away from here.” - -“Nonsense,” said Betty, sharply, but still in a whisper. “You can run -away, if you want to, but I’m going to see what that smoke means.” - -“Right you are,” agreed Mollie, and together they began cautiously to -ascend the hill, Amy and Grace bringing up the rear. - -They had almost reached the top of the hill when some one came suddenly -toward them through the trees, bringing them to a short stop. - -And what they saw made them rub their eyes hard to make sure they were -not dreaming. - -A little old lady she was, with a figure so slight and thin it looked -as if a breath of wind might blow it away and a face that was sweet -in spite of the wrinkles of age. Her head was uncovered and her hair, -curly and snow-white, framed her face softly and pleasantly. Altogether -she was a little old lady who looked as though she might have stepped -straight out of a story book. - -She did not seem to see the astonished girls at first but came straight -on, head bent and old feet faltering uncertainly on the rocky path. -Then suddenly she looked up and saw them. - -A thin, blue-veined hand flew to her throat in swift alarm and she -stared at them silently. - -Betty, recovering from her surprise, flew to the old lady’s side, -taking a wrinkled old hand in her firm young one. - -[Illustration: “OH, I’M SO SORRY IF WE STARTLED YOU,” SAID BETTY. - -_The Outdoor Girls Around the Campfire._ _Page 141_] - -“Oh, I’m so sorry if we startled you,” said the Little Captain, -penitently. “You see we saw the smoke from your fire and we thought----” - -“Oh, were you coming to see me?” asked the little old lady, a light -springing to her eyes. “I’m glad. I’ve been very lonesome, lately. Do -come up, dears, and rest yourselves. You look very worn.” - -And so she turned, retracing her steps and evidently taking it as a -matter of course that the girls would follow her. Betty ran forward, -catching the old lady’s arm and helping her over the rough places, -meanwhile sending an urgent look of command over her shoulder to the -still amazed girls. The look said more plainly than words: - -“If you dare tell this old soul we didn’t come on purpose to see her, -I’ll murder you all.” - -“We’ll play the game,” Mollie called, as though in response to spoken -words, and Betty nodded contentedly. - -Their queer little hostess caught nothing of this byplay, she was -seemingly too intent upon not stumbling over the stones and tree stumps -that dotted her front yard. - -“Some day,” she said, in quaint apology, “I am going to have all these -rocks and logs removed. But, you see, I’m not strong enough to do it -myself.” At this pathetic admission Betty felt a strong desire to take -the frail little person in her arms and tell her it was all right. Who -minded a few sticks and stones, anyway? - -Midway of the clearing there stood a little cabin, badly in need of -paint and repairs, and it was from the chimney of this small abode -that the smoke was pouring in a thin spiral--the smoke which had first -warned the girls of human presence. - -The little old lady swung wide her door with a gesture as grand as -though she were welcoming her guests to a palace. - -“Come in,” she said, adding with a sigh as they obeyed: “I wish I -had some refreshments to offer you young ladies, but the fact is, -I--have--nothing left in the house. I was on my way,” she added -hastily, as though the girls might misconstrue her confession, “to lay -in some more supplies when I met you.” - -They stayed with their queer little hostess for the better part of an -hour and before the time had passed, they had fallen hopelessly in love -with her. - -She was sweet and quaint and pathetically eager that they should enjoy -themselves. The girls, growing more and more interested as they came -to know her better, skillfully drew her out, leading her to talk about -herself. - -This she did with a frankness that was disarming. - -“They call me the Old Maid of the Mountains--the good people around -here,” she confessed, as though she took real pride in the title. -“Sometimes they come to see me, although often they are too busy with -their own affairs to bother about a little old woman. Although,” she -added bravely, as though once more afraid that the girls might be led -to pity her, “I am not often lonesome. I have my work, you see.” - -“Work?” repeated Betty vaguely. Somehow it seemed impossible that this -frail little creature was able to work. - -“Yes,” returned the little old lady, interpreting her puzzled look, “I -do needlework--a great deal of it. Though,” she added, with a sigh, “it -is hard for me to do it lately. My eyes are not as good as they were. -Take care of your eyes in your youth, my dears,” she finished, looking -around at them earnestly. “And never, whatever you do, cry!” - -The girls, rather amazed at this command, could find nothing to say. -However, this made little difference, as the old lady, once started, -seemed glad enough to have somebody to talk to. - -She rambled on and on, while the girls listened eagerly. Suddenly, with -a quick look at the clock, she started to her feet. - -“Mercy me!” she exclaimed, in dismay. “It is getting late, my dears, -and I must get to the farm and back before nightfall. I hope you’ll -pardon me, but it takes me such a long, long time.” She sighed again -and patiently reached for her shawl. When she tottered and grasped the -edge of a table for support, the girls realized how really weak and -feeble she was. - -“I do believe,” was Betty’s shocked thought, “that she’s actually -hungry.” - -Aloud she said, with the special, irresistible manner that she reserved -for very old people. - -“You’re going to stay just where you are! I’ll run and get what you -need.” - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII - -A FEAST FOR A KING - - -Before the little old lady found breath for reply Betty had darted from -the room. After a surprised moment, Amy followed her. - -Grace and Mollie, following Betty’s unexpressed wish, stayed with the -old lady. - -Half way down the hill Amy caught up to Betty. - -“Where to?” she asked, panting. “And why the dreadful hurry?” - -“Oh, Amy!” exclaimed the Little Captain, slowing her pace, “did you -ever see anything so pitiful and so dear as that little old thing--did -you?” - -“She’s a darling,” agreed Amy, warmly. “Imagine her really enjoying -being called the Old Maid of the Mountains!” - -“She’s quaint and, in some ways, rather queer,” admitted Betty, as they -reached the main road and swung along toward the nearest farmhouse. -“But I reckon she gets that way from living so much alone. Poor little -soul, she’s altogether too feeble to live alone. Amy,” changing the -subject abruptly, “how much cash do you happen to have on hand?” - -“Two dollars and three cents,” returned Amy, promptly. “I didn’t bring -much along because I thought we wouldn’t need a great deal in the way -of provisions.” - -“It’ll do,” said Betty, adding musingly: “I have a dollar, and with -that we ought to get the farmer’s wife to give us a pretty good dinner.” - -“What are you going to get?” asked Amy, as they turned into the broad -drive that led up to the rambling porch of the old farmhouse. - -“A chicken, if I can,” said Betty. “We can cook it in the old lady’s -oven. I noticed she had a pretty hot fire in the stove in spite of the -hot weather. And apple sauce if I can. And fresh butter and maybe a -home-made pie----” - -“Good gracious!” cried Amy. “What do you think this is, Thanksgiving?” - -“It’s going to be a mighty fine party if I have anything to say about -it,” returned Betty, as the farmer’s wife appeared on the threshold--a -gigantic figure of a woman but with a rosy, kindly face that attested -to her good-nature. - -As the girls had been there several times before, she recognized them -instantly and greeted them with a broad smile. - -“Come right into the kitchen,” she said, waving a hand toward the -interior of the house from which floated an appetizing aroma. “I’ve a -pie in the oven and I’m afraid it will burn.” - -With these words she vanished, leaving the girls to follow. This they -did eagerly, for the smell of baking things drew them irresistibly. - -“And now what’ll you have?” asked the good-natured giantess, whose name -was Mrs. Joyce. “I’ve got plenty of fresh eggs to-day--the hens have -been workin’ overtime--and more milk than I know what to do with. It’ll -be a mercy if you’ll take it off my hands.” - -Betty laughed. - -“It’s very kind of you,” she said. “But it isn’t milk and eggs that -we’re really after to-day. You see, we want the makings for a real -feast.” - -Then she explained while the kindly woman listened with interest and -sympathy. - -“And so you’ve met the Old Maid of the Mountains,” she said, an -indulgent smile on her wide mouth. “A queer little soul, but a good -woman for all that. We folk around here try our best to befriend her, -but she’s too proud to take much from us. Sure, if it’s a spread you -want, you shall have it.” - -Mrs. Joyce sent Henry, the hired man, out to kill a chicken, “the -likeliest bird in the lot,” and the girls waited while the slain fowl -was duly plucked and cleaned. - -Afterward the farmer’s wife filled a huge hamper for them, putting in, -in spite of their protests, a generous supply of home-made biscuits and -doughnuts, adding as a final glorious gift a huge apple pie which she -had taken from the oven, crisp and flaky of crust, but a moment before. - -“Oh, you’re too good to us, Mrs. Joyce,” murmured Amy, longing eyes on -the tempting pastry. “We don’t deserve it.” - -“Anybody who tries to do good in this world deserves every nice thing -that comes to ’em,” said the good woman stoutly, as she securely -fastened the top of the hamper. “Now, be gone with you, while I tend to -the rest of my baking.” - -“But, Mrs. Joyce, we haven’t paid you yet,” protested Betty. “How -much----” - -“Run along with you,” repeated the big woman, already busy with her -oven. “You don’t owe me a cent.” - -However, Betty, with Amy’s help did finally get her to consent to take -some money for the feast--although it was only a tenth of what it was -really worth--and when the girls turned once more toward the cabin of -the Old Maid of the Mountains it was with a warm feeling about their -hearts. - -“There are so many lovely people in the world,” said Amy, contentedly -as, with the basket between them, they toiled up the steep ascent. - -“I only hope,” said Betty in a low tone, as they stopped before the -door of the little cabin, “that our little old lady won’t object to our -contributing our feast.” - -“I don’t think she will,” returned Amy, “as long as we’re going to eat -it too.” - -But when the Old Maid of the Mountains saw what that basket contained -she was too amazed and bewildered at first to make any protest, if, -indeed, she had wanted to. She just sat and stared from one to the -other of the girls as though she were trying to figure things out. - -“But what are you going to do, my dears?” she asked in a plaintive, -uncertain little voice that went to Betty’s heart. “I don’t understand.” - -“Why,” explained Betty, gayly, “if you don’t mind, we’ve invited -ourselves to dinner with you. That is,” she paused and added with that -pretty deference she always paid to the old, “if you are quite sure you -don’t mind?” - -She was startled then, and disturbed to see that the old lady’s eyes -had suddenly filled with tears. But all the quaint little person said -was: - -“I do not mind!” - -And indeed, as the preparations for the feast gayly proceeded, it -almost seemed as though the little old lady grew younger. Her eyes -became bright and a color warmed her sweet old face, making her look -more than ever like a picture out of a story book. - -“It is so lovely to have young ladies about,” she sighed, as Betty -gayly tested the chicken with a fork and proclaimed that it was done. -“Youth is a wonderful thing.” - -“You,” said Betty, turning to her impulsively, “will never be old.” - -The old lady shook her head, although the compliment evidently pleased -her. - -“My soul will remain young perhaps, my dear,” she said, gently. “But it -is my body that must feel the weight of years.” - -“After all,” returned the Little Captain, “it’s the soul that really -counts. That’s what mother says.” - -“You are a dear child,” returned the little old lady, reaching up to -pat the hand that Betty had laid on her shoulder. “And you must have a -very sweet mother. I envy her. I have always longed to have a daughter -of my own.” At the words such a look of sadness spread over the -wrinkled old face that Betty knew she had chanced upon a secret wound -in the old lady’s heart. She had a quick moment of wondering what had -been the early life of the Old Maid of the Mountains. - -However, as Mollie announced that dinner was ready to serve, they were -soon merry again, crowding eagerly about the table. - -Their hostess occupied the seat of honor at the head of the table while -Betty took the foot, proudly presiding over the carving of the chicken. - -“I don’t know anything about this business,” she admitted, as she -severed a brownly roasted leg from the bird with the aid of a carving -knife of finest steel. - -This was one thing Betty, and the other girls, too, had noticed about -the contents of the little cabin. Although the furnishings were scant, -they were all of good material. - -The crockery--what there was of it--was of the finest china, and the -cutlery--what there was of that--was tempered steel and real silver. -Like the thoroughbred old lady, they were genuine, seeming strangely -incongruous and out of place in the tumbled-down little cabin. - -“She’s a mystery,” thought Betty, as she struggled nobly with the -chicken. “I’d give a good deal to know something about her past. I -reckon she’s had an interesting one.” - -Take it all in all, it was one of the most delicious dinners that the -Outdoor Girls had ever sat down to, and, as Mollie afterward observed: -“That was saying something.” - -As for their quaint little hostess, it is safe to say she had not been -given such a treat in a long while. - -She ate as though she were famished, and Betty realized with a new rush -of pity that what she had at first suspected was true, the old lady had -been really hungry--half fed. - -Yielding to the girl’s eager entreaties she even took a second piece of -Mrs. Joyce’s wondrous pie, and when she had finished she sat back with -a sigh, looking at the girls plaintively. - -“I know I shall be sick,” she said. “I have not eaten so much in----” -she caught herself up suddenly as though sorry for the admission and -went on talking hurriedly, trying to cover it up with a flow of words. - -After dinner the girls carefully cleaned up, anxious that the little -old lady’s party should not be spoiled by any hard work on her part. -And then, as the twilight shadows were beginning to fall, they knew it -would be necessary to hurry if they were to reach camp before dark. - -“And we’re none too sure of the way, either,” Mollie said to the Little -Captain in an undertone. “There’s no time to waste.” - -But when they explained this to the old lady, she seemed so -disappointed and frail and little that they had hard work to get away -at all. - -“We’ll come back to-morrow or next day,” Betty promised, as they -stepped out into the open, the old lady following them hospitably to -the door. “We’ve just had a lovely time.” - -At the edge of the woods they turned and looked back. - -The Old Maid of the Mountains was waving her hand. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX - -THE STORM - - -So interested were the girls in the little old lady and so fond had -they grown of her that they found it hard to keep away from the little -cabin where she lived. - -They kept her supplied with canned goods of all sorts, to say nothing -of milk and fresh eggs, until the old lady lost her frail and wasted -look and even seemed less feeble. - -She insisted on paying for what they gave her, and the girls humored -her to the extent of letting her pay a mere fraction of what the -supplies were actually worth. With this she was well content, for it -gave her the feeling of independence that it was necessary for her to -have. - -Then one day, coming up the hill to the little cabin, the girls found -the Old Maid of the Mountains sitting in front of her door, bending -closely over some needlework she held in her hand. - -She looked up as the girls accosted her and then passed her hand -wonderingly before her eyes. There was a puzzled expression on her -face. - -“I--I can’t see,” she said plaintively. “The sun must be too strong.” - -“You have strained your eyes, sewing,” scolded Betty, as she took the -work from the old lady’s unresisting hands. “Feeling better now?” she -asked anxiously. - -The old lady nodded. - -“There were black dots dancing before my eyes,” she explained. “But now -they are gone. I feel better.” She reached up a hand for the embroidery -on which she had been working but Betty never even noticed the gesture. -She was gazing at the piece of work, wide-eyed. - -“Girls!” she cried. “Look at this! Isn’t it----” her voice was agitated -as she held out the embroidered centerpiece to Grace. “Isn’t it the -companion piece to the one you bought for your mother, Grace?” - -Grace nodded dumbly, while in Mollie’s black eyes began to smolder -a great excitement. And the next moment Amy, too, had grasped the -significance of Betty’s question. - -The little old lady sat staring from one to the other of them in -puzzled bewilderment. - -“You do not like my work?” she asked, gently. - -“Like it,” repeated Betty vaguely, and then turned excitedly to the -little woman. “Tell me,” she demanded. “Did you ever sell embroidery at -the Woman’s Exchange in Kayford?” - -The old lady seemed still more puzzled. - -“Yes,” she answered. “I used to do a great deal of work for the -Exchange before--before--my eyes became so bad. It is taxing, you -know,” she finished, gently and uncomplainingly. “That sort of work.” - -The girls exchanged wondering glances and then Betty explained to -the little old lady how they had come to hear of her that day at the -Woman’s Exchange. - -“We’ve been wondering about you a great deal,” put in Amy, gently. “I’m -very glad we have found you.” - -“That is good of you, my dear,” said the old lady, with her grave -smile. “You have been very, very good to an old woman.” - -On the way back to camp that night the girls discussed their discovery -excitedly. - -“Who would ever have expected to find our poor old lady in the Old Maid -of the Mountains?” marveled Amy. “It’s just like a story.” - -“It’s a pretty sad story, just the same,” said Betty, gravely. “Think -of that poor lonesome little soul deprived of her one small means of -support because her eyes have failed! Oh, girls, I wish we could find -a million dollars for her somewhere!” - -But, however fascinating the subject might be, the girls had something -to think of besides their Old Maid of the Mountains. For this was -Friday and the boys were expected the following afternoon! - -“It seems an age since we’ve seen them,” said Amy, plaintively. “I hope -they’ll come early.” - -It was not until they were building a campfire later on that the girls -noticed any decided change in the weather. And even when they did, they -at first attached no special importance to it. - -But when the wind, which had begun as a soft sighing in the trees, -waxed so vicious that the flames from the fire began to reach out -hungrily for the surrounding trees, the girls began seriously to worry. - -“Looks like a big gale,” said the Little Captain, soberly. “Better -check the flames, girls. Don’t want to start a forest fire.” - -And so, for the first night since they had made their camp, they were -forced to go without their campfire. They stood somberly watching the -last stubborn flames flicker, licking up in sudden yellow darts, then -dying down morosely. - -“It’s a shame,” said Grace. “Talk about Hamlet with Hamlet left out. -That’s what a camp is without a campfire.” - -“Humph,” said Mollie, putting back a strand of hair that the wind had -whipped about her face, “shouldn’t wonder if we’d be lucky to have even -our tent left to us by morning. Just listen to that wind!” - -“If it only doesn’t rain, too,” said Amy, sharing the general disquiet. - -“Wouldn’t mind the rain half as much as the wind,” remarked the Little -Captain, as she started on an inspection of the tent to make sure it -was as securely fastened as it was possible for it to be. - -At last, satisfied that it was as strong as human hands could make it, -she returned to the girls who were still watching the dying flames of -their campfire. - -The wind was rising higher and higher every moment while the branches -of the trees swayed and moaned beneath its fury. Leaves and small twigs -fell upon the girls where they stood, mute evidence of the wrath of the -elements. - -“Th-there comes the rain!” said Amy suddenly. “Listen!” - -They listened, and, far out on the lake, they could hear a tearing, -rending sound and a muffled splashing that they knew was rain beating -on the water. - -“A cloudburst!” muttered Mollie, adding, suddenly: “Did you cover the -_Gem_, Betty?” - -The Little Captain nodded and made a swift movement toward the tent. - -“Get inside, everybody,” she commanded. “This is going to be a -beautiful storm once it reaches us. Might as well stay dry as long as -we can.” - -They had barely crowded into the tent when the rain overtook them, -tearing down in a solid, sheeting torrent. Betty pulled the flap taut, -fastening it securely. - -At the same moment Mollie rushed over to the window in the back of the -tent, pulling down its covering of canvas. - -“All secure so far,” she said, trying to make her voice sound cheerful. -“Now let’s hope the tent will hold up.” - -“Let’s light the torches, somebody,” cried Betty. “And when we’ve found -the matches we can light some candles, too. In about two minutes we’ll -be as cozy as bugs in a rug.” - -It was impossible to withstand Betty’s optimism, and in a short time, -with the aid of plentiful candle light, they were not only feeling -more resigned about the storm but were even beginning to enjoy the -novelty of it. - -“Rain cease, tent be water-tight,” chanted Grace, raising her eyes -aloft. “Be water-tight, tent----” - -“You needn’t be so prayerful about it,” chuckled Betty. “Do you suppose -the boys would have lent it to us, if it hadn’t been water-tight?” - -“I’m just putting in my plea for good measure,” explained Grace. “Whew, -I never did hear such a storm.” - -“It’s awful,” agreed Mollie, rising restlessly and walking over to the -flap of the tent. She stood there a moment, then, shaking her head as -though satisfied, returned to her seat. - -A few minutes later, however, she repeated the action, standing so long -by the tent flap this time that Betty was moved to comment. - -“What’s the matter, honey?” she asked, adding flippantly: “If you’re -waiting for the boys you’re wasting your time. They’re not due till -to-morrow, you know.” - -Instead of answering, Mollie made an imperative little gesture with her -hand. Startled, Betty joined her silently and was still further alarmed -to find that Mollie was trembling. - -“There’s somebody out there, Betty,” she said, in a stage whisper. -“Are you game to--lift--the flap----” - -For answer Betty stooped and began untying the cord that held the flap -while Grace and Amy came over to see what was wrong. Before they could -speak, Mollie motioned them to silence and they stood, frozen into -immobility, fearing they knew not what. - -Swift as thought, Betty flung back the flap of the tent, shading her -eyes to see out into the dark. A wild gust of wind rushed viciously -into the tent. - -At the same moment out in the night two black figures flung into the -woodland, crouched almost double, running. Over Betty’s shoulder -Mollie had seen also, and now she clasped the Little Captain’s arm -convulsively. - -“Come inside, Betty, come inside!” she cried wildly, and dazedly Betty -obeyed, letting fall the flap of the tent. It flung crazily back -and forth, whipped by the savage wind, but the Little Captain never -noticed. She was regarding the girls with dilated eyes. - -“That time,” she whispered, “I saw for myself!” - - - - -CHAPTER XX - -THE HOLD-UP - - -To say that the Outdoor Girls were thoroughly shaken by this -experience would be to treat the matter lightly. They were filled with -consternation. - -It was certain now that there were tramps in the neighborhood, tramps -who chose stormy dark nights to prowl and spy upon them. - -“What can they want?” Amy demanded, half tearfully. “We haven’t a thing -with us that would be worth their while to steal----” - -“They don’t know that, I suppose,” broke in the Little Captain. - -“But if their purpose is to steal,” argued Mollie, “why in the world do -they always run away when they find they are discovered?” - -“Maybe they think we’re armed,” suggested Grace, and in spite of her -alarm, Betty’s eyes twinkled. - -“We are,” she said, patting the pocket where the toy pistol reposed. - -“Maybe,” said Amy, thoughtfully, “these tramps belong to the same gang -as those we had the row with on Triangle Island.” - -“Perhaps,” Mollie took her up eagerly, “they’re the _very_ same ones. -We’re not so very far from Triangle Island, you know.” - -“If that is true,” said the Little Captain whimsically, “maybe the toy -pistol is serving as our protection after all. If they think we’re -armed, they’ll be mighty careful how they get too close to us.” - -“I only hope,” said Grace, and again her tone was prayerful, “that they -don’t think to call our bluff.” - -There followed a long silence during which the girls tried to take up -their reading again and did not make much of a success of it. - -Outside the storm raged with undiminished fury, the wind threatening -any moment to tear the tent from over their heads. The rain continued -to fall in torrents. - -“I wish that rain would stop,” sighed Grace, uneasily. “The sound of it -in the woods outside makes me think I hear footsteps all the time.” - -“I don’t believe we’ll be bothered any more to-night,” said the Little -Captain. - -“And to-morrow,” added Amy thankfully, “the boys will be here.” - -After a while, since the storm seemed destined to continue through -the night and since they could not very well sit up till morning, the -Outdoor Girls finally turned out their lights and went to bed. - -They passed an uneasy, comfortless night with one or the other of them -forever getting up to steal over to the tent flap and peer fearfully -into the darkness beyond. It is safe to say that not one of them slept -two solid hours of the time. - -And when morning came, revealing a dreary dark day, they felt, as they -looked, hollow-eyed and spiritless. - -“The weather looks just the way I feel,” remarked Grace, as she went -mechanically about the preparing of breakfast. “I’m so sleepy I can -hardly keep my eyes open.” - -However, later in the morning, it seemed as though nature relented of -her harsh treatment and decided to give the girls a bit of sunshine. -And it is remarkable what a difference a little sun will make. - -The girls perked up miraculously and began clearing up the camp in -anticipation of the boys’ arrival. - -“I wonder when they’ll be here,” mused Mollie, as she gathered all -paper and bits of refuse from in front of the tent and made them into -a neat pile ready to be burned. - -“About noon, I suppose,” said the Little Captain. All morning she had -been wondering if Allen would be with the boys, and now as the time -drew near for their arrival she was nervous and jumpy, not at all like -her usual calm young self. - -The girls noticed the change, and once Mollie said, teasingly: - -“Cheer up, honey. You know Will promised to bring Allen along, if he -had to do it at the end of a rope. And you know, too, that Will is a -man of his word!” - -“I wonder,” Amy had added, casually, “if Allen has fixed up the matter -of that old man’s will yet. He has been so very mysterious about it----” - -“That he’s made us all curious,” finished Grace. - -“I don’t see why,” said Mollie, pushing some burning scraps back into -the heap of blazing paper, “he doesn’t tell us what he knows and let us -share in the fun.” - -“He will, when he gets ready,” said Betty, adding with a little caper -she could not repress: “Oh, girls, it’s almost eleven o’clock. Aren’t -you getting a bit excited?” - -“Getting!” drawled Grace. “We have been, all along. Look at Amy,” she -added with a chuckle, “hanging up a piece of rag and throwing her -jacket on the floor!” - -“She has it bad, poor child,” laughed Mollie, as, caught in the act, -Amy laughed sheepishly. - -“If you were attending to your own affairs, you wouldn’t have time to -see so much,” she retorted, proceeding to restore her jacket to its -proper place. - -“There’s one thing we must remember,” said Betty soberly. “And that is, -not to neglect our Old Maid of the Mountains just because the boys are -here. I think she has come to depend on us more than we think.” - -The girls agreed to this, saying that nothing should make them forget -the lonely little old lady in the cabin up on the hill. - -And then, a little before they expected them, came the boys. - -The girls heard their voices before they saw them, and Betty’s heart -jumped when she recognized Allen’s voice. Not till that moment had she -realized how great had been her fear that his “mysterious” case would -make it necessary for him to remain in town. - -The girls gave one hasty moment to the smoothing of their hair, made -untidy by a rather stiff breeze, and the next moment were rushing into -the woods to meet the boys half way. - -They had agreed not to show too much enthusiasm over the arrival of the -latter for the reason, as Mollie had stated, that the boys were getting -spoiled with so much attention showered upon them. - -But in the joy of the moment the girls forgot all about their -resolution, with the result that the boys were treated to a most -riotous welcome. - -“Seems as if we were getting pretty popular around here, fellows,” said -Roy, with a grin, and Mollie promptly attempted to put him in his place. - -“_Any_ man would be welcome under the circumstances,” she said -haughtily, and not till afterward did the boys think to ask her what -she meant by that statement. - -As for Allen, he made straight for Betty where she had lingered a -little behind the others. - -“Say, it’s been a long time,” he cried boyishly, taking both her hands -in his, his brown, handsome face alight with eagerness. “Did you miss -me, Betty?” - -“Never mind us, Allen,” drawled Grace, with a wink at the assembled -company. “Would it be doing you a favor to remove ourselves from the -surrounding landscape?” - -“Don’t bother,” laughed Allen, while the wild rose in Betty’s face -turned a deeper pink. “We don’t mind you in the least, do we, Betty?” - -“Not at all,” said Betty, demurely, and Mollie threw up her hands in -despair. - -“They’re just plain crazy, both of them,” she said. A moment later she -turned to Frank, adding in a different tone: “What’s the matter with -you and Will, anyway? You both look as mad as hops.” - -“That’s nothing to the way we feel,” Frank assured her, and immediately -he and Will poured forth a tale that made the girls stare in surprise -and excitement. - -It seemed that when Frank and Will had started back to Deepdale the -morning after they had spent the night in camp with the girls, helping -them get up their tent, they had not gone very far along the road when -they had been stopped by a couple of rough-looking men. The latter had -flourished pistols at them and commanded them to “Loosen up!” - -“Oh! And did you?” queried Amy, horrified. - -Will shrugged. - -“What else could we do?” he said. “We were unarmed.” - -“Did--did they steal much?” asked Grace, going around to Will as though -to protect him from the danger which had threatened him. - -“They took my watch and some odd change I happened to have on me, and -forty dollars of Frank’s,” said Will, at which Frank pulled a long face. - -“It was just after pay day,” he admitted ruefully. - -“And we’ve been spending all our spare time since trying to find the -scoundrels,” finished Will, grimly. “And we’ll get ’em yet!” - -“Let us help,” begged Amy. She was always very brave when Will was -around. “If you were robbed near here maybe the same tramps did it that -have been annoying us.” - -“What?” cried Allen, his anxious glance traveling toward Betty. He -had heard of the set-to the girls had had with the tramps on Triangle -Island from Will and Frank, and it is safe to say the young lawyer had -not spent a really comfortable minute since. “Are those fellows still -bothering you?” - -“I think they came again last night,” admitted the Little Captain. -“They gave us a good deal of a scare, but as soon as they knew we had -seen them, they ran off into the woods again.” - -“Cowards!” muttered Allen, clenching his fist. “I’d just like to get my -hands on them!” - -“You have nothing on me, old man,” Will assured him. “As soon as we -get some lunch”--here he sent a pleading glance in the direction of -the girls--“it will be our job to comb the surrounding country pretty -thoroughly. If we don’t find the thieves, at least we can make a good -try at it.” - -So agitated were the girls and boys over this latest act of the -ruffianly tramps that they did not eat lunch with as much zest as -usual. All they could think of was their eagerness to start off on a -search for the thieves who had so boldly robbed the two boys. - -It was decided that they separate into pairs--Allen and Betty, Frank -and Mollie, Roy and Grace, and Amy and Will, advancing in different -directions through the woods. They were to return to the camp in an -hour or two and report what they had found--if anything. - -“And we want to make it a point to cover as much distance as possible,” -said Will, just before they started. “No stopping on the way, you know.” - -“Speak for yourself, Will Ford,” Mollie retorted. “You needn’t worry -about the rest of us.” - -Then they parted, setting off briskly on their tour of inspection. - -For quite a distance Betty and Allen were silent, occupied with their -rather sober thoughts. Then Betty, realizing that they had not spoken -for a long while, looked up at Allen teasingly. - -“Don’t look so dreadfully black and cross,” she said. “Have I offended -you, m’lord?” - -“Heavens, no,” said Allen, adding with a deepening of the scowl on his -forehead: “I want to find those tramps, Betty, and put them where they -can’t cause you any more trouble. I can’t tell you how worried I am -about leaving you here, alone and unprotected.” - -“I’m not alone, the girls are with me,” Betty protested, with a -maddening smile. - -“Bosh!” retorted Allen impolitely, at which the Little Captain only -chuckled. - -There followed another long silence in which they conscientiously -searched the surrounding woodland in an attempt to discover something -that might give them a clew to the whereabouts of the tramps. Again it -was Betty who broke the silence. - -“Allen,” she said, “you’re worried about something else besides me, -aren’t you?” - -Allen started as though she had read his thoughts. - -“You are a little witch, aren’t you?” he asked, lightly. “You can even -tell what a fellow’s thinking.” - -“But what is wrong?” persisted Betty. “Won’t you tell me, please?” - -Betty was irresistible when she spoke that way--at least she was to -Allen. - -“I didn’t mean to trouble you with it,” he said, reluctantly. -“Especially as I’m still not at liberty to go into details. But I _am_ -worried, Betty. You see, it’s my duty, as a lawyer, to see that justice -is done whenever it is possible. And now I have reason to believe--to -know--that a great injustice has been committed and I can’t see my way -clear to righting the wrong.” - -“Is it,” asked Betty, after a sympathetic silence, “anything to do with -that old man’s will--the client who died?” - -Allen nodded. Then he said suddenly, turning to her with his old -cheerful smile: “But we’re not going to let shop talk spoil our fun, -are we, little Betty? I’ll have to be going back on Monday.” - -“Oh,” cried Betty, disappointed, “can’t you stay?” - -“I’m afraid not,” said Allen, gravely. “Business is business, you know.” - -“Y-yes,” said Betty doubtfully. “I suppose so.” - - - - -CHAPTER XXI - -LONELINESS - - -The campers failed to find the tramps. Grace and Roy stumbled across an -old hut, where it was evident somebody had been living recently, but -the place was empty and gave every appearance of desertion. So, after -searching thoroughly through the surrounding woods, the two were forced -to return to camp with only this meager find to report. - -However, as the rest of the party had found no trace whatever of the -tramps, Grace and Roy were consoled and began to think that they had, -after all, come away with what small honors there were. - -The next day the young people took up the search again and pursued it -faithfully, but they met with no greater success than they had the day -before. - -“I’m beginning to think the tramps must live in a hole in the ground,” -said Grace, disconsolately, as they sat about the campfire Sunday -evening recounting the day’s experiences. - -“If they do, they’ll have to come up for air sometime,” said Betty, -adding belligerently: “And when they do, we’ll get ’em!” - -“’At a boy,” said Frank, adding, as he lazily poked the fire with a -stick: “And now what do you say we change the subject? I’m sick of the -very name of tramp.” - -It was with decided reluctance that Allen said good-by to Betty the -following morning. - -“I wish you’d chuck it all and come back with me,” he pleaded for -perhaps the fiftieth time. But Betty only shook her head. - -“I couldn’t,” she said. “It would be running away. And besides, we’re -perfectly safe here.” - -Allen was not a bit sure about it, but as he had already used all the -arguments he could think of, he was forced to give in. - -Roy decided to accompany Allen back to Deepdale, saying that, as much -as he deplored the fact, duty called him, and the girls, after loud -lamentations, finally surrendered to the inevitable. - -“I don’t see why you pull such long faces,” Frank reproached them once. -“Won’t you have Will and me still with you?” - -“Humph,” Mollie retorted, “and do you think you’re the whole universe?” - -And then Allen and Roy were gone, promising to return at the earliest -possible moment. - -The Outdoor Girls and their two remaining escorts returned to camp to -discuss plans for the day. Betty was unusually thoughtful. She was -remembering what Allen had said about the injustice that had been done -by that old man who had died with something on his mind. - -“I hope Allen sees that justice is done, and pretty soon,” she mused, -rather wistfully. “He is so absorbed and queer these days that he isn’t -like the old Allen a bit.” - -She came out of her reverie to find that the boys and girls were in the -midst of an animated discussion as to whether they should go fishing or -not. It seemed that the boys were for the sport and the girls against -it. - -“Not for me, thank you,” said Grace, decidedly. “Mollie and I spent the -whole afternoon a while ago trying for trout and never caught one.” - -“Oh, well,” said Frank, patronizingly, “you just didn’t know how to go -about it, that’s all.” - -“I tell you what let’s do,” proposed Betty, wading boldly into the -fray. “If you boys want to go fishing, go ahead. And while you’re -wasting your perfectly good time, we’ll go to see the Old Maid of the -Mountains.” - -“The what?” asked both boys together, and at their comical look of -perplexity, the girls giggled. - -They told of their discovery of the little old lady, and, somewhat to -the surprise of the girls, the boys evinced a very real interest. And -when Betty graphically related the feast they had had in the cabin of -the Old Maid of the Mountains, Frank, in an injured tone, declared: - -“It wasn’t fair to pull off a party like that without giving us a bid.” - -After the boys had started out gayly, promising to bring home at least -a dozen fish, the girls set out in a different direction. They felt -rather penitent because they had not seen the little old lady for two -days and they wondered if she had been frightened at all during the -storm. Also they were anxious to see more of her exquisite embroideries. - -“It certainly is queer,” marveled Mollie, as they neared the little -house on the top of the hill, “that we just happened to run across the -little old lady and find out she’s the same one the girl in the Woman’s -Exchange told us of.” - -The girls agreed that it was, Amy adding something unoriginal to the -effect that “it was a pretty small world, after all.” - -The girls found the little old woman as gentle and uncomplaining as -ever, although they thought they could sense under the calmness of her -manner how much she had missed them. - -When Grace asked to see some more of her needlework, the old lady’s -eyes brightened and she hurried into the next room, returning with two -or three pieces of such elaborate and exquisite workmanship that the -girls were newly astonished. - -“How in the world did you ever learn to do it?” asked Betty. - -“My mother taught me when I was a child,” returned the queer little -person, evidently much pleased and flattered by their admiration. “My -mother did wonderful work.” - -“It couldn’t have been better than this,” protested Amy, at which the -little old lady shook her head doubtfully, although she looked more -proud and pleased than ever. - -They spent a happy afternoon with their Old Maid of the Mountains, -listening to her sprightly reminiscences of “the days when she was -young.” But as the hours passed there seemed to be a good deal of -sadness mixed with her mood and she fell frequently into long silences -from which the girls found it difficult to arouse her. - -They were worried about her, for she seemed to have grown even more -feeble since they had last seen her and she had formed the habit of -muttering to herself. - -Once Betty heard her say, so softly that the Little Captain could -hardly be sure she heard the words at all: - -“The injustice of it, oh, the _injustice_ of it!” - -Betty wrinkled her pretty brows in a thoughtful expression and sighed, -wishing she could do something to help. - -“I don’t suppose anything can be done, after all,” she thought with -another sigh. “The world is full of injustice.” - -During one of her talkative spells the girls learned that the real name -of the Old Maid of the Mountains was Isabella Weeks and that the little -cabin she now occupied once belonged to her grandfather. - -“It’s about the only thing I have left,” the old lady had said in a -burst of confidence and had immediately relapsed into one of her long -silences. - -On their way back to camp that night the girls were unusually -thoughtful. Through Betty’s head kept running persistently the refrain -of the little old lady’s muttered words: - -“The injustice of it, oh, the _injustice_ of it!” - - - - -CHAPTER XXII - -A CLEW - - -As the Outdoor Girls were nearing camp Mollie finally broke the long -silence that had fallen upon them. - -“Something’s got to be done for that old lady,” she said, explosively. -“She oughtn’t to live up there all alone. Didn’t you notice to-day how -queer she acted? It’s enough to drive anybody crazy, living alone like -that.” - -“I think she has probably had a great deal of trouble----” began Amy. - -“Humph,” grunted Mollie. “She has plenty of that now.” - -“Yes, but I mean in her early life,” persisted Amy. “Do you notice that -every time she tries to tell us about something real connected with her -girlhood she brings herself up short----” - -“And closes up like a clam?” Grace finished, adding, with a nod: “Yes, -I’ve noticed that.” - -“I suppose if her past life hasn’t been pleasant,” said Betty, gently, -“she naturally wouldn’t want to talk about it.” - -“That’s true, of course,” argued Mollie. “But she doesn’t have to be -so--so--secretive about it. She acts as though there were some mystery -that she was trying to conceal.” - -“Well, it’s her mystery,” drawled Grace. “I suppose she has a perfect -right to conceal it if she wants to.” - -“But we really ought to help her,” said Mollie, going back to her -original point. “She’s far too old and feeble to be living alone.” - -They walked on for a while in silence and then Mollie asked suddenly: - -“By the way, Betty--I meant to ask you before--has Allen said anything -about that case he was working on?” - -“Not much,” answered Betty, “except that he’s still working on it. He -says he can’t really say anything about it yet.” - -“There you go again,” said Mollie, feeling injured. “I believe he’s -just cooking up something, so as to make us curious.” - -“Hardly,” laughed Betty, adding, reasonably: “It must be pretty serious -to keep him in town, you know, when he’s crazy to be here with us. -Well, what in the world----” she broke off to stare as they came out -into the open space before their camp. - -Frank and Will had returned from their fishing trip and, unlike -Mollie and Grace, they had not returned empty-handed. No wonder the -girls stared. There were at least a dozen good-sized fish in the -pan, all cleaned and ready for cooking. Having got thus far in their -preparations, the boys had turned their attention to the making of a -fire good enough to do justice to the day’s catch. - -When they espied the girls they beckoned to them gleefully. - -“Come hither and look what we have brought,” called Frank, invitingly. - -“We see it!” exclaimed Betty heartily. “You sure did have good luck!” - -“Good luck nothing,” snorted Will. “That’s all the credit you ever get -for being a high-class sportsman.” - -“I suppose,” said Mollie, with elaborate sarcasm, “that you simply -whistled to the innocent fish and they came running.” - -“Swimming,” corrected Frank, gravely, at which nonsense they were -forced to laugh. - -The delightful days passed one after another till it was almost time to -look for Allen and Roy again. They fished and hiked and took long rides -in the _Gem_ and generally and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. - -However, even in the height of their fun the girls never forgot Miss -Weeks, their little Old Maid of the Mountains. They even one day -enticed her down to their camp, taking the easiest and shortest way, -later giving her a ride in the motor boat. - -Although the little old lady seemed to enjoy herself immensely, the -ride was never repeated. In spite of the girls’ attentions and the -wholesome food they continued to supply her with, the little old lady -grew paler day by day until she finally became so feeble it seemed as -though a strong wind might blow her away altogether. - -And because the girls had taken a profound interest in the lonesome old -lady and had grown very fond of her they worried a good deal about her -condition and tried hard to think of some way in which they might help -her without hurting her pride. - -But it seemed a problem that was almost impossible of solution and for -the present, at least, they were forced to give it up. - -And then Allen and Roy were with them once more, Allen still grave and -thoughtful, but very, very glad to be with them, just the same. - -He was relieved when the boys and girls told him there had been no sign -of the tramps during his absence and it might have been noticed that he -looked at Betty as though he thought it altogether too good to be true -that she was still safe and happy. - -“You don’t know what I’ve been through,” he told her a little later -that same day. They had become separated from the others and, finding a -convenient stone wall, had hoisted themselves upon it, swinging their -feet and all ready for a good old “pow-wow.” “I’ve imagined all sorts -of awful things happening to you,” Allen went on, while Betty demurely -looked the other way. “I had you so much on my mind that I couldn’t -half attend to my work.” - -“I’m sorry,” said Betty, still demurely. “I tried to behave myself.” - -“I can’t believe it,” said Allen, banteringly. “I’ve never seen you do -it yet.” - -“Well,” said Betty comfortably, “I don’t intend to argue about it. The -weather’s too warm, and, besides, we never do agree.” - -“I think we do--sometimes--very well,” said Allen, and at his tone, -Betty hastily changed the subject. - -“Tell me,” she said, “about what you have been doing in town. Have you -found out any more about what that poor old man had on his mind?” - -“I know all about that,” said Allen, the puzzled frown growing on his -forehead which Betty had come to associate with any mention of the -case he was working on. “I know the old man and his motives from A to -Z. If I could only find his sister----” - -“His sister!” Betty exclaimed, surprised, and Allen bit his lip. - -“I shouldn’t have said that,” he said, adding, abruptly: “Let’s talk of -something else.” - -“I don’t know anything to talk about,” said Betty, a little coolly. -She did not like the way Allen shut her out of his confidence, even -if it was business. “We’ve been having lots of fun, but not very much -adventure.” - -“Miss me?” he questioned, and immediately Betty became her old -tantalizing self once more. She smiled at him mysteriously and -murmured, with her face turned the other way: “Wouldn’t you like to -know?” - -It was Allen’s turn to be put out. Since he said nothing, neither did -Betty, and for some time they sat staring before them, each busy with -his own thoughts. - -It was Betty at last who broke the rather ridiculous silence by -speaking of the Old Maid of the Mountains. By Allen’s blank stare she -realized that this was the first mention he had heard of their little -old lady. - -“Let’s get down and join the others,” said Betty, as she swung herself -to the ground, “and while we’re on the way I’ll tell you of our queer -little discovery.” - -Betty had expected Allen to be rather mildly interested, but she was -not prepared for the sudden keen interest he showed when she mentioned -the exquisite needlework of the little old lady. - -“What kind of embroidery does she do?” he queried, excitedly. - -“Why,” said Betty, puzzled at his attitude, “she does all kinds----” - -“Any special design, or pattern?” asked Allen, impatiently. - -“Why,” returned Betty, “I do recall that she seemed to have a special -fancy for butterflies and roses. It’s Danish embroidery she does, very -elaborate and a great deal of open work. But why, Allen? Why are you so -anxious to know?” - -Allen countered with another question. - -“Can I--will it be possible--for me to see this old lady?” he asked, -almost feverishly. - -“Allen,” said Betty, with a chuckle, “in just about a moment I’ll be -getting jealous!” - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII - -THE LEAN-TO - - -For answer Allen took Betty by the shoulder and shook her gently. - -“Betty,” he said, “I don’t think you understand how really important -this is to me. If this old lady is who I think she is, all my -difficulties are solved.” - -“But I don’t see----” - -“I’ll tell you, then,” interrupted Allen. There was no doubt but what -he was terribly in earnest and something of his excitement communicated -itself to Betty. - -“You remember this man who died--my client?” he began again, striding -along, his hands in his pockets, a furious frown on his face. - -“Remember him?” echoed Betty. “When have I had a chance to forget----” - -But again Allen interrupted impatiently. - -“This old man,” said the young lawyer, and despite herself Betty was -impressed by his earnestness, “was, as I think I have told you before, -a pretty stubborn fellow. What he believed, he believed with all his -heart and, what was more, he never allowed any one to argue with him.” - -For the life of her Betty could not see what this had to do with the -Old Maid of the Mountains. But she said nothing, merely wrinkling up -her nose in bewilderment as Allen rushed on. - -“In his younger days,” continued Allen, “he was in partnership with a -man named James Barton. Now it seems that this old man, this client of -mine, had a bitter quarrel with his partner. - -“People who knew both the men when they were young--and I have had -occasion to talk to quite a few of them in connection with the case and -in hope of clearing up the mystery--say that no one knew the cause of -the quarrel and neither of the two men would say a word about it one -way or another.” - -“But what has that to do----” began Betty, becoming more and more -puzzled. - -“I’m telling you,” insisted Allen. She had never known him to be so -impatient of interruption before. “Just about here enters the sister of -Luther Weeks.” - -“Weeks! Weeks! Luther Weeks!” repeated Betty, gazing wide-eyed at -Allen. “Who was he?” - -“Luther Weeks was the name of the old man who just died--my client,” -explained Allen, trying hard to be patient. - -“Oh!” exclaimed Betty, and then as the thing came to her with full -force she gripped his arm excitedly. “Allen,” she cried, “that is the -name of our old lady--our Old Maid of the Mountains! Isabella Weeks!” - -“Then that practically settles it,” returned Allen, the light of great -relief in his eyes. “By Jove, but this is luck!” - -“You haven’t really told me anything,” cried Betty, shaking his arm, -for it was her turn to be impatient. “Even if our Old Maid of the -Mountains is the sister of your dead client, I don’t see----” - -“That’s the romantic--and pathetic--part of it,” said Allen, softly. -“In her youth Isabella Weeks was engaged to be married to James Barton, -the partner of her brother, Luther Weeks.” - -“Oh!” exclaimed Betty, then clapped her hand over her mouth, waiting -eagerly for Allen to go on. - -“When the partners quarreled,” the young lawyer continued, slowly, -“Luther Weeks commanded his sister to give up Barton.” - -“And did she do it?” asked Betty, with all the incredulity of a modern -girl for such weakness. “Surely she wouldn’t give her lover up because -her brother told her to.” - -“No,” answered Allen, with a shake of his head, “I imagine she wouldn’t -have sent James Barton away if that had been the only reason.” - -“Then what other was there?” asked Betty, adding with an impatient -shake of the head: “Oh, Allen, you are so slow!” - -“Give me time,” protested Allen, with a smile for her impatience. -Impatience was marvelously becoming to Betty. “It seems,” he went on, -“that Luther Weeks got it into his crusty head that James Barton had -mishandled funds belonging to the firm.” - -“Oh,” said Betty, softly, with a swift pang of pity for the Isabella -Weeks of that time. “And had he, Allen?” - -Allen shook his head soberly. - -“That’s just the pity of it,” he said. “After Luther Weeks had done all -the damage he could do by his accusations--driving his sister from him -and separating her from the man she loved--he found out that Barton had -been perfectly sincere and upright in all his transactions.” - -“And what had happened to him then--to James Barton, I mean?” asked -Betty breathlessly. - -“He had disappeared,” said Allen. “Went to some other country, -perhaps, to start life over again.” - -“And Isabella never saw him again?” asked Betty, pityingly. - -“Never, so far as any one knows,” replied Allen, adding grimly: “I tell -you Luther Weeks has had a good deal to answer for.” - -“And so that is what he--Luther Weeks, that is--had on his conscience?” -Betty rather stated than asked. “What about his will, Allen?” - -“His will makes restitution as far as restitution is possible,” -returned Allen. “He left all his money to his sister, Isabella Weeks, -in case she could be found.” - -Betty’s face lighted joyfully. - -“Oh, Allen,” she cried, “did he leave much money?” - -“It isn’t a fortune, but it’s enough. Forty thousand dollars.” - -Betty drew in her breath sharply. - -“Allen,” she breathed, “do you realize what that will mean to our Old -Maid of the Mountains? Not a fortune! It will seem limitless wealth to -her. Oh, I’m so glad--I’m so glad!” - -They heard the voices of the other girls and boys directly ahead of -them and, taking Allen by the hand, the Little Captain dragged him -eagerly forward. - -“Oh, hurry, hurry!” she begged. “I can’t wait to tell them!” She -paused, eyeing Allen half doubtfully. “It will be all right to tell -them, won’t it?” she asked. - -“Perfectly,” said Allen, cheerfully. “I don’t care how many of them -know about it now. The more the merrier.” - -So Betty experienced the unutterable delight of breaking the glad news -to the girls. And, even before she had finished, they were all, by -mutual consent, starting in the direction of the cabin of the Old Maid -of the Mountains. - -“I can’t believe it yet,” said Mollie, her eyes looking as if they were -about to pop out of her head with wonder and delight. “And to think -that just the other day we were wondering what we could do to help her.” - -“I can’t wait to see her face when we tell her,” said Grace, smiling in -happy anticipation. “I reckon she will turn all rosy and pink, the way -it does sometimes when she forgets to be sad.” - -“It seems too wonderful to be true,” said quiet Amy, adding in a soft -little voice as if she were half ashamed of what she was saying: -“Sometimes it does seem that if you try very hard to help some one and -wish very hard for their happiness, something beautiful happens in the -end.” - -“It surely seems that way,” said the Little Captain. - -Will took Amy’s hand in his for a moment saying, with an adoring look: - -“Any one is lucky to have you rooting for him, Amy Blackford.” - -And so absorbed were they all that no one noticed they had taken the -wrong path until they had gone for a considerable distance into the -woods. - -This was the easiest kind of mistake to make, for at one point the two -woods paths intersected, going on from the point of intersection almost -at right angles, one to the other. In their pre-occupation, the young -folks had taken the wrong path. - -“A perfectly simple thing to do,” Roy declared. “But not a very serious -mistake except in that it will take us a little longer to reach the Old -Maid of the Mountains with the glad news.” - -In their present state of impatience, however, any sort of delay seemed -almost tragic, and the girls grumbled considerably as they turned to -retrace their steps. - -They had gone only a few feet when a call from Frank brought them to a -startled standstill. There was something in his voice that made them -turn quickly toward him. - -“Look,” he said in a cautiously lowered tone, as he pointed ahead into -the woods. “See that smoke over there? Means a camp of some sort.” - -“Let’s go and investigate,” said Will immediately, feeling a sudden -terrific thirst for battle. “It was just a little further on that those -tramps attacked us the other day. Maybe--say maybe----” He said no more -but began running full speed through the woods toward the spiral of -smoke that curled upward through the trees. - -The girls had almost forgotten about the tramps by that time, but -Will’s excitement and lust of battle communicated itself to them and -they followed him hotfoot, careful the while to make as little noise as -possible. - -“We’re probably following a false scent again,” gasped Mollie. “There -isn’t one chance in a hundred there are tramps anywhere around here.” - -As they approached closer to their goal they could distinctly hear -the sound of voices, and their approach became still more cautious. -Creeping closer, they saw through the trees the most curious little -structure they had ever laid eyes on. - -It was a hut, hardly more than a lean-to, made of logs and piled -together in haphazard fashion. Grass and leaves had been used to -stuff up the cracks, and on one side--the side nearest the girls and -boys--was a small opening, evidently intended for a window. - -“I wonder what they do when it rains,” Betty whispered to Mollie, who -had pressed up close beside her. “They haven’t thought to put glass in -their window.” - -“Maybe,” said Mollie, with a suppressed chuckle, “it never rains on -this side of the house.” - -But Will had stolen near enough to the cabin--if such it could be -called--to look in through the window. Now he crept back to them -holding up a cautioning hand. - -“They’re in there!” he whispered, his eyes black with excitement and -eagerness. “The roughnecks who robbed us and a couple of others as -well!” - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV - -ROMANCE - - -While the Outdoor Girls were still staring at Will as though they could -not believe their ears, there came to them another sound that made them -start and look over their shoulders toward the roadway. - -From that direction came a babble of voices--many voices--raised in -excited and angry expostulation. The girls and boys hesitated, a bit -bewildered by this new turn of affairs, not knowing exactly what to do. - -And in that moment things began to happen! - -Out of that crazy lean-to rushed the tramps, throwing frightened -glances over their shoulders toward the roadway from which direction -the voices were steadily growing louder. They did not, in that first -moment, see the boys and girls, for the latter were pretty well hidden -by the trees and shrubbery. - -And when they did see them, it was too late--for two of the tramps at -least. - -With a yell that startled the girls more than the sight of the tramps, -Will and Frank sprang forward, grappling with two of the men while -Allen and Roy rushed off in hot pursuit of the other two. - -It seemed at first as if the boys were going to get the worst of the -hand-to-hand struggle, for the men were burly ruffians and they fought -with the fury of desperation. - -But Will and Frank were desperate too--and mad clean through. They were -getting revenge for that other time when they had been held up in the -open road and robbed of their money and watches. - -It was a terrible fight while it lasted, but it came to an end with -great suddenness. Not for nothing had the boys studied the art of -wrestling. - -It was Will who first got the better of his enemy, tripping him neatly -as he lunged forward, and then, as the burly ruffian fell, sitting none -too lightly on his chest. - -Frank came a close second, smiting his opponent a knockout blow on the -point of the jaw that stretched him senseless upon the ground. - -So it happened that when Allen and Roy returned red and perspiring to -announce that the other two men had gotten clean away and eager to -offer assistance to Will and Frank, they found the latter in no need -whatever of their aid. - -And the next moment there burst through the trees a dozen of the -queerest characters the girls had ever seen--an assorted collection of -farmers from all over the countryside. And these bewhiskered gentlemen -were angry, there was no doubt in the world about that. Even their -chin-whiskers trembled with wrath. - -It had all happened so suddenly that the girls felt a trifle dizzy. -Besides, they did want dreadfully to laugh. Those funny old men staring -at them for all the world as though they were to blame--and Will -sitting on the fat tramp’s chest! - -Mollie did giggle hysterically and one of the farmers, a red-faced old -man, swung about at the slight sound. - -“I can’t see what all’s so funny,” he said reprovingly, at which all -the girls got suddenly red in the face and had to turn away for a -minute to gain control of their emotions. The red-faced old farmer -gazed suspiciously at their backs, then turned to Will. - -“What you doin’ settin’ there?” he asked, at which Will grinned -broadly. - -“It’s the most comfortable seat I’ve had in a long time,” he said, -rising and dusting off his hands. “Ever since this rascal here relieved -me of my watch and my friend of his money, I’ve dreamed of sitting on -his neck in just this way.” - -“Look out,” cried Betty suddenly. She had recovered her composure and -from the tail of her eye had noticed that Frank’s victim was coming to. -“He’s going to get away.” - -“Nothing like that!” cried Frank, as with one lunge he sank his hand in -the tramp’s collar. “After me spoiling a good set of knuckles on his -jaw?” - -And then the farmers, who up to this time had been too much amazed to -do anything, explained that they also were after the tramps. They had -been missing all sorts of poultry and fruit for a long time past but -had not been able to figure out who had done the damage. - -However, on the night before, Samuel Jones--he of the red face and -self-appointed leadership--had caught a couple of the rascals in the -very act of stealing two of his best hens and had made after them. - -In vain did he bestir his pudgy legs in an entirely unaccustomed spurt -of speed--the thieves had been too quick for him. However, before they -had disappeared he had recognized them as a couple of ill-favored -scamps who had been seen loitering around the countryside. - -“And so,” he finished, his chin whiskers quivering still more violently -with emotion, “I got together a posse of our leadin’ citizens, as you -might say, an’ we come a-huntin’ for these here thieves what comes -around in the middle of the night stealin’ from honest men. Much -obliged to you, young fellers, for doin’ the job up so neat for us.” - -“Don’t mention it,” said Frank. Will adding with a grin: - -“It was a great pleasure!” - -Next thing, the tramps were commanded to “loosen up and come across -with the goods.” At first they sullenly refused, but upon Frank -threatening to administer another upper cut and the farmers raising -their shotguns suggestively, the scoundrels changed their minds and -grudgingly led the way into the log hut. - -Even then the boys had no real hope of getting back the things that had -been stolen from them. The robbery had occurred long enough before to -have given the tramps plenty of time to dispose of both watch and money. - -But they were agreeably surprised and delighted when, upon a little -further persuasion, the fellows revealed a hiding place in one corner -of the hut--a hole about a foot deep, lined with stones and covered -with several boards which, in turn, were covered with stones and dirt. - -With a whoop of joy Will pulled from this hiding place not only his -watch and a wallet filled with money--four ten dollar bills which -Frank positively identified as his own--but two newly plucked chickens -carefully wrapped in newspaper to keep them from the dirt. - -Samuel Jones’ eyes shone and his mouth beneath the whiskers was grim as -he turned to his companions. - -“An’ you were tellin’ me,” he said, in a voice shrill with triumph, -“that I didn’t know what I wuz talkin’ about. Them two hens is mine, -I’m tellin’ you, stole from me at twelve o’clock last night. Now you’ll -believe me, mebbe.” - -“Too bad to do the poor hobos out of a good chicken dinner,” Allen -suggested, with a twinkle in his eye as Mr. Jones carefully tucked his -property under one arm, taking his shotgun in the other. “Just when -they had it all prepared, too!” - -“Humph!” grunted Jones. “They’ll git their dinner all right--in the -county jail. Come along, you two. Forward march, now. An’ make it -snappy too. We ain’t in no humorin’ mood.” - -“Well,” said Betty, her eyes dancing as she watched the “posse” -disappear through the trees, the sullen tramps marching sheepishly -along with them, “if that isn’t the snappiest work I ever saw, then I -wouldn’t say so. Boys, you deserve a medal.” - -“And to think you got your watch and money and everything!” said Grace -delightedly, as Frank fondly caressed his recovered bank roll and Will -slipped his beloved watch back into his pocket. - -“It was a lucky chance that led us to take the wrong path all right,” -sighed Amy, who was secretly worrying for fear Will had received some -broken bones or internal injuries in the fray. - -“The only thing that makes me mad,” said Allen, as they turned to -retrace their steps, “is that we didn’t catch the other two scoundrels, -Roy. It seemed a shame to let them get off scot free.” - -“Tough luck,” agreed Roy, adding philosophically: “Though I guess -they’ve had scare enough to keep them away from this neighborhood for -some time to come.” - -Once again they reached the intersection of the two paths, and this -time chose the one that led to the cabin of the Old Maid of the -Mountains. Instinctively they increased their pace, eagerly impatient -to see the old lady. - -When they reached the little house on the hill there was no sign of its -owner anywhere. They had half expected to find her seated outside the -door, enjoying the sunshine, as was her custom, and the deserted aspect -of her front yard alarmed them. - -They hurried forward anxiously. Then, just before they reached the -cabin, all the boys except Allen dropped behind on the plea that a -crowd of strangers might startle the old lady. - -“Of course it’s necessary for Allen to be among those present, but as -for us, we prefer to wait outside,” stated Roy. - -At Betty’s soft knock a faint voice called to them to enter. They found -the Old Maid of the Mountains pottering about some household tasks and -her rare old face lighted up at sight of the girls. - -Then she caught sight of Allen and her hand flew to her throat in that -gesture of alarm the girls had come to know so well. - -“Who--who are you?” she gasped. - -Very gently the Little Captain put an arm about her and pushed her into -a chair. - -“Don’t be alarmed, Miss Weeks,” she said. “We’ve brought you some very -good news. Do you feel strong enough to hear it?” - -“Yes, oh, yes!” said the little old lady, still staring at Allen. - -It was then that the young lawyer came forward. Betty introduced him -very simply and he explained to Isabella Weeks as gently as he could -what had transpired within the last few weeks. - -During the greater part of the recital she sat like one dazed and who -finds it hard to comprehend. Only once did she show any real emotion, -and that was when Allen spoke of James Barton’s innocence. - -“Innocent!” she cried, a great pride flashing up in her eyes. “You need -not tell me that. I was not the one who doubted his innocence. But -before I could tell him that he had gone, thinking himself disgraced. -But go on,” she added, gently. “I did not mean to interrupt.” - -So Allen finished his story, telling of her brother’s death and the -will which he had made in her favor. She seemed more startled at first -by the mention of the money which was now hers than she was delighted. - -“What would I do with all that money?” she cried, almost with dismay. -“I could not use it all.” - -“But you could use some of it,” said Betty, adding, slyly: “Wouldn’t it -be rather nice for instance to have a pretty home with roses over the -door and a maid or two to wait upon you and never another worry as long -as you live?” - -The old lady smiled, gently stroking Betty’s soft cheek. - -“It would be nice,” she said. “Especially the roses. And butterflies. -Do you think there will be butterflies?” She asked the last question -with all the wistfulness of a child and this time it was Mollie who was -quick to promise. - -“You shall have dozens of them,” she said. “And they’ll be every color -of the rainbow.” - -This reminded Allen of the embroideries which had been the main -clew leading to the discovery of the old lady. He asked if he might -see them, and a moment later a handful were given to him for his -inspection. Man though he was, he could not but see the rare beauty of -the work, and when he handed them back to Isabella Weeks there was a -new respect in his eyes. - -“Your brother spoke particularly of your fine needlework,” he said, -adding gravely: “Your brother was very, very anxious that you should -be found. Almost his last words were of you with the hope that, if -you still lived, you would some day come to forgive him for his cruel -injustice.” - -Tears filled the old lady’s eyes. - -“He was forgiven long ago,” she murmured. - -Allen was about to turn away out of respect for her emotion when she -suddenly laid a frail old hand on his arm. - -“And James Barton?” she murmured. “Is he--Do you know where he is?” - -Allen shook his head. - -“Would you like to have me find him?” he asked gently. - -The girls looked at their little Old Maid of the Mountains and found -that their own eyes were filled with tears. The old lady was blushing -like any girl and for the moment her sweet old face was almost -beautiful. - -“Oh, yes!” she answered eagerly. - -“Then,” said Allen, covering her thin little hand with his own strong -brown one, “James Barton shall be found!” - - - - -CHAPTER XXV - -YOUNG HEARTS - - -Never before in all their rather adventurous lives had the Outdoor -Girls been so thrilled. It seemed incredible to them that their Old -Maid of the Mountains whom they had befriended out of pity should turn -out to be the heroine of such a genuine romance. - -As for the little old lady herself, she professed an eager desire to -get back to the city, and although she gave as her reason a natural -wish to have legal matters in regard to her dead brother’s will -settled, the girls knew that in reality she was hoping to meet James -Barton, the wronged lover, of her younger days. - -As soon as it was settled that Isabella Weeks was to return to the -city, there to occupy a small apartment until she should secure a more -suitable home, the girls lost all interest in their camp. They had -about decided to return to Deepdale with the old lady when the latter -herself settled the question for them. - -Allen had returned to town, intent upon carrying out his promise to -find James Barton, if such a thing were possible. But the other boys -had remained with the girls at the camp, thinking that since the latter -were planning to return to Deepdale so soon anyway, they, the boys, -might wait so all could go together. - -They were up at her cabin one day soon after the breaking of the news. -Isabella Weeks suddenly turned to the girls, a wistful expression on -her sweet old face. - -“I have a favor to ask of you,” she said, and paused, while the puzzled -girls waited for her to go on. “I wonder,” said the old lady after a -moment, “if you would take pity on an old woman and help her find a -pretty little home somewhere----” - -The girls did not wait for her to finish. Ardently they hugged her, -assuring her that there was nothing in the world they would like better -than to help her. - -“We wanted to ask you to let us,” said Amy, taking one old hand in -hers and patting it gently, “but we thought you might think we were -interfering----” - -“Oh, my dears,” the little old lady replied, with a catch in her -breath, “you could never interfere. Why, everything I have, I owe to -you.” - -And though this statement was not quite true, the girls did not think -it worth while to contradict the little lady, for they loved to see her -with that soft flush of excitement on her cheeks and the light of a new -found interest in her eyes. - -Thus it came to pass that the girls found themselves in the agreeable -position of escort to the Old Maid of the Mountains and they looked -forward eagerly to their return to Deepdale and the finding of the -“right kind of little home” for their friend. - -“It does seem a shame,” Mollie remarked when a few days later they -were clearing up the camp preparatory to leaving for Deepdale the next -morning, “to go home when we still have several weeks of lovely weather -before us.” - -“We’ll still have lovely weather in Deepdale,” retorted Grace. “And I, -for one, wouldn’t miss the fun we’re going to have for all the camping -in the world.” - -“Nor I,” agreed Betty, adding wistfully: “I do hope Allen can find -James Barton.” - -“Oh, I hope so!” echoed Amy fervently. “Miss Weeks has so set her heart -on finding him that it will be a terrible blow if he fails to turn up.” - -“What I’m afraid of,” said Mollie, with a dark frown while she -carefully folded an extra blanket, “is that this old lover of hers is -dead. After all these years it would be hardly possible that he’s -still alive. Allen said he was several years older than our old lady, -and she’s pretty old.” - -“Goodness! don’t be so gloomy,” protested the Little Captain. “I’m not -going to believe anything like that until I have to.” - -The next morning, ably assisted by the boys, the girls got their -paraphernalia aboard the _Gem_. It was a glorious morning, a fact for -which they were profoundly grateful. The trip would be hard enough on -the little old lady, under the most favorable circumstances, and bad -weather would be sure to complicate matters. - -However, luck was on their side and they accomplished the journey -without the slightest mishap. The engine of the _Gem_ was working -beautifully, with the result that they made record time. - -Once the little boat was made fast to the dock at Deepdale Betty rushed -up to her house, explained to her understanding and sympathetic mother -about the old lady, and then, backing her little roadster out of the -garage, rushed back to the dock again. - -Then she drove off with the old lady, leaving the boys and the other -girls to attend to the _Gem_ and the disposal of its cargo. For Betty, -like the Little Captain she was, had decided to take the Old Maid of -the Mountains to her own home until she and the other girls should have -a chance to find the ideal home for the little old lady. - -Mrs. Nelson welcomed her guest with her usual warm kindliness and, -seeing that Miss Weeks was nearly exhausted from the unusual exertion -of the morning, hurried her off to bed, promising to have “something -hearty” sent up on a tray. - -To Isabella Weeks it was untold luxury to be so fussed over and cared -for. She tried several times to express her gratitude, but emotion so -choked her that the words would not come. - -Once when Betty was starting to leave the room, she caught at the -girl’s hand, pressing it for a moment to her withered old cheek. - -“I was right,” she murmured. “Your mother is very lovely, dear child; -and you are just like her.” - -Then followed days of house hunting and furniture selection that were -pure joy to the Outdoor Girls. Although the little old lady was too -frail to go with them on their shopping trips, each evening they talked -over the adventures of the day with her, telling her just what they had -bought and submitting long lists, with the price opposite each article, -for her inspection. - -They found exactly the right kind of house, a little four-room -bungalow with a broad, low porch and window boxes in every window. This -they furnished gayly with wicker and cretonne and comfortable cushions -heaped up everywhere. - -When it was all ready--complete even to the maid with white cap and -apron--they proudly bore the old lady to her new home, triumphantly -exhibiting the results of their work. - -The old lady seemed completely carried away with delight. And so they -were taken totally unawares when after an inspection of the four -rooms the owner of the pretty bungalow dropped into a deep-seated, -gayly-cushioned chair and, covering her face with her hands, began to -weep silently. - -Disconcerted, utterly bewildered, the girls stared at her. But suddenly -the little old lady lifted a face to them that was radiant through the -tears. - -“Don’t be alarmed, my dears,” she said, in her quaint, wistful way. -“I’m not ill. I don’t believe joy ever made any one ill, do you?” - -“Not ever in the world!” answered the Little Captain, happily. - -Days followed during which the girls were almost always with Isabella -Weeks. Through all the red tape of legal procedure she insisted on -their presence. And though her health seemed to improve daily, owing -to good food and good care and lack of worry, the girls noticed that -she was restless and uneasy, seeming always to listen for some one who -did not come. - -“She’s waiting for James Barton,” thought Betty, adding softly: “I hope -we hear good news from Allen soon.” - -Betty heard from the young lawyer nearly every day, but he gave no -assurance that he would be able to locate James Barton. In fact, he was -so noncommittal about the result of his search that the girls finally -began to believe the worst. - -Then one evening, as Betty read to the old lady and the rest of the -girls lounged about the pretty living room, there was a sudden sounding -of a motor horn from without the house that drew them all to their feet. - -The little old lady turned suddenly white, her hand flew to her throat. -Betty, having glanced out the window, came over and laid a quieting -hand on the old lady’s shoulder. One would never have told from Betty’s -voice how her heart was thumping. - -“It’s Allen,” she said, softly. “And he has some one with him.” - -The next moment the door was flung open and Allen himself stepped -inside the room. Beside him was one of the handsomest old gentlemen -the girls had ever seen. Erect and soldierly in his bearing, -broad-shouldered and ruddy of face, with a mass of curly iron gray -hair, he was the kind of man one instinctively turns and stares after -in the street. - -There was a moment of tense silence while the two who had been lovers -in their youth looked deep into each other’s eyes. Then James Barton -started forward, eager hands outstretched. - -“Isabella!” he cried. “After all the wasted years I’ve come to you! Are -you glad?” - -“Oh, my dear!” the words seemed wrung from the little old lady as she -lifted her face to him. “All my life--I think--I’ve waited for this -moment----” - -Stumblingly, eyes blinded by tears, the girls found themselves outside -the house. Somehow Betty’s hand slipped into Allen’s. - -“You--you’re wonderful, Allen!” she whispered. “How did you ever do it?” - -The young lawyer leaned close to her. - -“I promised I would, didn’t I?” said he. - - * * * * * - -Two weeks later on a gloriously sunshiny morning, within the dim -interior of “the little church around the corner” before the minister -stood a pair of lovers, old in years but possessing the priceless gift -of hearts that will always be young. - -The slender, blue-veined hand of the little Old Maid of the Mountains -trembled in the grip of James Barton but her voice was sweet and -resolute as she answered clearly, “I do.” - -Back in the pew where four Outdoor Girls and four stalwart lads were -gathered, there sounded a muffled little sob. It was Amy who was crying -and Will quite openly and shamelessly held her hand. - -Then gently, as though unconsciously, Allen’s arm stole about -the Little Captain, drawing her close to him. And because of the -warmth about her heart--perhaps because of other reasons too, who -knows?--Betty did not draw away. - - -THE END - - - - -_This Isn’t All!_ - -Would you like to know what became of the good friends you have made in -this book? - -Would you like to read other stories continuing their adventures and -experiences, or other books quite as entertaining by the same author? - -On the _reverse side_ of the wrapper which comes with this book, you -will find a wonderful list of stories which you can buy at the same -store where you got this book. - -_Don’t throw away the Wrapper_ - -_Use it as a handy catalog of the books you want some day to have. -But in case you do mislay it, write to the Publishers for a complete -catalog._ - - - - -THE OUTDOOR GIRLS SERIES - -By LAURA LEE HOPE - -Author of “The Blythe Girls Books.” - -Every Volume Complete in Itself. - -These are the adventures of a group of bright, fun-loving, up-to-date -girls who have a common bond in their fondness for outdoor life, -camping, travel and adventure. There is excitement and humor in these -stories and girls will find in them the kind of pleasant associations -that they seek to create among their own friends and chums. - - THE OUTDOOR GIRLS OF DEEPDALE - THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT RAINBOW LAKE - THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN A MOTOR CAR - THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN A WINTER CAMP - THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN FLORIDA - THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT OCEAN VIEW - THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN ARMY SERVICE - THE OUTDOOR GIRLS ON PINE ISLAND - THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT THE HOSTESS HOUSE - THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT BLUFF POINT - THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT WILD ROSE LODGE - THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN THE SADDLE - THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AROUND THE CAMPFIRE - THE OUTDOOR GIRLS ON CAPE COD - THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT FOAMING FALLS - THE OUTDOOR GIRLS ALONG THE COAST - THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT SPRING HILL FARM - THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT NEW MOON RANCH - THE OUTDOOR GIRLS ON A HIKE - THE OUTDOOR GIRLS ON A CANOE TRIP - THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT CEDAR RIDGE - THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN THE AIR - -GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK - - - - -_The OUTDOOR GIRLS_ - -By LAURA LEE HOPE - - Author of The Bobbsey Twins - The Bunny Brown Series, Etc. - -These tales tell of the exciting adventures enjoyed by several bright, -up-to-date girls who love outdoor life. - - The Outdoor Girls of Deepdale - The Outdoor Girls at Rainbow Lake - The Outdoor Girls in a Motor Car - The Outdoor Girls in a Winter Camp - The Outdoor Girls in Florida - The Outdoor Girls at Ocean View - The Outdoor Girls on Pine Island - The Outdoor Girls in Army Service - The Outdoor Girls at Hostess House - The Outdoor Girls at Bluff Point - The Outdoor Girls at Wild Rose Lodge - The Outdoor Girls in the Saddle - The Outdoor Girls Around the Campfire - The Outdoor Girls on Cape Cod - The Outdoor Girls at Foaming Falls - The Outdoor Girls Along the Coast - The Outdoor Girls at Spring Hill Farm - The Outdoor Girls at New Moon Ranch - The Outdoor Girls on a Hike - The Outdoor Girls on a Canoe Trip - The Outdoor Girls at Cedar Ridge - The Outdoor Girls in the Air - -GROSSET & DUNLAP, NEW YORK - - - - -Mystery Stories for Girls - -_By_ LILIAN GARIS - - BARBARA HALE - - It was Barbara’s sympathy and understanding that helped her - unravel the mystery that surrounded the fascinating little - Italians, Nicky and Vicky--and that helped her recover the - “Santa Maria” model for the elderly Davis twins. - - BARBARA HALE’S MYSTERY FRIEND - - One dark, dreary night, in the pouring rain, a little girl - comes tapping at the door of Barbara’s home. Who is she? Where - is she from? Have the strange Armenians with their beautiful - embroideries anything to do with her? Barbara has many anxious - moments before she finds the answers to these questions. - - NANCY BRANDON - - Running a successful “Whatnot Shop” during her vacation did - not keep Nancy too busy to try to solve the mystery of the - “disappearing” Mr. Sanders, who had the whole town upset by his - strange behavior. - - NANCY BRANDON’S MYSTERY - - Nancy’s summer vacation in the New Hampshire mountains proves - an exciting one--for she determines to protect her cousin Rosa - from the bad influence of the mysterious, fiery tempered and - bitter Orilla. And Nancy has a real surprise when she discovers - Orilla’s secrets. - - JUDY JORDAN - - Judy seeks a writing career in New York City and makes many - interesting friends--the wealthy Estelle who wants to run away - for excitement, “Lord Dinny” who wants to write, too--and Dave - Lane, a successful and friendly reporter. - - JUDY JORDAN’S DISCOVERY - - The mysterious but attractive man living alone in the Old - Stewart place piques Judy’s curiosity--and when she finally - discovers his true identity she has the surprise of her life. - -GROSSET & DUNLAP, New York - - - - -_By_ CAROLYN KEENE - -_Solve these thrilling mysteries with Nancy Drew!_ - -[Illustration] - -Nancy Drew Mystery Stories - - =THE SECRET OF THE OLD CLOCK=--Nancy seeks to find a missing - will and an old clock plays a big part in the search. - - =THE HIDDEN STAIRCASE=--The discovery of a hidden staircase in - an old mansion helps to solve the secret of some mysterious - happenings. - - =THE BUNGALOW MYSTERY=--Nancy has some weird experiences around - a deserted bungalow while trying to help a girl friend out of a - dangerous situation. - - =THE MYSTERY AT LILAC INN=--The strange mystery that had its - beginning at Lilac Inn needed quick thinking and instant action. - - =THE SECRET AT SHADOW RANCH=--On a vacation in Arizona Nancy - uncovers an old mystery and follows a faint clue. - - =THE SECRET OF RED GATE FARM=--Nancy becomes suspicious of a - secret society which meets on an old farm on a hillside. - - =NANCY’S MYSTERIOUS LETTER=--A thrilling story that centers - around the contents of a mysterious letter. - - =THE SIGN OF THE TWISTED CANDLES=--A chance stop at a little - country inn leads Nancy into a mysterious plot that involves a - family feud and a hidden will. - -GROSSET & DUNLAP _Publishers_ NEW YORK - - - - -Transcriber’s Note: - -Variations in spelling and hyphenation have been retained as they -appear in the original publication. Punctuation has been standardised. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Outdoor Girls Around the Campfire, by -Laura Lee Hope - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AROUND THE *** - -***** This file should be named 60211-0.txt or 60211-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/0/2/1/60211/ - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Sue Clark and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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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/license - - -Title: The Outdoor Girls Around the Campfire - or, The Old Maid of the Mountains - -Author: Laura Lee Hope - -Release Date: September 2, 2019 [EBook #60211] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AROUND THE *** - - - - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Sue Clark and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<hr class="divider" /> -<h1>The Outdoor Girls<br /> -Around the Campfire</h1> -<hr class="divider2" /> - - -<div class="hidehand"> -<div class="figcenter width400"> -<img src="images/cover2.jpg" width="400" height="593" alt="Cover" /> -</div> -</div> - - - -<div class="section"> -<hr class="divider2" /> -<div class="figcenter width400"> -<img src="images/hard_cover.jpg" width="400" height="596" alt="Hard cover" /> -</div> -</div> - - - -<div class="section"> -<hr class="divider2" /> -<div class="figcenter width600"> -<img src="images/spread.jpg" width="600" height="448" alt="Cover" /> -</div> -</div> - - - -<div class="section"> -<hr class="divider2" /> -<div class="figcenter width400"> -<img src="images/frontis.jpg" width="400" height="626" alt="Frontispiece" /> -<div class="caption">“THIS IS THE LIFE!” CRIED MOLLIE.<br /> -<cite>The Outdoor Girls Around the Campfire.</cite><br /> -<em>Frontispiece</em> (<i>Page <a href="#frontis">96</a></i>) -</div> -</div> -</div> - - - -<div class="section"> -<hr class="divider3" /> -</div> -<div class="box"> -<p class="center p180">The Outdoor Girls<br /> -Around the Campfire</p> - -<p class="center p120"><small>or</small><br /> -The Old Maid of the Mountains</p> - -<p class="center p140 mt3"><small>BY</small><br /> -LAURA LEE HOPE</p> - -<p class="center smcap">Author of “The Outdoor Girls of Deepdale,” “The -Outdoor Girls in the Saddle,” “The Moving -Picture Girls,” “The Bobbsey Twins,” -“Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue,” -“Six Little Bunkers at Grandma -Bell’s,” “Make Believe Stories,” -Etc.</p> - - -<p class="center p140 mt3"><small><i>ILLUSTRATED</i></small></p> - -<p class="center p150 mt3">NEW YORK<br /> -GROSSET & DUNLAP<br /> -PUBLISHERS</p> - -<p class="center">Made in the United States of America</p> -</div> - - - - -<div class="section"> -<hr class="divider3" /> -</div> -<div class="box2"> -<p class="center p140">BOOKS FOR GIRLS</p> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">By</span> -<span class="p130">LAURA LEE HOPE</span></p> - - -<p class="center">12mo. Cloth. Illustrated.</p> - -<p class="center p120">THE OUTDOOR GIRLS SERIES</p> - -<p class="center p120">THE OUTDOOR GIRLS SERIES</p> - - -<ul class="nobullet"> -<li>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS OF DEEPDALE</li> -<li>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT RAINBOW LAKE</li> -<li>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN A MOTOR CAR</li> -<li>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN A WINTER CAMP</li> -<li>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN FLORIDA</li> -<li>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT OCEAN VIEW</li> -<li>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS ON PINE ISLAND</li> -<li>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN ARMY SERVICE</li> -<li>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT THE HOSTESS HOUSE</li> -<li>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT BLUFF POINT</li> -<li>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT WILD ROSE LODGE</li> -<li>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN THE SADDLE</li> -<li>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AROUND THE CAMPFIRE</li> -</ul> - -<hr class="short" /> - -<p class="center p120">THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS SERIES</p> - -<ul class="nobullet"> -<li>THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS AT OAK FARM</li> -<li>THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS SNOWBOUND</li> -<li>THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS UNDER THE PALMS</li> -<li>THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS AT ROCKY RANCH</li> -<li>THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS AT SEA</li> -<li>THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS IN WAR PLAYS</li> -</ul> - -<hr class="short" /> - -<p class="center p120">THE BOBBSEY TWINS SERIES</p> - -<p class="center">(Sixteen Titles)</p> - -<hr class="short" /> - -<p class="center p120">THE BUNNY BROWN SERIES</p> - -<p class="center">(Thirteen Titles)</p> - -<hr class="short" /> - -<p class="center p120">SIX LITTLE BUNKERS SERIES</p> - -<p class="center">(Nine Titles)</p> - -<hr class="short" /> - -<p class="center p120">MAKE BELIEVE STORIES</p> - -<p class="center">(Eleven Titles)</p> - -<p class="center smcap">Grosset & Dunlap, Publishers, New York</p> -</div> - - - -<div class="section"> -<hr class="divider3" /> -<p class="center smcap">Copyright, 1923, by<br /> -GROSSET & DUNLAP</p> - -<hr class="short" /> - -<p class="center smcap">The Outdoor Girls Around the Campfire -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">iii</a></span></p> -</div> - - - -<div class="section"> -<hr class="divider3" /> -</div> - -<table summary="Contents"> -<tr> -<th class="tdr">CHAPTER</th> -<th class="tdl"> </th> -<th class="tdr2">PAGE</th> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">I</td> -<td class="tdl smcap">Plans</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#i">1</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">II</td> -<td class="tdl smcap">Almost a Collision</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#ii">10</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">III</td> -<td class="tdl smcap">Enter the Twins</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#iii">18</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">IV</td> -<td class="tdl smcap">More Plans</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#iv">26</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">V</td> -<td class="tdl smcap">The Matter of a Will</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#v">36</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">VI</td> -<td class="tdl smcap">The Little Old Lady</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#vi">44</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">VII</td> -<td class="tdl smcap">The Death of a Client</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#vii">52</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">VIII</td> -<td class="tdl smcap">Starting Adventure</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#viii">60</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">IX</td> -<td class="tdl smcap">Tramps</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#ix">69</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">X</td> -<td class="tdl smcap">A Toy Pistol</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#x">77</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XI</td> -<td class="tdl smcap">Burned Down</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xi">85</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XII</td> -<td class="tdl smcap">Making Camp</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xii">94</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XIII</td> -<td class="tdl smcap">Night in the Tent</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xiii">103</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XIV</td> -<td class="tdl smcap">The Prowler</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xiv">110</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XV</td> -<td class="tdl smcap">A Shadowy Bulk</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xv">119</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XVI</td> -<td class="tdl smcap">Air Mattresses</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xvi">128</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XVII</td> -<td class="tdl smcap">The Old Maid of the Mountains</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xvii">136</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XVIII</td> -<td class="tdl smcap">A Feast for a King</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xviii">145</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XIX</td> -<td class="tdl smcap">The Storm</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xix">154</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XX</td> -<td class="tdl smcap">The Hold-Up</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xx">162</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XXI</td> -<td class="tdl smcap">Loneliness</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xxi">173</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XXII</td> -<td class="tdl smcap">A Clew</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xxii">179</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XXIII</td> -<td class="tdl smcap">The Lean-to</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xxiii">186</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XXIV</td> -<td class="tdl smcap">Romance</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xxiv">195</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XXV</td> -<td class="tdl smcap">Young Hearts</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xxv">206</a></td> -</tr> -</table> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider3" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">1</a></span> -</div> - - - -<p class="center p180">THE OUTDOOR GIRLS<br /> -AROUND THE CAMPFIRE</p> - - - - -<h2><a name="i" id="i"></a>CHAPTER I<br /> -<span>PLANS</span></h2> - - -<p>“<span class="smcap">Putt</span>—putt—putt!” came the rhythmic throb of the motor as the little -motor boat sped over the glassy surface of the lake, stirring up the -water on either side of it and leaving a frothy white trail in its wake.</p> - -<p>“How’s this for speed?” chortled the girl at the wheel, a pretty, -dark-haired girl with dancing brown eyes. “I reckon we could beat any -other boat on this old lake.”</p> - -<p>“And then some!” agreed Mollie Billette, slangily. “I wish some one -would come along and challenge us to a race.”</p> - -<p>“It would provide some excitement, anyway,” sighed Grace Ford, as she -lounged in the bow of the pretty little boat. “Looks like a pretty dull -summer to me, so far.”</p> - -<p>“How do you get that way, Grace Ford?” cried Betty Nelson, she of -the dark hair and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">2</a></span> dancing eyes whom the girls fondly called “Little -Captain.” “Tell ’em, Amy,” she added, to the quiet, sweet-faced girl -who lounged beside Mollie Billette. “Tell ’em what you told me a little -while ago.”</p> - -<p>Grace Ford sat upright, a chocolate half-way to her mouth, while Mollie -Billette’s black eyes regarded the “Little Captain” severely.</p> - -<p>“Betty Nelson, what have you been holding back from us?” she demanded, -but Betty was still looking at Amy Blackford.</p> - -<p>“Tell ’em, Amy,” she repeated. “The news is too good to keep.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll say it is,” agreed Amy, a smile lighting up her quiet face. “When -Henry spoke of it to me at first I thought it was too good to be true. -I supposed he was joking.”</p> - -<p>“Told you what?” cried Mollie Billette, in an exasperated tone. “If you -are not the most aggravating——”</p> - -<p>“Hold your horses, old dear,” drawled Grace Ford, quietly helping -herself to another piece of candy. “Amy has the floor——”</p> - -<p>“The deck, you mean,” murmured Amy, then added hastily, as the girls -threw impatient glances her way: “I’ll tell you just how it happened if -you give me a chance. You see, Henry,” Henry was Amy’s older brother, -“had a chance to take<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">3</a></span> over an old shack near the upper end of Rainbow -Lake in part payment for a debt. And now that he has the shack, he -doesn’t know what to do with it.”</p> - -<p>The girls leaned toward Amy eagerly.</p> - -<p>“Then what?” asked Mollie.</p> - -<p>“Why,” said Amy, with a smile of quiet enjoyment, “I told him I thought -we girls might help him out, for the summer, anyway. I thought it would -be a great lark to camp out there during vacation.”</p> - -<p>“Amy, you are a wonder,” drawled Grace, but Mollie broke in impatiently.</p> - -<p>“Is he going to let us have it?” she demanded.</p> - -<p>“I should say so!” laughed Amy. “Said he would be glad to put it to -some sort of use. He said it would make a mighty fine summer camp but -that was about all it was good for.”</p> - -<p>“It will be ideal,” broke in the Little Captain, happily, as she -brushed a wind-blown strand of hair from her eyes. “Why, at the upper -end of Rainbow Lake we’ll be as much alone as if we were in an African -forest.”</p> - -<p>“More so, I hope,” drawled Grace, adding with a little shudder: “For in -an African forest they have wild animals for company while here——”</p> - -<p>“We sha’n’t see anything wilder than a chipmunk,” chuckled the Little -Captain.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">4</a></span> -“Suits me fine,” said Grace heartily. “Wolves and bears may be all -right, but give me a chipmunk every time.”</p> - -<p>“My, isn’t she brave?” said Mollie, admiringly, and the other girls -chuckled.</p> - -<p>“Tell us more about this little shack, Amy,” said Betty, after a -while. “Is it very tiny, or is it big enough to contain us all without -squeezing?”</p> - -<p>“Henry said it is of fair size,” replied Amy, wrinkling her forehead -in an attempt to remember details. “There are two rooms in it and the -rooms are furnished in a rough sort of way, with home-made furniture.”</p> - -<p>The Little Captain let go of the wheel long enough to clap her hands -gleefully.</p> - -<p>“Great!” she cried. “This gets better every minute. Think of it. A -house ready-made for us, and furnished, at that.”</p> - -<p>“Too much luxury,” drawled Grace.</p> - -<p>It was the first day of July and the Outdoor Girls, never completely -happy unless they were engaged in some outdoor sport, had embarked -in their pretty motor boat <i>Gem</i> for a sail down the Argono river. -Although the motor boat was really Betty’s property, the Outdoor Girls -rather regarded it as their own. And indeed, when it is considered that -none of the four ever<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">5</a></span> used it without the other three, it was the same -to them as though the ownership were actually theirs. As a matter of -fact, what belonged to one of the Outdoor Girls automatically belonged -to all of them.</p> - -<p>Those who have kept in touch with Betty and her chums will need no -introduction to the <i>Gem</i>, but for the benefit of those who do not know -these Outdoor Girls so well, we will give a brief description of it. -For in this story the trim little motor boat plays rather an important -part.</p> - -<p>First of all, the <i>Gem</i> had been given to Betty by an uncle of hers, -a retired sea captain by the name of Amos Marlin. The old fellow had -produced the best craft of its size that could be found anywhere. There -was a large cockpit in the stern, and a tiny cooking galley. Also the -little boat boasted a small trunk cabin and an unusually powerful and -efficient motor. Altogether a snappy little craft, well meriting its -name of <i>Gem</i>.</p> - -<p>And now, as the girls putt-putted briskly down the river, the thrill -of summer filling them with a fresh eagerness for adventure, it is no -wonder that Amy’s suggestion of a summer camp on the banks of Rainbow -Lake was greeted with enthusiasm.</p> - -<p>So far, having made no plans for the summer<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">6</a></span> months, they had about -decided to spend a rather uneventful summer in Deepdale, the thriving -and busy little town in which they had been brought up.</p> - -<p>It might have been supposed, since Deepdale was situated so pleasantly -on the banks of the Argono—the latter emptying some miles below into -pretty Rainbow Lake—and since the bustling population of the town -itself numbered something like fifteen thousand, that the Outdoor Girls -would have been content to spend a summer there.</p> - -<p>However, although they agreed that Deepdale was “the finest place in -the world,” change and adventure were what they really hankered after, -and Deepdale was too familiar a spot to offer them either.</p> - -<p>But there was real adventure in the idea of camping out in the romantic -little shack so recently acquired by Amy Blackford’s brother, and they -welcomed it eagerly.</p> - -<p>“I suppose we ought to run down there and look the place over,” said -Grace, cautiously. Grace was the only one of the four Outdoor Girls who -really considered comfort where adventure was concerned, and this trait -of hers no amount of ridicule or impatience on the part of the other -girls could overcome. For Grace, who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">7</a></span> was tall and slim and graceful, -was very fond of her ease. Once she was assured that an outing was to -be “comfortable,” then she could start in to enjoy herself.</p> - -<p>So at this suggestion that they “run down there and look the place -over” the girls exchanged a glance of martyrdom.</p> - -<p>“Why, of course,” said Mollie sarcastically, “Grace will have to be -sure she has a real hair mattress to sleep on and clean sheets twice a -week. Maybe we could manage to get an easy chair aboard the <i>Gem</i>—one -like the kind Betty’s dad uses.”</p> - -<p>“A fine idea,” replied Grace, unabashed. “I never gave you credit for -so much thoughtfulness, Mollie dear. Have a chocolate?”</p> - -<p>Mollie sniffed disdainfully.</p> - -<p>“Keep your old chocolates,” she said. “The next time you offer me one -I’ve a good mind to throw the whole box overboard.”</p> - -<p>“Just try it,” said Grace, lazily. “You’d have to toss me over, too, -you know.”</p> - -<p>“Shouldn’t mind in the least,” said Mollie, at which the Little Captain -laughed and Amy Blackford chuckled.</p> - -<p>“Talk about wild animals,” cried Betty, gayly. “We won’t need any with -you and Grace about, Mollie dear. Two wildcats are enough.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">8</a></span> -“Did you hear what she called us?” asked Grace, feeling abused, but -Mollie was looking the other way.</p> - -<p>“We’ve gone a pretty long way down the river,” she said. “Look, Betty, -isn’t that the new lake steamer, the <i>General Pershing</i>?”</p> - -<p>Betty, who had been too absorbed in plans for the summer to notice -particularly where she was going, followed the direction of Mollie’s -pointing finger.</p> - -<p>Suddenly her breath caught in a gasp and a thrill of apprehension swept -over her. The steamer was indeed the <i>General Pershing</i>, the great -shining new boat which plied up and down the lake and the river, and -it was coming toward them at what, to the Little Captain, seemed an -appalling rate of speed.</p> - -<p>“Betty,” cried Mollie, leaning forward and catching Betty’s arm, “we’re -right in the path of it! For goodness’ sake, sheer over.”</p> - -<p>“I can’t—very far!” said Betty, tight-lipped. “It’s shallow, near the -shore and—the rocks——”</p> - -<p>Mollie took in the situation with a glance and a little groan of dismay -escaped her. At this point the river was very narrow and the shore on -either side bristled with cruel, jagged-looking rocks. A small boat -like the <i>Gem</i> would be dashed to pieces upon them. Betty was right.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">9</a></span> -It would be madness to encroach too far upon them.</p> - -<p>And yet on the other hand the steamer menaced them with destruction. -Bearing down full upon them, it could not fail to meet them squarely in -the middle of that narrow channel!</p> - -<p>Useless for Betty to stop the motor. They had no time to turn, speeding -back to the safety of the wider water. If Betty kept her head, holding -the boat away from the oncoming steamer and at the same time far enough -from the rocks—</p> - -<p>Amy and Grace, now fully alive to the peril of the situation, were -leaning forward, their faces white, their breath coming in terrified -gasps.</p> - -<p>The Little Captain, her hand resolutely on the wheel, a prayer for -guidance in her heart, watched the oncoming rush of the big steamboat.</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">10</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="ii" id="ii"></a>CHAPTER II<br /> -<span>ALMOST A COLLISION</span></h2> - - -<p><span class="smcap">On</span>, on came the big steamboat, looming larger as it bore down upon -them! Nearer, nearer, while the wash from its approach reached the -little motor boat in sickening undulations—a danger not thought of -before! They would be swept on to the rocks!</p> - -<p>Closer, closer! It would strike them! It must! It was over them, -gigantic, overwhelming! The girls nerved themselves for the shock that -was to come. Grace closed her eyes—</p> - -<p>And then—the steamer had passed. Betty had swerved at just the right -moment to escape collision. The <i>Gem</i> was acting like a drunken man, -swirling and reeling in the heavy wash of the great steamer.</p> - -<p>They were heading straight toward the rocks, driven by the agitated -waves. In another moment they would be dashed upon them—</p> - -<p>“Betty!” screamed Grace. “We’ll be killed! The rocks!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">11</a></span> -But the wail was drowned in the sudden roar of the motor. The <i>Gem</i> -leaped forward, her nose swung around to meet the oncoming waves. -Gallantly she plowed through the water which was lashed to a froth -by the progress of the steamer, just grazing a jagged edge of rock, -flinging spray over her bows, soaking the girls.</p> - -<p>Then she was free of the channel, speeding for the safety of the open -water. Betty, looking back over her shoulder, saw that the decks of the -<i>General Pershing</i> were black with people who had rushed to the rail to -see the fate of the motor boat.</p> - -<p>The steamer had slowed down and half turned around as though intending -to come to the rescue, but, seeing that this was unnecessary, she -straightened once more, continuing on her way.</p> - -<p>Betty’s hands trembled on the wheel. The reaction left her faint and -sick. As though from a long distance she heard Mollie’s voice saying:</p> - -<p>“Well, if that wasn’t a narrow squeak, I never saw one!”</p> - -<p>“It was the Little Captain saved us,” said Amy. “She knew just what to -do, as she always does.”</p> - -<p>And this indeed was the reason for Betty Nelson’s nickname of “Little -Captain.” For this brown-haired, brown-eyed girl seemed always to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">12</a></span> know -just what to do at a critical moment and, more than this, she always -did it. She was just eighteen and the only daughter of a rich carpet -manufacturer of Deepdale. It was hard to tell which Betty loved the -more, her kindly, indulgent father or her lovely mother.</p> - -<p>Grace Ford, the second of the Outdoor Girls, was tall and slender, fond -of her comfort and loving candy and sodas and sweets of all sorts. Her -father was a distinguished lawyer and her mother was a fine looking -woman who spent a good deal of her time in club activities. Grace also -had a brother, Will Ford, of whom she was passionately fond.</p> - -<p>Then there was Mollie Billette, daughter of Mrs. Pauline Billette, a -well-to-do, sprightly little widow with more than a dash of French -blood in her veins. Perhaps her French ancestry explains Mollie’s quick -temper. Mollie also had a little brother and sister, twins and seven -years old. The latter were always in mischief, and although Mollie -loved them dearly, she sometimes found it very hard to have patience -with them.</p> - -<p>The last of the quartette of Outdoor Girls was Amy Blackford, whom the -girls had first known as Amy Stonington. She was the ward of John and -Sarah Stonington and at one time there had been considerable mystery -regarding her real<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">13</a></span> parentage. Later, when the mystery was solved, Amy -found out that not only was her real name Blackford but that she was -possessed of a splendid brother as well, Henry Blackford. Like Mollie, -Amy was seventeen, but there the resemblance ended. She was as quiet as -Mollie was hot-tempered, and there was something sweet and appealing -about her that roused the protective instinct of the more vigorous -girls.</p> - -<p>So much for the girls. Then, there were the four boys who almost -invariably accompanied the girls on their adventures. There was, of -course, Will Ford, Grace’s brother, who, as a soldier in the World War -had distinguished himself by some clever secret service work. Will -loved quiet Amy Blackford and Amy, in turn, made no secret of her -feeling for him.</p> - -<p>There was Allen Washburn, the clever young lawyer who thought the -Little Captain was about the nicest person in the world. Allen had -enlisted at the call of the United States to arms. He was made a -sergeant in the American Army and, although he had gone over a -sergeant, he came back with a commission as lieutenant. No wonder the -girls—and especially Betty—were proud of him!</p> - -<p>Frank Haley was another of the boys in the little group. A splendid -young fellow, liked by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">14</a></span> all the girls, and liking them all, he had been -introduced into “the crowd” because of his friendship for Will Ford.</p> - -<p>There was, too, Roy Anderson, jolly and full of fun, always ready -for everything that came along. Perhaps Mollie expressed the general -sentiment toward him when she said that they were fond of Roy chiefly -because he always kept them amused. And how apt we are to love the -person that amuses us!</p> - -<p>The girls had earned their title of “Outdoor Girls” from the fact that -they almost always managed to spend their vacations in the open. And -because of this they had run into a great number of adventures.</p> - -<p>There was, for instance, their first tramping tour of the country, -the incidents of which are told in the first volume of the series, -entitled “The Outdoor Girls of Deepdale.” There had followed many other -adventures, at Rainbow Lake, at Ocean View, in Florida, and, later, -on an island called Pine Island where they had found many interesting -things, including a real gypsy cave.</p> - -<p>During the war they had served in a Hostess House while the boys, -together with countless others of our fine American lads, sailed off -across the ocean to fight for liberty.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">15</a></span> -Another summer they had spent at Wild Rose Lodge, a lovely spot hidden -deep in the woods where they became interested in a poor old man who -thought his two sons had been killed in the war.</p> - -<p>In the volume directly preceding this, entitled “The Outdoor Girls -in the Saddle,” these girls had had one of their most interesting -adventures. Mrs. Nelson, Betty’s mother, through the death of a -relative, had become the owner of a ranch.</p> - -<p>The most important thing about this ranch—in the estimation of the -girls, at least—was the fact that it was situated right in the midst -of a great gold-mining district. How the girls with Mr. and Mrs. Nelson -went to the ranch, spending a glorious few weeks in the saddle, and how -gold was finally found on the ranch is told of in detail in that volume.</p> - -<p>And now we turn once more to the present with Betty Nelson, the Little -Captain, saving her chums from the peril of collision with the great -river steamer <i>General Pershing</i>.</p> - -<p>As for Betty, although the girls heaped her with their praises, she had -never felt less like a heroine in her life.</p> - -<p>Scarcely knowing what she did, she turned the nose of the little boat -back toward Deepdale. The thought was unpleasant that once more they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">16</a></span> -would be forced to pass through that narrow channel, bounded on either -side by the rocky shore.</p> - -<p>However, this time there was no <i>General Pershing</i> bearing relentlessly -down upon them and they passed through the dangerous spot without -further mishap.</p> - -<p>“Goodness, I’m glad that’s over!” said Grace, relaxing once more in her -seat, her voice still tremulous.</p> - -<p>“We couldn’t possibly have met that old boat in a worse place,” said -Mollie, glaring resentfully after the <i>General Pershing</i>, whose bulk -was diminishing rapidly in the distance.</p> - -<p>“Well,” said Betty, trying to laugh and not making a very good job of -it, “there’s no use blaming the steamer. We shouldn’t have been there, -you know.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t you want me to take the wheel, Betty?” spoke up Amy, suddenly. -“Come back here in my place and I’ll take the <i>Gem</i> the rest of the -way.”</p> - -<p>But though she smiled at her, Betty denied firmly that there was any -reason why she should give up the wheel.</p> - -<p>“I’m all right,” she said, adding, as she rounded the curve of an -island, skirting the shore toward Deepdale: “Do you want to stay out -any longer, or shall we call it a day and go up to my house?<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">17</a></span> Mother -said there was an apple pie in the refrigerator and some ginger ale on -the ice.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, boy!” sighed Grace ecstatically. “Lead me to it.”</p> - -<p>“So say we all of us,” said Mollie, and Amy joined in the chorus. -Strange how their terrifying experience of a few minutes before -disappeared in the distance as they thought of apple pie!</p> - -<p>“And we can talk over our plans for camping, too,” said Amy, at which -the girls realized that they had not thought of Henry Blackford’s shack -in the woods for five whole minutes. This would never do.</p> - -<p>By the time they had reached the dock at Deepdale they had nearly -forgotten their encounter with the <i>General Pershing</i> and so were -genuinely surprised when they saw Allen hurrying toward them.</p> - -<p>At sight of the tall figure Betty’s heart missed a beat and her face -felt suddenly hot. If only she might stop that miserable habit of -blushing—especially when Allen was around!</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">18</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="iii" id="iii"></a>CHAPTER III<br /> -<span>ENTER THE TWINS</span></h2> - - -<p>“<span class="smcap">Gee</span> Christopher, but you girls gave me a scare!” exploded the young -lawyer, as soon as he came within speaking range. His words included -all the girls but his look was only for Betty.</p> - -<p>“What do you mean, gave you a scare?” asked Mollie, her black eyes -dancing. “We haven’t seen you for almost a week.”</p> - -<p>“Maybe Betty has,” murmured Grace, with a wicked glance at the Little -Captain.</p> - -<p>“No, I haven’t,” said the latter, looking up demurely. The furious -color had subsided and she was just flushed enough to look unusually -pretty. As for what Allen thought—</p> - -<p>“Look here,” he said, abruptly, his handsome young face very serious as -he searched Betty’s expression, “did Babcock tell me the truth when he -said the <i>General Pershing</i> almost ran you down?”</p> - -<p>On Betty’s face was a look of bewilderment.</p> - -<p>“How did you know?” she questioned. “It only just happened?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">19</a></span> -“Who’s Babcock?” asked Grace, with interest.</p> - -<p>“A lawyer I’ve met once or twice,” returned Allen, still with his -worried eyes fixed on Betty. “We ran into each other a few minutes -ago. Seems he just landed from the <i>General Pershing</i> and he was full -of this incident. Said it was a miracle the boat wasn’t wrecked. The -description he gave me of it sounded very much like the <i>Gem</i>.”</p> - -<p>“It was the <i>Gem</i>,” said Mollie.</p> - -<p>“But he was wrong about a miracle saving us,” put in Amy, throwing an -arm about the Little Captain. “It was Betty.”</p> - -<p>Allen was on the verge of saying that Betty was a miracle, anyhow, but, -considering that there were a good many people about, thought better of -it. However, his eyes spoke for him.</p> - -<p>“You must be more careful, Betty,” he said, taking the rope from her -with which she was making the <i>Gem</i> fast to the dock. “You mustn’t take -such chances when I’m not around.”</p> - -<p>He was close to her and speaking in a low tone. Amy and Mollie and -Grace had considerately turned away and were walking slowly in the -direction of Betty’s house. Having fastened the little boat securely, -Betty and Allen turned to follow them.</p> - -<p>“Please promise you’ll be more careful when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">20</a></span> I’m not with you,” Allen -persisted, and Betty glanced up at him with a hint of laughter in her -eyes. But the laughter hid a little hurt, for Betty was feeling a bit -neglected. Mollie was right when she said they had not seen nor heard -from Allen for several days. Of course he had been busy—he always -was—but just the same—</p> - -<p>So said Betty:</p> - -<p>“If I took chances only when you were around, I wouldn’t take very -many, would I?”</p> - -<p>She tried to speak lightly but she did not quite succeed, not as far as -Allen was concerned. Looking down at her suddenly serious little face -he wished that they might be alone for just five minutes so that he -might explain. And he was in such a rush!</p> - -<p>“That isn’t fair,” he said, gravely. “You know I wouldn’t have stayed -away if I hadn’t had to. Look here, Betty—dear,” they had come to -a corner and he had stopped, facing her. He had an appointment at -three-thirty and here it was three-twenty-five this minute. “I can’t -stay now, I’ve got to rush. Can I see you to-night?”</p> - -<p>What perverse imp in Betty made her answer lightly:</p> - -<p>“I have an engagement to-night, Allen.”</p> - -<p>All at once the young lawyer looked savage. Confound that engagement!</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">21</a></span> -“Betty,” he said, desperately, “I’m coming to-night anyway, and if you -won’t see me I’ll camp on your doorstep till you do.”</p> - -<p>With this threat he turned and hurried down the street, his back as -stiff as a ramrod, the heavy frown still on his brow. Why, he thought, -gloomily, did Betty always have to look most adorable just when she -was going to be most aggravating? How was he going to keep his mind on -business, anyway, when all he could think of was Betty’s face?</p> - -<p>Meanwhile, Betty had looked musingly after his retreating figure -and then, at the thought of the savage look on his face, chuckled -unfeelingly. Just the same, her eyes were a little wistful as she -hurried to catch up with the girls. She did wish his old business -wouldn’t take up so much of his time! Maybe if he had taken up -medicine, now, instead of the law—but no, that would have been worse -yet. Doctors never had any time at all to themselves. She was still -wondering whether she ought to see Allen that night—knowing all the -time that she would not miss seeing him for the world—when the girls -turned and spied her.</p> - -<p>“Well, did we walk slowly enough?” asked Mollie, teasingly, as together -they turned the corner into the street where Betty lived.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">22</a></span> -“Is he coming to-night?” added Grace, with a chuckle.</p> - -<p>“Since I can’t answer both of you at once,” Betty retorted, “I sha’n’t -answer you at all. There’s mother on the porch,” she added, to change -the subject.</p> - -<p>“And now,” sighed Grace, happily, as they turned in at the walk of -Betty’s house, “just lead us to that apple pie.”</p> - -<p>While they ate pie and drank gratefully of the ice-cold ginger ale, -Betty told her mother of Henry Blackford’s cabin in the woods and -explained to her the use they wished to make of it.</p> - -<p>“It looks just providential to us,” she finished, eagerly. “Mother, if -you were so cruel as to say I couldn’t go, I believe I’d take a running -jump and land right in the middle of the lake.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Nelson’s eyes twinkled.</p> - -<p>“Far be it from me to drive you to that, dear,” she said. “I think the -idea is a splendid one and you all ought to be very grateful to Mr. -Blackford for suggesting it.”</p> - -<p>Whereupon Mrs. Nelson found herself promptly kissed by not only Betty, -but the other girls as well. So sudden was the onslaught that she waved -them away laughing and declaring it would take her a week at least to -get back all the breath she had lost.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">23</a></span> -A few minutes later, having finished all the apple pie and ginger ale -in sight, the girls started <i>en masse</i> for Mollie’s house, to gain a -like consent from Mollie’s mother, the sprightly little French widow.</p> - -<p>“And maybe,” said Grace hopefully, as they neared the Billette home, -“your mother has something in the refrigerator for us too, Mollie dear.”</p> - -<p>“Your appetite does you credit, Grace,” said Mollie sarcastically. “But -in the language of our day I must beg you not to kid yourself. If there -ever was anything in the ice box, that dainty has been done away with -by Dodo and Paul long ere this. So if you feel you need any further -refreshment you’d better stop at the pastry shop and fortify yourself.”</p> - -<p>As they were at that moment passing the shop in question Grace gazed -longingly into the pastry-filled windows, then as the girls watched her -laughing, regretfully shook her head.</p> - -<p>“Can’t be done,” she murmured sorrowfully. “Used up half my allowance -already and only three days of the week gone.”</p> - -<p>“It surely gets me, Grace Ford,” said Mollie, a trifle resentfully—for -Mollie was gaining flesh a little too rapidly to suit her—“how you -manage to eat sweets all day and still keep your sylph-like form.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">24</a></span> -“It’s a gift,” remarked Grace, with the sweet, superior smile that -always made Mollie boil. “I sha’n’t tell you the secret, Mollie -darling, even if you did gain five pounds in two weeks.”</p> - -<p>“Didn’t,” retorted Mollie, with a frown. “It was only four and a half. -I don’t see why you always have to exaggerate everything.”</p> - -<p>“What’s half a pound between friends?” returned Grace, airily.</p> - -<p>Luckily they reached Mollie’s home at this minute, which fact probably -averted an exchange of blows, so Betty laughingly declared.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Billette was at home and she listened rather absently to the -girls’ recital of what they hoped to do during the summer. Since -at times they all talked at once it was small wonder that a rather -bewildered expression grew in her eyes.</p> - -<p>“You want to go camping in this cabin in the woods, which belong to -Mr. Blackford, is that so?” she said at last, in her pretty accent. -“Why, yes, I think it will be all right. You have learn’ pretty well -to take care of yourselves,” she added, with an indulgent smile that -for a moment chased the worried frown from her forehead. However, a -sudden sharp sound, like the falling of a heavy body from above stairs, -brought back the harassed expression to her face.</p> - -<p>“Those children, Dodo and Paul!” she said,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">25</a></span> wearily. “To-day they have -nearly drive me wild. I wish you would take them with you into the -woods, Mollie. It would be all right for them to run wild there. They -could break nothing but their own heads.”</p> - -<p>“Which they would certainly do,” said Mollie, with a wry little face. -The idea of having her fun hampered by the mischievous antics of the -twins was not a pleasant one.</p> - -<p>At that moment there came a terrific bumping and thumping down the -stairs and with one accord Mrs. Billette and the four girls rushed to -the door.</p> - -<p>“It is done at last!” wailed Mrs. Billette. “This time they have kill -themselves!”</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">26</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="iv" id="iv"></a>CHAPTER IV<br /> -<span>MORE PLANS</span></h2> - - -<p><span class="smcap">But</span> it would take more than a mere matter of falling downstairs to put -an end to the activities of Dodo and Paul. This they proved themselves, -by coming up smiling and chuckling and very much alive at the foot of -the stairs.</p> - -<p>“Oh, you will be the death of me yet, you li’l rascals,” moaned Mrs. -Billette, picking them up and feeling carefully over their small bodies -to make sure that there were no bones broken. “I shall die of heart -failure, if nothing else. Why will you not behave yourselves? Dodo, -Paul, tell mother, are you hurt, darlings?”</p> - -<p>Dodo and Paul regarded their mother and the girls in wide-eyed -amazement at the fuss that was being made over them.</p> - -<p>“Course, we’re not hurt,” said the little girl, rubbing a dimpled knee -as though it had come in too hard contact with the edge of a stair. -“Paul an’ me, we was runnin’ a race to see who could get downstairs -first an’ Paul got in the way——”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">27</a></span> -“Den she pushed me,” said Paul, taking up the narrative in an injured -tone. “I would have won de race only she pushed me. Wasn’t fair—”</p> - -<p>“Was too,” interrupted Dodo, hotly. “You pushed me first, right up -there at the head of the stairs an’ so I pushed you too.”</p> - -<p>“Ooh,” said Paul, his eyes wide and injured. “Dodo Billette what a big -story-teller——”</p> - -<p>“Paul,” interrupted his mother sharply, “that will do. How many times -have I told you that you must never call your little sister names?”</p> - -<p>“Well, but she is,” insisted the round-eyed Paul, whereat his -exasperated parent pushed him gently but very very firmly toward the -front door.</p> - -<p>“There, go outside, both of you,” she said. “And see if you can stop -quarreling for five minutes. What have I done to have such terrible -children!”</p> - -<p>As the door closed upon the obstreperous twins she raised her hands in -a typically French gesture and turned to the girls, despairingly.</p> - -<p>“You see how it is,” she said, leading the way once more into the cool -peace of the living-room. “Not five minutes in the day do they give me -peace. Sometime I think I shall go mad.”</p> - -<p>“Poor mother,” said Mollie, putting her arm about the little woman -and seating her in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">28</a></span> easiest chair in the room. “I know they’re a -dreadful pest, but just think how much worse it would be if you didn’t -have them. Remember the time when they were kidnapped——”</p> - -<p>But Mrs. Billette stopped her with a quick gesture.</p> - -<p>“Do not remind me of that!” she commanded, sharply. “Have I not done -my best to forget that dreadful time? But you do well to speak of it, -after all, Mollie,” she said, more gently, patting Mollie’s hand. “It -make me more contented to bear with them. They are very little yet and -it is natural for children to be always in mischief.”</p> - -<p>Those who are familiar with the Outdoor Girls will remember when the -mischievous, adorable twins, Dodo and Paul, had been kidnapped by a -villain who demanded an outrageous sum of money for their safe return -and how the same twins had been rescued from a ship, wrecked on the -rocks of Bluff Point near the cottage where the Outdoor Girls were -summering. And it was true that whenever Mrs. Billette or Mollie were -tempted to be impatient with the twins they remembered the despair of -that dreadful time and dealt gently with the erring Dodo and Paul, -aggravating little wretches that they could be.</p> - -<p>“Just the same,” said Grace as, a few hours<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">29</a></span> later, the girls started -for home and dinner, “I’d just as soon leave the twins behind when we -go on our vacation.”</p> - -<p>“Poor kiddies,” said Betty, with a twinkle in her eye. “Just think how -they would enjoy themselves!”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” retorted Grace, unmoved. “But just think how we would enjoy -ourselves.”</p> - -<p>“Speaking of our vacation,” said Mollie, who had agreed to walk as far -as Betty’s house with her. “It seems as though things were just about -settled for one grand and glorious time.”</p> - -<p>“How about you, Grace?” asked Amy, as they paused at the corner before -separating for their respective domiciles. “Do you suppose your folks -will give you the O.K.?”</p> - -<p>“Amy, what slang!” chuckled Betty. “If we don’t look out, you’ll be -giving us points.”</p> - -<p>“Impossible,” retorted Amy, at which Betty grinned still more.</p> - -<p>“Why, yes, I guess,” said Grace, in reply to Amy’s question. “The folks -will let me go anywhere as long as Will comes along.”</p> - -<p>“Good gracious, are we going to let the boys in on this?” asked Mollie, -wide-eyed.</p> - -<p>“Did you ever know of a time we were able to keep the boys -out—altogether?” retorted Grace, favoring Mollie with a pitying -glance. “We’ve<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">30</a></span> tried it, haven’t we?” she added, as Mollie still -stared at her.</p> - -<p>“We-ell, not very hard,” said Betty, impishly, and, looking at her, the -girls had to laugh.</p> - -<p>“You’re enough to demoralize anybody, Betty Nelson,” said Mollie, -giving her a hug. “You won’t even let us pretend we don’t want the -boys.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t see why we should pretend,” said Amy, boldly, flushing as the -girls turned their laughing eyes upon her. “We always have a lot better -time with them,” she persisted, and the Little Captain hugged her -impulsively.</p> - -<p>“Of course we do. Don’t let ’em tell you different,” she said gayly, -then turned decidedly on her heel. “I don’t know about the rest of -you,” she flung back at them over her shoulder, “but I do know I’ve got -to be getting home. Mother will think I’m lost. Coming, Mollie?”</p> - -<p>And so they parted, promising to get together on the morrow for a grand -“pow-wow” and to make definite plans for their outing.</p> - -<p>“Is Allen coming to-night, Betty?” asked Mollie of the Little Captain, -as they stopped before Betty’s door.</p> - -<p>“He said he was,” said Betty, lightly, adding ruefully: “And he left -before I had a chance to contradict him.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">31</a></span> -“Which of course you wanted to do,” teased Mollie, adding, soberly: -“Have you noticed anything unusual about Allen, Betty?”</p> - -<p>Betty looked startled, but her answer sounded indifferent enough.</p> - -<p>“I haven’t had much of a chance to notice anything about him lately,” -she said, but sharp little Mollie was not one whit deceived.</p> - -<p>“He’s got something on his mind,” she said, thoughtfully. “Once or -twice I’ve met him on the street and he was in such a hurry going -somewhere that he didn’t even notice me. The last time I called after -him and he stopped and apologized for not seeing me, just like a -gentleman. But for all that, he was in a dreadfully big hurry to get -away.”</p> - -<p>“Just busy, I guess,” said Betty, adding, as she answered her mother’s -call from within the house: “He’s getting to be terribly popular, you -know.”</p> - -<p>Although Betty had denied that she had noticed any change in Allen, in -her own heart she knew that she had, and wondered what could be the -matter. She ate her dinner absently and hurried through her dessert—it -was a good one, too, plum cake with hard sauce—so that she might -“pretty” herself before Allen arrived.</p> - -<p>As she brushed her dark curls into some semblance<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">32</a></span> of order and -regarded her flushed face in the mirror over her pretty dressing table, -Betty reflected whimsically.</p> - -<p>“And I was wondering,” she said, a little quirk at the corners of her -mouth, “whether I should see him or not. It would really be better if -I didn’t. It might teach him that he can’t stay away for a whole week -without even ’phoning—” She paused and regarded her image thoughtfully.</p> - -<p>Then, with a smile, she patted the last unruly lock of hair into place -and went over to her closet to select the prettiest gown she had.</p> - -<p>“And all the time,” she mused, “I knew I’d see him. I had to when he -spoke in that tone. And he knew it too. Well,” with a sigh, “there -isn’t any use worrying over it, I suppose.”</p> - -<p>The dress she took from the hook was a fluffy organdie of that popular -and becoming color known as “American beauty.” And when Betty slipped -it over her dark head and stood once more before the mirror, the color -of it miraculously matched the color in her cheeks. Betty—and the -Little Captain was not at all conceited—was well satisfied with the -effect.</p> - -<p>Before she had quite finished putting the last touches to her pretty -toilet she heard Allen talking and laughing with her father on the -porch.</p> - -<p>“It’s a wonder,” she thought, resentfully, “that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">33</a></span> he can spare any -time at all from that old business of his. I wonder,” she added, -inconsistently, “if he will like my dress.”</p> - -<p>As a matter of fact, it is doubtful if Allen really saw the dress at -all. For he was staring straight at Betty and no dress, however lovely, -could compete with Betty’s face when she looked as she looked to-night.</p> - -<p>Mr. Nelson, enjoying an after-dinner cigar, noted the direction of the -young lawyer’s glance and chuckled to himself. He liked Allen Washburn -very much, and, strange as it may seem, he liked his pretty daughter -even better. So it is very easy to see that everybody was happy.</p> - -<p>After a while, like a very thoughtful and obliging parent, he went -inside, ostensibly to play the phonograph, but really to ask proudly of -his wife if Betty wasn’t the prettiest thing she ever saw.</p> - -<p>To which Mrs. Nelson replied, that, though she hadn’t seen Betty yet -to-night, she would agree, just on general principles, that she was.</p> - -<p>“And the best of it is,” added the woman, softly, “Betty doesn’t know -how lovely she is. She is just as sweet and unspoiled as she was at -ten.”</p> - -<p>“Let’s hope that she will always be so,” replied Betty’s father, -gravely.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">34</a></span> -Meanwhile, out on the porch the last warm rays of the sun had given -place to the soft summer twilight and Allen brought his chair closer -to Betty’s so that he might watch the expression on her face. She was -smiling a little, as though enjoying some joke that he could not share -and he wondered if she were going to let him be serious. It was very -seldom that she did.</p> - -<p>“Are you laughing at me?” he asked, suddenly.</p> - -<p>Betty’s face became, on the instant, demurely grave.</p> - -<p>“How could you think it?” she murmured, looking up at him innocently. -“What is there funny about you, Allen?”</p> - -<p>“A good many things, I’ve come to believe,” answered Allen, ruefully. -“At least, every time I see you, you seem amused.”</p> - -<p>“I haven’t been amused very much lately then, have I?” she murmured, -and once more Allen began to look savage.</p> - -<p>“Stop it!” he said, and Betty looked at him, wide-eyed. Her mirth -nearly bubbled over.</p> - -<p>“Were you speaking to me?” she asked, and then at the look on his face -she began to laugh and the more savage he looked the more she laughed.</p> - -<p>Allen got up and walked to the other end of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">35</a></span> the porch. A moment later -Betty’s voice, still choked with laughter, reached him.</p> - -<p>“Allen, don’t be a goose,” she said. “Come here and talk to me. I won’t -laugh. Truly I won’t.”</p> - -<p>Allen came, still forbidding, and sat down beside her. He was quiet so -long that she finally reopened the conversation.</p> - -<p>“What’s the matter, Allen?” she asked, gently. “Are you worried about -anything?”</p> - -<p>At her changed tone he turned to her eagerly.</p> - -<p>“Will you listen to me without laughing?”</p> - -<p>There was a sparkle in Betty’s eyes but her lips were grave.</p> - -<p>“Yes, anything you say,” she said, meekly.</p> - -<p>Allen looked suspicious, but he went on, just the same.</p> - -<p>“There <em>is</em> something on my mind,” he said, so gravely that immediately -Betty became grave too. “I’d like to tell you, little Betty, and then -maybe you will realize why I haven’t been able to come around lately.”</p> - -<p>“Tell me,” said Betty, softly.</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">36</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="v" id="v"></a>CHAPTER V<br /> -<span>THE MATTER OF A WILL</span></h2> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Allen</span> paused a moment, his hands clasped on his knees, his eyes -thoughtfully upon them.</p> - -<p>“I have a client,” he said at last. “He’s an old, old man. Though he -retained me a week ago, it was only to-day that I was able to persuade -him to put his last will and testament into writing. Poor fellow, he -seems to have had a horror all his life of making a will. Thought that -the moment he did, it would be the signing of his death warrant.”</p> - -<p>In spite of the warm evening breeze Betty shuddered.</p> - -<p>“I don’t wonder,” she said. “A will has always seemed a horrid thing to -me.”</p> - -<p>“But a very necessary one,” Allen reminded her. “The old fellow has -considerable of this world’s goods and since he can’t hope to take them -with him where he’s going, it’s only sensible to dispose of them justly -before he goes.”</p> - -<p>“Oh,” said Betty, pityingly. “Is he dying, Allen?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">37</a></span> -The young lawyer nodded soberly.</p> - -<p>“And his dying isn’t the most pitiful thing about it,” he said. -“Everybody has to make up his mind to die sometime and he has lived -longer than most. But what worries me,” he paused and the frown -deepened, “is that he has something on his mind that, it seems, he -can’t bring himself to confide to anybody. Even the will that he drew -up to-day isn’t final—or at least, I judged that it wasn’t by the fact -that he told me to come back to-morrow.”</p> - -<p>“You think he wants to change his will?” asked Betty, puzzled. “I -wonder why.”</p> - -<p>“If I knew that,” said Allen, with a sudden smile, “I’d know -everything, most likely. The other day when he was out of his head—but -there,” he checked himself, drawing himself up short as though he were -about to say too much, “I can’t betray the confidence of a client. Not -that he’s given me his confidence to any marked extent,” he finished -with a rueful smile.</p> - -<p>Betty was quiet for a moment, thinking over what he had said. She knew -Allen well enough to be sure that he had not told her everything he -knew. That, as he said, would be to betray the confidence of a client.</p> - -<p>There was something very pathetic in the thought of the aged man dying -with something<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">38</a></span> on his conscience, a misdeed possibly, perhaps an -injustice to some innocent person, and unable even in his extremity, -poor stubborn old fellow, to confess.</p> - -<p>“Suppose, Allen—” she said suddenly. “Suppose he dies without making a -confession?”</p> - -<p>Allen shrugged his shoulders.</p> - -<p>“That’s probably what he will do,” he answered. “And in that case the -mystery—if there is one—will die with him.”</p> - -<p>“It’s a pity,” said the Little Captain thoughtfully. “I wish we could -do something to help him.”</p> - -<p>“Well,” said Allen, turning to her with a queer little smile on his -lips, “it’s just like you to wish that. But if I were you I wouldn’t -pity the old codger too much. I reckon he’s been a pretty hard man in -his day.”</p> - -<p>Allen’s lips tightened, and again Betty thought that there was -something more behind his words than he was free to tell her. She saw -also that the matter of this queer old man and his will had taken a -great hold upon him. There surely must be some mystery. Allen was not -one to let himself get wrought up about nothing.</p> - -<p>“I like that red thing,” said Allen, suddenly, and Betty, looking at -him, surprised, saw that he meant her dress.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">39</a></span> -She laughed and made an impudent little face at him.</p> - -<p>“Thanks,” she said. “But it isn’t red. It’s American beauty.”</p> - -<p>“Same thing,” said he, with masculine indifference to names. “It’s -pretty anyway. I say, Betty,” after a pause, during which Betty’s gaze -had been steadily averted from him, “am I forgiven?”</p> - -<p>“For what?” she asked, knowing perfectly well what he meant.</p> - -<p>“For staying away. You know I wouldn’t have done it if I could have -helped it.”</p> - -<p>“I know that,” replied Betty, and then, as he leaned closer, went on -hurriedly: “I’ve something to tell you, too. We’re going camping this -summer.”</p> - -<p>“We? Whom do you mean by we?” he asked, laughing.</p> - -<p>“Whom should I mean?” retorted Betty. “Us Outdoor Girls, of course.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, then I’m not invited——”</p> - -<p>“If you want to come——”</p> - -<p>“Betty——”</p> - -<p>“Allen, if you won’t be sensible, I’ll—I’ll have to send you home, -that’s all.”</p> - -<p>At which threat Allen subsided, though Betty had an idea it would not -be for long. She hurried<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">40</a></span> on to tell him about the cabin at Rainbow -Lake and the young lawyer was very much interested.</p> - -<p>“Ought to be no end of fun,” he said. “I suppose you’ll wear sporting -suits and sit around the campfire at night and fight off the wild -animals——”</p> - -<p>“There aren’t any wild animals,” protested Betty.</p> - -<p>“I’m sure you’re mistaken,” disputed Allen, earnestly. “I’ve heard -there are no end of man-eating critters around there. You’ll need some -strong men—one strong man, at least—to protect you.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t know any,” retorted Betty, flippantly, at which Allen only -laughed indulgently.</p> - -<p>“You just think you don’t,” he said.</p> - -<p>And after awhile Mrs. Nelson called down, wanting to know if Allen had -the correct time, and Allen, taking the hint, said good-by—or rather, -he started to say good-by. To be exact, it took Betty just ten minutes -by the clock to shoo him off the porch.</p> - -<p>And after he was gone Betty sighed and looked up at the moon.</p> - -<p>“It’s just ten-thirty,” she thought resentfully. “They might have let -him stay a little longer!”</p> - -<p>As they had agreed, the girls met the next day<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">41</a></span> to make definite -arrangements for their trip. Since the distance was only a few miles to -the upper end of Rainbow Lake and they could go by water all the way, -they decided to go in the <i>Gem</i>.</p> - -<p>When Allen, a few nights later, heard of their decision he protested -strenuously. Since the day the girls had so nearly collided with the -<i>General Pershing</i> he had had a dread of letting Betty go anywhere in -the motor boat.</p> - -<p>However, as the girls had no idea whatever of allowing him to spoil -their plans, they finally talked him down.</p> - -<p>“The idea!” said Mollie, indignantly. “If you had seen Betty handle -the boat that day you wouldn’t be afraid to let her go anywhere. I bet -there isn’t one of you boys who could have done as well.”</p> - -<p>As the three other boys, as well as Allen, were present, they protested -vehemently, and it was an hour or more before quiet was restored.</p> - -<p>However, it was eventually decided that the girls were to have their -way, leaving for Rainbow Lake in about a week. A few days later, the -boys would join them, bringing their tent and camping paraphernalia.</p> - -<p>They were all tremendously excited over the plan, and the time they had -set for the start<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">42</a></span> seemed awfully far away. However, as Grace insisted -she could not go a step without the right kind of clothing—she wanted -one of the latest knicker suits—and since she was sure she could get -a smarter outfit in Kayford, a neighboring town, than she could in -Deepdale, the other girls were finally argued into agreeing to the -delay.</p> - -<p>“But one thing I do know,” Betty said at last. “If you go to Kayford -for a knicker suit, we’re all going to Kayford too, and for the same -purpose.”</p> - -<p>“Suits me,” Grace had drawled. “We can go in Mollie’s car.”</p> - -<p>And so it came about that on one fine morning a day or two later the -Outdoor Girls climbed merrily into Mollie’s six and departed for -Kayford.</p> - -<p>It was a gorgeous day and the girls’ spirits matched the weather. -It was always fun to go shopping anyway, and under the present -circumstances it promised to be even more fun than usual.</p> - -<p>Mollie’s car was running in fine form and it fairly ate up the miles -between Deepdale and Kayford. They glided into the main street well -before noon.</p> - -<p>“We’ve plenty of time to shop before lunch,” cried Betty gayly. “And -then we can go to that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">43</a></span> new little tea shop and get something good. I -think I’ll have some chicken à la king.”</p> - -<p>“Hear the child!” sighed Grace. “And it’s one whole hour to lunch time.”</p> - -<p>Half of that hour they spent in buying knicker suits that fairly made -them ache for the woods, if only for the joy of wearing them. Then, -when they no longer had any excuse for lingering in the fascinating -shop, they sauntered down Main Street toward the little restaurant of -which Betty had spoken, looking in the store windows as they went.</p> - -<p>As they were passing the Woman’s Exchange, Betty suddenly stopped and -uttered a cry of delight.</p> - -<p>“Girls,” she cried, going nearer to the show windows, as though drawn -there irresistibly, “look at those embroideries. Did you ever see -anything so perfectly stunning in your lives?”</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">44</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="vi" id="vi"></a>CHAPTER VI<br /> -<span>THE LITTLE OLD LADY</span></h2> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Lured</span> by the lovely, hand-embroidered centerpieces and doilies in the -window, the girls entered the Woman’s Exchange.</p> - -<p>“I’m going to see those stunning things close to,” declared Betty.</p> - -<p>“I wonder if they are really hand-made,” said Amy, and Mollie sniffed.</p> - -<p>“If they’re not, then I never saw a hand-made article in my life,” she -said, positively.</p> - -<p>“But that drawn-work!” marveled Grace. “I don’t see how it could be -done by hand.”</p> - -<p>“It looks to me like Danish embroidery,” said the Little Captain, -thoughtfully. “Mother had a Danish maid once and she used to do the -most exquisite embroidery I’ve ever seen.”</p> - -<p>Upon inquiry they found that the embroideries were on the second floor -of the building.</p> - -<p>Dainty things of all sorts and descriptions lined the glass-fronted -shelves—exquisite baby clothes and filmy dresses for older children, -to say nothing of lovely things that would have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">45</a></span> fitted well in the -wardrobes of the Outdoor Girls themselves.</p> - -<p>“Oh, for a million dollars!” sighed Mollie, her eyes as wistful as a -starving puppy when he sees a bone. “I believe I could spend it all -without moving from this spot.”</p> - -<p>“What good would those pretty things do us now?” Betty argued, -reasonably. “We couldn’t possibly wear them on a camping trip. Come on, -I see those embroideries over there.”</p> - -<p>She half-dragged, half-led the reluctant girls over to the counter -where reposed such exquisite creations of the embroiderers’ art that -the girls fairly caught their breath.</p> - -<p>A young woman hovered suggestively close to them, hoping, no doubt, to -make a sale, but it was a long time before they realized her presence.</p> - -<p>They handled the lovely things lovingly, exclaiming over them in awed -tones.</p> - -<p>“Wouldn’t mother like to have this centerpiece!” said Grace, softly. “I -wish now I hadn’t spent so much of my allowance.”</p> - -<p>“And this luncheon set,” sighed Betty, ecstatically, holding up a doily -of such rare design and exquisite workmanship that it seemed more the -fabric of a dream than anything else. “My birthday is coming pretty -soon. I wonder if anybody here is bright enough to take a hint.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">46</a></span> -“Rather give it to you for a wedding present,” suggested Mollie, -wickedly.</p> - -<p>Betty said nothing, merely bending closer over the lovely thing she -held in her hand.</p> - -<p>“I do believe it’s Danish work,” she said, and at that moment the alert -young saleswoman spoke up.</p> - -<p>“You’re right, Miss,” she said, looking as proud as though she herself -were the maker of the luncheon set. “It is Danish embroidery of the -finest sort—and hand work, every stitch of it. I’ve seen fine work in -my day, but nothing that could equal that.”</p> - -<p>“I believe you,” murmured Betty, adding, with a quick, upward look: “Do -you happen to know the person who does this work?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, indeed,” said the young woman briskly. It had been a slow morning -and she was glad of the chance to talk to sympathetic listeners. “An -old lady she was—as quaint an old soul as I ever saw. We were quite -fond of her around here. Every Saturday morning she used to come in, -often with some new piece, prettier than the last, to sell.”</p> - -<p>“Why do you say she ‘used to come?’” asked Amy, gently. “Doesn’t she -come any more?”</p> - -<p>The young woman shook her head and a frown puckered her forehead.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">47</a></span> -“No, Miss, she doesn’t. And the worst of it is we don’t know what has -become of her.”</p> - -<p>“Didn’t you know where she lived?” asked Betty, with interest.</p> - -<p>Again the young woman shook her head.</p> - -<p>“Nor yet can we find anybody who does,” she said. “She was a queer old -soul and she came and went as quietly as a mouse.”</p> - -<p>“And you don’t even know her name?” asked Mollie, idly.</p> - -<p>“No, Miss. You see,” the girl went on, warming to her subject, -“she had been coming here so long with her beautiful work that -we’d come to think of her as part of the Exchange—like a door, or -something—somebody who would always be here. And we none of us knew -how fond we were of the gentle old soul until she failed to show up. -Even then we thought she’d turn up in a week or two, but she didn’t. We -think now that maybe she’s dead. She was very old and feeble.”</p> - -<p>“Too bad,” said Betty, her warm heart instantly touched. “Do you sell -many of these?” she added, touching a piece of embroidery.</p> - -<p>“Not so many,” returned the clerk. “You see the work is so rare that we -have to charge a pretty good price for it. People come here and say how -beautiful it is—and go away. And yet we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">48</a></span> can’t honestly sell it for -any less. We promised the old lady a pretty good price for it, you see. -It’s worth it.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, dear,” murmured Grace, petulantly. “How unfortunate.”</p> - -<p>“What’s the matter, now?” asked the Little Captain, politely.</p> - -<p>“Oh,” said Grace, replacing the centerpiece she had been studying upon -a little pile of pieces, “I had my mind set on buying that for mother’s -birthday, but if it’s so very expensive I guess I can’t.”</p> - -<p>“We might make a special price for you,” said the young saleswoman -obligingly, and straightway they fell to bartering while the other -girls moved away to study other articles of interest on the floor.</p> - -<p>“I feel sorry for that old woman,” said Amy, absently staring at some -filmy embroidered handkerchiefs. “It must be pretty bad to be old and -friendless——”</p> - -<p>“Well, I don’t see much use in our worrying about it,” said Mollie, -briskly.</p> - -<p>“There’s Grace with the centerpiece under her arm,” chuckled Betty. -“Wonder how she did it.”</p> - -<p>“By pretty near breaking herself I suppose,”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">49</a></span> said Mollie, adding -ruefully: “What do you bet we have to treat her to lunch?”</p> - -<p>But both Amy and Betty were too wise to bet on anything so sure to -go against them, and in this way they proved their shrewdness. Once -outside the store Grace confessed, not at all shamefacedly, that -after buying the centerpiece the entire extent of her resources was -twenty-five cents.</p> - -<p>“That,” said Betty, with a twinkle, “will just about buy you one -sandwich.”</p> - -<p>“Have a heart,” protested Grace. “The way I feel one sandwich would -just about whet my appetite.”</p> - -<p>“Well, girls, I suppose we can’t see her starve,” sighed Betty, as they -entered the tempting little tea shop, all white tables and blue walls.</p> - -<p>“A blight on our soft hearts,” murmured Mollie, at which Betty and Amy -giggled and Grace smiled sweetly. And the way she ordered from the -delectable dishes on the menu, one might have been excused for thinking -that Grace herself was treating to the luncheon.</p> - -<p>“All right,” grumbled Mollie, as she prepared to cut into her chicken -patty. “You just wait, Grace Ford. Next time we come here all of us -girls are accidentally going to forget our pocketbooks. That ought to -fix you.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">50</a></span> -“Let the future take care of itself,” said Grace, airily. “Just at -present I’m having a lovely time!”</p> - -<p>After lunch they thought of some more shopping they had to do—mostly -for things which they needed on their trip—so that it was late -afternoon before they reached Deepdale once more.</p> - -<p>As Mollie stopped the car before Grace’s door to let her get out, she -handed her a paper parcel containing the precious centerpiece which -Grace had overlooked.</p> - -<p>“Don’t forget anything,” said Mollie, with elaborate politeness. “And -don’t forget—next time is your treat!”</p> - -<p>“I envy your mother, Gracie,” Betty called after her, as Mollie started -the motor. “I reckon she has a happy birthday.”</p> - -<p>Amy’s house was the next stop and on the way Betty remarked how quiet -the girl was.</p> - -<p>“What’s the matter, Amy dear?” she asked, curiously. “You act as if you -had lost your last friend.”</p> - -<p>Amy shook off her thoughtful mood and smiled.</p> - -<p>“I suppose you’ll think I’m foolish,” she said, a bit shyly. “But I -just can’t get that old lady out of my mind—the one who does the -embroidery.”</p> - -<p>“Listen, Amy,” remarked Mollie, screwing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">51</a></span> around in her seat until the -girl came within her range of vision, “if we should feel bad about -every poor unfortunate person in this world, we would all be joy -killers. So stop worrying.”</p> - -<p>“I suppose so,” sighed Amy, but the troubled look did not leave her -eyes.</p> - -<p>“I’d hate to have Amy’s conscience,” chuckled Mollie to Betty, after -they had left Amy at her door. “She’s a darling, of course, but she -makes herself no end of trouble worrying about other people. If she -could help any by worrying, it would be different.”</p> - -<p>Betty nodded, but her eyes also were thoughtful.</p> - -<p>In a few minutes she was standing on her porch waving good-by to Mollie -as the big car sped up the block and turned the corner.</p> - -<p>“What a perfect day it’s been,” she sighed, as she turned to enter the -house. “I do wish everybody could be as happy as we girls are.” By this -it may be seen that the Little Captain, like Amy, was still thinking of -the little old lady who sold embroideries through the Woman’s Exchange.</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">52</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="vii" id="vii"></a>CHAPTER VII<br /> -<span>THE DEATH OF A CLIENT</span></h2> - - -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> next few days were crowded with final preparations for the trip. -Although the girls had assured themselves that there would be “nothing -to do” to get ready, they found, as usual, that there was a great deal -more to do than they had counted on.</p> - -<p>But at last everything was ready, the last utensil packed, and the last -“canned heat” can crammed into its appointed place. The <i>Gem</i> had been -overhauled by loving hands, its decks “swabbed” and its brasses scoured -till they shone like gold.</p> - -<p>And as they stood regarding their work and realized that at last -everything was finished, Mollie proposed that they all come over to her -house that evening for a little farewell party, they being scheduled to -start early the following morning.</p> - -<p>“The party will be very exclusive,” Mollie declared, “including only -the four boys and our four selves.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">53</a></span> -“And we’ll shoo the boys home early,” said Betty, preparatory to -hurrying home for a hasty dinner. “If we hope to get a reasonably good -start in the morning Grace will have to be in bed by eleven.”</p> - -<p>At this direct insult Grace drew herself up haughtily.</p> - -<p>“Speak for yourself, old dear,” she said, at which the girls chuckled -derisively, thus adding insult to injury.</p> - -<p>And so came the evening and with it three of the boys in fine spirits -and ready for “a bang-up time,” as they expressed it. There was only -one thing that checked the hilarity, and that was Allen’s absence.</p> - -<p>Although she tried to join in the fun as if nothing was amiss, Betty’s -eyes constantly wandered to the door and she grew anxious as the time -passed and still no Allen appeared.</p> - -<p>Finally Mollie cornered her and asked a question.</p> - -<p>“Didn’t Allen say he’d be here, honey?” she asked, with a glance at the -clock.</p> - -<p>“He said he might be a little late,” interrupted Frank Haley, who had -overheard the question. “Said he had a little business to attend to.”</p> - -<p>“Mighty busy chap, Allen, these days,” added Roy, admiringly. “If his -reputation grows much<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">54</a></span> bigger I guess this little town won’t be able to -hold him.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, bother work,” said Mollie, crossly. “Who wants to work, anyway, -when they might have a good time?”</p> - -<p>“I guess he doesn’t want to,” Betty spoke up, gravely, and as though -they realized that there was something behind her words they looked at -her expectantly.</p> - -<p>“Hand us the news, Betty,” commanded Roy.</p> - -<p>“He’s drawing up a will for an old man who doesn’t seem to know his own -mind,” replied Betty promptly. “As soon as he draws up a will he tears -it up and sets to work making another one.”</p> - -<p>“Lots of fun for Allen,” commented Grace. “I should think he’d tell the -old man to get another lawyer.”</p> - -<p>“Guess he’d rather do it himself,” said Betty, her eyes once more -wandering to the door. “You see he thinks he’s got wind of some mystery -connected with his crusty client, and you know what Allen is when he -smells a mystery.”</p> - -<p>“Regular old sleuth-hound,” agreed Will Ford, with a grin. “Always told -Allen he should have been a detective instead of a no-’count lawyer. -Don’t look at me that way, Betty. I promise never to do it again.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">55</a></span> -As a matter of fact Betty had not looked at him at all, being too busy -watching the door. But she did look at him now, just long enough to -send him one withering glance.</p> - -<p>“Well, all I have to say is,” said Mollie, indignantly, “that if Allen -passes up my perfectly good party, just for the sake of drawing up a -worthless old will, then all I say is——”</p> - -<p>“Say it to my face, woman, say it to my face,” commanded a laughing -voice, and Allen stepped into the room.</p> - -<p>Mollie giggled and promptly forgot to be indignant.</p> - -<p>“You know what I think of eavesdroppers, don’t you?” she countered, and -Allen grinned.</p> - -<p>“I wasn’t,” he said. “I could hear your voice raised in anger, fair -maid, all the way down to the corner.”</p> - -<p>“Goodness, I didn’t know it was as penetrating as all that,” she said, -adding, with an hospitable wave of her hand: “Come in, stranger, come -in. Hang up your hat and make yourself at home.”</p> - -<p>“Thanks,” returned Allen, and was immediately the center of merry -bantering.</p> - -<p>“How is our famous sleuth this evening?” queried Frank. “Have you run -the villain to earth or is he still running?”</p> - -<p>“Give us the inside stuff, old boy,” urged Roy,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">56</a></span> leaning forward -confidentially. “Has the old gentleman left you all his money or only a -couple of millions? Don’t be close, old man. Remember, we’re all your -friends.”</p> - -<p>“I doubt it,” retorted Allen, and over the heads of the “rabble” -exchanged a glance with Betty. “I judge from your remarks,” he said -then, “that Betty has told you about my mysterious old client and his -taste in wills.” His voice lowered and his face took on the grave look -which it so often wore of late. “The poor old man has made his last -will. He is dead.”</p> - -<p>A silence fell upon them all and they felt suddenly and solemnly -depressed. Death, even the death of a stranger, is not a thing to be -taken lightly.</p> - -<p>Mollie was the first to rally.</p> - -<p>“I don’t see why you should tell us about it,” she said, reproachfully. -“Didn’t you know it would spoil our party?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know why it should,” said Allen, shaking off the thoughtful -mood with an effort. “None of you knew the old man and we can’t help -him any by glooming. I reckon he’s happier now than he has been for a -good while, anyway.”</p> - -<p>They all felt, as Betty had felt the night when Allen had first spoken -to her about his client,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">57</a></span> that he knew a great deal more than he was -at liberty to talk about, and though, their curiosity aroused, they -pressed him for details, they soon found that the attempt was useless. -When Allen once made up his mind not to talk, wild horses could not -draw another word from him.</p> - -<p>But this did not keep them from wondering considerably what Allen knew -about the queer old man and why he would not talk to them of what he -knew.</p> - -<p>But as the evening wore on they gradually forgot everything but the -good time they were having—all that is, but Allen and one other. That -other was the Little Captain.</p> - -<p>Underneath Allen’s forced gayety she saw that he was grave, that -something was on his mind, and she longed to help him. But Allen -guessed nothing of this. As he watched Betty, laughing and gay, the -center of all the fun, as she always was, it was little wonder he did -not guess how serious her thoughts were. He was a little resentful, -too, because he had so little chance to be near her.</p> - -<p>When they danced and he started for Betty it seemed as though everybody -in the room got in his way and one of the other boys whisked her off -beneath his very nose.</p> - -<p>“Too slow, Allen,” Roy called once, as he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">58</a></span> whirled the Little Captain -off to the music. “You think you’re popular, but I’ll say Betty can -give you points.”</p> - -<p>Allen grunted and made for the seclusion of Mollie’s side porch. He -wasn’t in the mood for music and dancing anyway, and as for Betty, she -did not seem to know he was in the world.</p> - -<p>Lost in gloomy reflection he was startled by a light touch on his -shoulder. He looked up to see Betty herself smiling impishly down at -him. He caught her hand and drew her down on the couch beside him. -It—the couch—was a wicker one of the porch furniture variety and a -more uncomfortable object to sit on could hardly be imagined. However, -if either Betty or Allen was uncomfortable, neither of them noticed the -fact.</p> - -<p>“So you did notice me hanging around on the outskirts of the crowd,” he -reproached her, adding with a sigh: “My, but it’s good to get you out -here away from all that.”</p> - -<p>By “that” he evidently meant the music and Betty leaned forward, her -brow a little puckered.</p> - -<p>“You’re worrying about that poor old man who died to-night. I know it!” -she said, adding before he could interrupt: “Is there anything you can -tell me, Allen, just to get it off your mind? I’d like to help if you’d -let me.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">59</a></span> -Allen covered her hand with his and for just a moment she let him do it.</p> - -<p>“I’d tell you if I could tell any one,” he said gratefully. “You know -that, Betty. But I can’t say any more just now.”</p> - -<p>“Then come in and dance,” said Betty, jumping to her feet in one of her -swift changes of mood. “We can’t stay out here, you know.”</p> - -<p>“Why not?” he demanded.</p> - -<p>“Well, it isn’t being done,” said Betty whimsically, adding, with -apparent innocence: “Listen, that’s a waltz, isn’t it? Frank just loves -to waltz with me!”</p> - -<p>“You little wretch!” laughed Allen, as he followed her into the -brightly lighted room.</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">60</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="viii" id="viii"></a>CHAPTER VIII<br /> -<span>STARTING ADVENTURE</span></h2> - - -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> girls awoke next morning to a day that seemed just made for them. -The air was balmy and unusually cool for that time of the year. The sun -shone brightly and there was not a cloud to spoil the even blue of the -sky.</p> - -<p>The boys had agreed to carry their luggage for them down to the dock. -As the latter consisted of a few blankets, with utensils and some other -small and necessary articles wrapped snuggly inside, the burden would -not be great.</p> - -<p>They had laid in quite a stock of canned goods, bacon, and other -foodstuffs which they had already stowed away in the <i>Gem</i>.</p> - -<p>“I hope some tramp doesn’t take it into his head to investigate,” Betty -had said the day before, when they were leaving the little boat. “If -so, we might find ourselves minus provisions.”</p> - -<p>“At the worst, we could always buy more,” Mollie had retorted, and the -matter had dropped there.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">61</a></span> -Since Henry Blackford’s cabin would serve them for ample shelter the -girls had no need for a tent or for tent furnishings. This had, of -course, simplified their preparations considerably.</p> - -<p>According to Amy’s brother, there was a good oil stove in the cabin, -also several utensils. However, as the girls had no way of knowing what -condition these utensils were in, they preferred to furnish their own.</p> - -<p>It had been arranged the night before that, promptly at seven-thirty -the next morning, Allen was to repair to Betty’s house, Frank Haley to -Mollie’s, Roy to Amy’s. Will Ford was taking down his sister’s luggage.</p> - -<p>Although Grace had argued that seven-thirty was an unheard of hour to -start and absolutely unnecessary, considering the short distance they -had to go, she had been ruled down by a majority of three to one.</p> - -<p>“It’s always more fun to start early,” Betty had declared, adding: “And -you never know what trouble we may run into. If anything should happen -to the engine it might take some time to get it going again.”</p> - -<p>“And we want to get to camp while it’s light enough to do plenty of -exploring,” Mollie had finished, resolutely.</p> - -<p>Just the same, Betty, excited and flushed with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">62</a></span> a sense of adventure, -standing on her front porch waiting for Allen the next morning, was not -at all sure that Grace would be true to her promise.</p> - -<p>“If she keeps us waiting this morning——” she began, to break off as -she saw Allen coming at a swift pace up the street.</p> - -<p>“Hello,” he called, his eyes lighting up as he spied Betty. “Where did -you get the new togs? My, but you look great!”</p> - -<p>“Thanks,” said the Little Captain, demurely, glancing down at the trim -tweed of the knicker suit she had bought in Kayford. “I rather like me, -myself.”</p> - -<p>And then they laughed together, merrily and for no particular reason -except that it was the kind of day which seems just made for laughing.</p> - -<p>On the way down to the dock where the <i>Gem</i> lay rocking in the gentle -swell from the river, they were still gay. But when they reached -the pier and found that they were the first to arrive, Allen became -suddenly grave.</p> - -<p>“Somehow I don’t like the idea of your going to this lonely cabin all -alone,” he said, as, under Betty’s instructions, he disposed of the -small blanket roll in the stern of the <i>Gem</i>. “There may be tramps up -there.”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” retorted Betty gayly. “And there may<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">63</a></span> be wild elephants too, and -cyclones or maybe an earthquake. Anything may happen, but I’ve a strong -hunch it isn’t going to.”</p> - -<p>“Just the same, I’ll feel better when we fellows get up there with you.”</p> - -<p>“You’re coming then, Allen?” she asked, quickly. “Do you think you can -leave your horrid old clients long enough?”</p> - -<p>“Long enough for week-ends, anyway,” said Allen, with a smile, adding -soberly: “It’s going to be mighty lonesome down here without you.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, well, you’ll always have your work,” said Betty, wickedly. It was -not a fair remark at all and she knew it was not. She had seen the boys -and girls coming down the street which led to the dock and a moment -later they were completely surrounded, leaving Allen not one chance to -retort.</p> - -<p>Every one was joyful, even Grace—which was unusual at this early -hour—and they got under way amid a bombardment of persiflage from the -boys.</p> - -<p>As the motor of the <i>Gem</i> began its rhythmic putt-putt, Roy began to -sing in a far from melodious voice “The Boys They Left Behind Them.” -The others joined in, ending the song in a joyful shout.</p> - -<p>Just before they passed out of earshot Allen<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">64</a></span> made a megaphone of his -hands and shouted something which only Betty understood.</p> - -<p>“I’ll get even yet,” he yelled, and for answer Betty waved a mocking -hand.</p> - -<p>“Now what have you been doing to him?” asked Grace, adding virtuously: -“I think it’s a shame the way you treat that poor boy, Betty Nelson. -You never give him an easy moment. Dancing so much with Frank last -night, for instance. I could see murder in Allen’s eye.”</p> - -<p>“Just the same,” remarked Mollie as the <i>Gem</i> gathered speed and they -left the shore further and further behind them, “I notice he always -comes back for more. You must admit, Grace dear, that Betty has a way -with her.”</p> - -<p>“Altogether too much so,” said Grace, with a sigh. “When she’s around -none of the rest of us has a chance.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t mind me, ladies,” chuckled Betty. “I’m not listening.”</p> - -<p>“You don’t have to,” said Mollie, the ever-generous. “You know it -anyway, without our telling you. All the boys are crazy about you——”</p> - -<p>“Even Percy Falconer,” murmured Grace, and Betty wrinkled up her pretty -little nose.</p> - -<p>“Why spoil a perfect morning by mentioning<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">65</a></span> Percy?” she inquired. “I -should think you’d know better, Gracie.”</p> - -<p>Percy Falconer, a native of Deepdale, was a fast and fatuous young -man with more money than brains. He was a dandy with a liking for the -extreme in style, and on several occasions had attempted to ingratiate -himself with Betty. However, Betty had always managed to discourage -his budding attentions, and usually in a manner most discomforting to -Percy. It goes without saying that the youth was a standing joke with -the girls.</p> - -<p>“I hear Percy isn’t going with that fast crowd any more,” spoke up -gentle Amy. “Maybe he’s reformed.”</p> - -<p>“Well,” remarked Mollie, her nose in the air, “I’ll say he can stand a -good bit of it.”</p> - -<p>For a while everything went well with the girls and they were beginning -to see visions of getting to camp in time to cook luncheon when -suddenly something went wrong with the <i>Gem’s</i> engine. It did not go -dead, but there was a queer note in its putt-putting that worried Betty.</p> - -<p>As they were passing Triangle Island—one of the many picturesque -islands which dotted the Argono River—Grace suggested that they run -into shore while Mollie and Betty “looked the engine over.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">66</a></span> -“Be sure you say Mollie and Betty,” snorted Mollie. “What’s the matter -with your ‘looking the engine over?’”</p> - -<p>“I’d feel sorry for the engine,” chuckled Betty, and even Grace joined -in the laugh at her expense.</p> - -<p>Having visited the island before, Betty knew the very spot where -conditions were best for landing. This was a little inlet from the -river, deep enough to allow the <i>Gem</i> to come close to shore.</p> - -<p>As soon as they came near enough Grace and Amy grasped the overhanging -branches of trees and swung themselves to firm ground, leaving Betty -and Mollie in the boat to do the “dirty work.”</p> - -<p>After considerable tinkering Betty announced that they were ready to -start again but so much time had passed in the operation that Amy and -Grace declared they were starving, despite the fact that it was not yet -twelve o’clock.</p> - -<p>“This is the best place ever for lunch,” Grace argued. “And we had our -breakfast so early I really think we need something to eat.”</p> - -<p>As the girls had thoughtfully brought along a picnic lunch in case -they were not able to reach camp till later in the afternoon, Betty -and Mollie brought it to light and then scrambled nimbly on to shore, -the Little Captain with a rope in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">67</a></span> her hand with which she intended to -fasten the boat to some sort of mooring.</p> - -<p>“It would be a great thing, wouldn’t it,” she said, as she wound the -rope about a stout tree and tied a seamanlike knot in it, “to wake up -and find the <i>Gem</i> sailing out to sea with us marooned on a desert -isle?”</p> - -<p>“More thrilling in the movies than in real life,” drawled Grace. “Now -let’s get busy, girls. I’m starved.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, not down here,” Betty protested. “I know of a perfect duck of a -place on the other side of the hill up there—flat rock for a table and -everything.”</p> - -<p>“But the boat!” protested Amy. “Suppose it should——”</p> - -<p>“Now don’t go imagining things,” interrupted Betty, gayly slipping an -arm through Amy’s and drawing her upward. “The <i>Gem</i> couldn’t get away -from her moorings if she tried. Trust your aunt Elizabeth.”</p> - -<p>They found the “perfect duck of a place” Betty had mentioned and all -agreed that she had not said half enough for it. There was the great -flat rock surrounded by mossy grass and on the rock they spread their -lunch while they plumped to the soft and yielding ground with signs of -content.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">68</a></span> -“We’re as alone as though we were at the end of the world,” said Grace, -contentedly munching a sandwich. “I wouldn’t change places with the -King of England just now.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t suppose many people come here, except to picnic like us,” said -Amy, and then sat up suddenly as though she had heard something.</p> - -<p>Betty made a grab for a glass of crabapple jelly which had almost been -upset by Amy’s sudden motion.</p> - -<p>“What’s the matter, Amy?” asked Grace, lazily. “You look like a scared -jack rabbit.”</p> - -<p>Amy made a motion for silence.</p> - -<p>“I hard a noise,” she said, with an uneasy glance over her shoulder. -“It was like some one stealing through the woods. Oh, girls!”</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">69</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="ix" id="ix"></a>CHAPTER IX<br /> -<span>TRAMPS</span></h2> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Of</span> course the other girls laughed at Amy, as they usually did at her -“imaginings.”</p> - -<p>“Maybe it was a squirrel——” began Mollie.</p> - -<p>“Planning to attack us from the rear,” finished Betty.</p> - -<p>“Or perhaps it was only a cricket chirping in the tree,” drawled Grace, -biting into her third sandwich with relish.</p> - -<p>“Chumps, all of you,” said Amy, in mild disgust, while the girls -giggled enjoyably. “You can make fun all you like, but I know I heard -somebody.”</p> - -<p>“Well, suppose you did?” asked Betty, easily. “Maybe some summer -picnickers like ourselves, seeking a cozy spot wherein to dine.”</p> - -<p>“Maybe,” said Amy, doubtfully, sticking to her point with unusual -stubbornness. “But picnickers wouldn’t go sneaking around, spying on -us, would they?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, Amy dear, desist,” begged Grace, lazily. “We came here for lunch, -not melodrama.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">70</a></span> -“Well, have it your own way,” retorted Amy, feeling a bit abused by the -general lack of belief. “But don’t be surprised if, when we get back to -the water, we find the <i>Gem</i> gone.”</p> - -<p>Betty sat up, startled. The next moment she was briskly gathering -together the remains of the lunch.</p> - -<p>“What’s the great hurry?” protested Grace. “Here, come back with that -sandwich, Betty Nelson. It’s only half eaten.”</p> - -<p>“Your hard luck, old dear,” said Betty, unfeelingly, adding, as she -scrambled to her feet and brushed away the remaining crumbs: “I don’t -know whether Amy was dreaming or not, but I’ve got a hankering to get -back to the <i>Gem</i>, all the same.”</p> - -<p>Mollie got to her feet, eyeing the Little Captain curiously.</p> - -<p>“Amy got you scared?” she queried.</p> - -<p>“Not scared—just curious,” retorted Betty, as she led the way back -toward the spot where they had left the motor boat.</p> - -<p>Amy and Mollie followed close behind her, leaving Grace to arrange her -hair with the aid of a tiny mirror she always managed to have somewhere -about her person.</p> - -<p>So it came to pass that, a few seconds later, she was startled by the -sound of voices lifted angrily. She scrambled to her feet, thrust the -mirror hastily into the pocket of her jacket, and made after the girls.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<img src="images/i-070.jpg" width="400" height="631" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">“PLEASE GET OUT OF OUR BOAT,” SAID BETTY.<br /> -<cite>The Outdoor Girls Around the Campfire.</cite> <i>Page 71</i></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">71</a></span> -Coming in sight of the <i>Gem</i> she witnessed a most amazing tableau. -There, sprawling on the deck of the pretty boat, lazily taking their -ease in the pleasant sunshine, were two men. By their ragged clothing -and the two weeks’ growth of beard on their faces they were easily -classed as tramps of the most unpleasant order.</p> - -<p>One was short and fat, red of countenance, with a bald head and -black, beady eyes that made Grace think of a canary bird. The second -was a tall, lanky fellow with a long, lantern-jawed face and a cruel -thin-lipped mouth.</p> - -<p>Grace thought her heart would stop beating. In a moment, the unpleasant -truth flashed upon her. They were alone on this remote island with two -disreputable men who might be, probably were, desperate characters.</p> - -<p>Wide-eyed, she looked at the Little Captain. What would she do? Betty -was not long in answering that question.</p> - -<p>Her little nose was up in the air and her eyes looked black as they -flashed at the men.</p> - -<p>“Please get out of our boat at once,” she said in a voice that was -deadly quiet. “You have no right there and you know it.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">72</a></span> -“Findin’s keepin’s, lady,” returned the fat tramp in an oily voice. -“We’re havin’ a fine time. Why should we move?”</p> - -<p>“Because I say so,” Betty shot back at him. “And I happen to own that -boat.”</p> - -<p>“Ah, now, lady,” whined the tall fellow, in a thin nasal voice, while -he shifted his position to a more comfortable one, “you wouldn’t -disturb two old fellers who are restin’ so pretty, would you now? You -look like your heart wuz as kind as your face is pretty.”</p> - -<p>At the look that followed these words Mollie stepped forward -impulsively, flinging an arm about the Little Captain.</p> - -<p>“You great big loafer!” she cried furiously, “you wouldn’t dare say a -thing like that if we had a man with us. He—he’d duck you in the river -till you were nearly dead.”</p> - -<p>“’Twould be a nice cool death to die this kind of weather,” retorted -the tall rascal, with his evil grin. “Bring on your hero, lady. We’d -like to meet him.”</p> - -<p>“Sure,” sneered the other. “Where is the little dear?”</p> - -<p>Mollie was about to retort when Betty laid a warning hand on her arm.</p> - -<p>“Go over there,” she directed in a whisper, indicating by the barest -motion of her hand the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">73</a></span> tree about which the rope attached to the <i>Gem</i> -was wound, “and untie the knot in the rope. Don’t let them see you do -it. Leave the rest to me.”</p> - -<p>Mollie shot a sharp look at the Little Captain and by the light in her -eyes decided that Betty had thought of a plan. She began immediately -sidling over toward the tree, but seeing that the eyes of the tramps -followed her, she paused and stooped over as though she were tying the -lace of her boot.</p> - -<p>At the same moment Betty’s voice came to her, clear and sharp as a -pistol shot. She looked up and saw that the Little Captain grasped a -black, ominous looking, object in her hand.</p> - -<p>“It’s a pistol!” Mollie whispered, gaspingly.</p> - -<p>Then seeing that the attention of the tramps was diverted from herself, -she slipped over to the tree and began deftly pulling out the knot -which Betty had put in the thick rope.</p> - -<p>“A pistol,” she thought, her heart hammering. “How in the world did -Betty get it?”</p> - -<p>Meanwhile Betty was getting in a little fine work, the artistry of -which the Outdoor Girls did not fully appreciate till afterward.</p> - -<p>“Now I think you’ll move,” the Little Captain called to the startled -tramps. Her voice was not like Betty’s at all, so thin and metallic -it was. There was resolution in that voice, and the tramps<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">74</a></span> knew she -meant what she said. “I’ll give you till I count up to ten,” she went -on. “Then if you’re not both completely out of sight I’ll try my aim on -you. I’m very much in need of a little practice.”</p> - -<p>But she did not need count up to five. Out of that boat leaped the two -men, the tall one’s long legs carrying him a little in advance of his -fat comrade.</p> - -<p>Headlong they scuttled up the side of the hill, making wildly for the -shelter of the trees while Betty, turning so as to keep them covered, -counted calmly and not too slowly, up to ten.</p> - -<p>As the fleeing tramps disappeared from view at the counting of the last -numeral, Betty excitedly turned her weapon on the girls.</p> - -<p>“Get in the boat—get in!” she urged, flourishing the pistol wildly. -“Get in before they find out it’s all a sh—sham. Don’t stand gaping -there. Get in, I tell you!”</p> - -<p>The girls obeyed, more for the sake of getting out of range of that -wildly moving pistol than from fear of the tramps. They were still -gasping and a bit dazed from the suddenness of what had happened when -the putt-putt of the <i>Gem’s</i> engine fell reassuringly on their ears. -At the same moment the little boat fairly leapt away from shore, Betty -tensely grasping the wheel.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">75</a></span> -It was not till they were well out upon the river that Betty relaxed -her position. Then, to the girls’ utter surprise and horror, she began -to laugh hysterically.</p> - -<p>“Mollie! Take the wheel! Do!” she cried, as the <i>Gem</i> zigzagged crazily -across the water. “I’ve got to have my laugh out or I’ll d-die.”</p> - -<p>Obediently Mollie took the wheel and the Little Captain made room for -her. Then she covered her face with her hands and rocked back and forth -with merriment—or tears. The girls were not sure which.</p> - -<p>“Betty, are you crazy?” cried Mollie. “Stop it this minute and tell us -what’s the matter with you.”</p> - -<p>“There’s n-nothing the matter with me,” gasped Betty, lifting a face -that was flushed with laughter. “Only it’s so—so—funny.”</p> - -<p>“Come out of it, Betty Nelson, and explain yourself,” demanded Grace. -“What’s so funny?”</p> - -<p>“That!” replied Betty, making a little helpless movement with her hand -toward the pistol which had dropped unnoticed to the deck. “They—those -men—looked so—funny——” She began to laugh again while the girls -looked at one another in despair.</p> - -<p>“Poor Betty,” sighed Grace. “She was such a happy girl!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">76</a></span> -“Never,” retorted Betty, her voice still tremulous with laughter, “as -happy as she is at this minute. Oh, girls, it was such a good joke and -it got across so beautifully.”</p> - -<p>As she threatened to go off again into another paroxysm of mirth, -Mollie leaned forward and picked up the pistol from the deck, holding -it gingerly.</p> - -<p>“If you don’t explain at once, Betty Nelson,” she threatened, -“I’ll——” then she stopped while her eyes widened in amazement and -dawning comprehension. “Why, it’s—it’s—a fake,” she stammered.</p> - -<p>“You wretch,” cried Grace, while Amy leaned over Mollie’s shoulder to -peer at the counterfeit weapon. “And all the time you fooled us as much -as you did the tramps!”</p> - -<p>“Well, you must admit they were some fooled,” said Betty, leaning -back, weak with her laughter. “To see them galloping up the hill with -a perfectly harmless little toy pointed at their backbone was a sight -I’ll never forget. I—I wouldn’t have missed it for anything.”</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">77</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="x" id="x"></a>CHAPTER X<br /> -<span>A TOY PISTOL</span></h2> - - -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> girls were sailing out in mid-stream now with the mouth of Rainbow -Lake only a short half mile before them. And they were still discussing -the tramps and Betty’s masterly treatment of them.</p> - -<p>In spite of the joke that had been played with the toy pistol, there -was an undercurrent of gravity in their conversation. It was impossible -to help wondering what might have happened had not Betty been possessed -of the toy pistol.</p> - -<p>“How did you happen to have it?” asked Amy, curiously, referring to the -weapon. “You didn’t say anything to us about it.”</p> - -<p>“Didn’t think of it,” returned Betty. Once more she had the wheel and -every once in a while she listened to the sound of the engine as though -she were not yet quite satisfied with it. “Dad brought it home to me,” -she was still speaking of the pistol, “a few nights ago. Said it might -come in handy sometime, but if he were in my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">78</a></span> place he wouldn’t shoot -unless it was absolutely necessary. Of course he meant it as a joke, -but he didn’t know what a serious purpose it was going to serve.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll say he didn’t,” said Mollie, thoughtfully. “I tremble to think -what might have happened if you hadn’t had his little present handy.”</p> - -<p>“Oh,” said Betty, confidently, “we’d have gotten rid of the tramps -somehow.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know,” returned Mollie, soberly. “They looked like a pretty -mean pair, and I don’t think they had any notion of giving up the <i>Gem</i> -till you flashed the pistol at them.”</p> - -<p>“Do you think,” asked Amy, wide-eyed, “that they meant to steal the -boat?”</p> - -<p>“More than likely,” said Grace, opening a box of fudge bought for this -occasion. “They knew we couldn’t do anything. What are four girls -anyway against two men?”</p> - -<p>“A great deal if they happen to be Outdoor Girls,” said Betty -staunchly. “We haven’t lived in the open so much without developing -pretty good muscles, you know.”</p> - -<p>“Just the same,” Grace persisted, “I reckon we’d have had a pretty hard -time making them move.”</p> - -<p>“Well, we did make ’em move, anyway, which is the main point,” said -the Little Captain, sensibly.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">79</a></span> “And now suppose we forget about them. -Look,” she pointed eagerly ahead of them, “there’s where Rainbow Lake -begins. Not very far now, girls.”</p> - -<p>“Hip, hip, hooray!” shouted Mollie irrepressibly. “I can’t wait to get -a glimpse of your brother’s shack, Amy.”</p> - -<p>Amy smiled dreamily.</p> - -<p>“I tell you what,” she said. “Let’s make a big campfire to-night after -dinner and all sit around it and tell stories. I’m just aching for a -sniff of burning wood.”</p> - -<p>“We’ll give you more than a sniff, honey,” returned the Little Captain, -merrily. “We’ll build a fire that will make the birdie’s eyes pop out.”</p> - -<p>“Sounds good to me,” said Mollie, longingly. “I say, Betty, don’t you -suppose we could work a little more speed out of the <i>Gem</i>? We don’t -seem to be making much progress.”</p> - -<p>Betty looked worried.</p> - -<p>“I’m doing my best,” she said. “But somehow she doesn’t work very well. -There’s still something wrong with the engine. It’s kicking like a -bucking broncho.”</p> - -<p>“Let’s hope it holds out till we get to camp, anyway,” said Grace, -prayerfully. “We don’t want to stop at any more islands for repairs.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">80</a></span> -“It’s getting late too,” said Amy anxiously. “We don’t want to get -there after dark.”</p> - -<p>Betty laughed.</p> - -<p>“Why, there isn’t a chance in the world of that now,” she said, adding -with a chuckle: “Why, we’re near enough now to get out and tow the -<i>Gem</i> along shore and still get there before dark. Isn’t that the rock -your brother spoke of, Amy?” she asked eagerly, pointing to a huge -rock, whose jagged contour suggested a horse’s head, looming directly -ahead of them.</p> - -<p>Unless she was mistaken it was this rock which Henry Blackford had told -them to look out for, as the cabin was situated a scant mile further -down the lake.</p> - -<p>Amy followed Betty’s pointing finger and cried out eagerly.</p> - -<p>“That’s it,” she said. “There couldn’t be two rocks like that at this -end of the lake.”</p> - -<p>“Looks as if our journey were almost ended, girls,” said Grace, sighing -as she reluctantly placed the cover on her box of fudge. “We shall soon -see the spot where we are to spend two riotous months——”</p> - -<p>“Maybe so and maybe not,” interrupted Betty in so chagrined a voice -that they looked at her in surprise. And then they noticed that the -rhythmic sound of the engine had ceased.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">81</a></span> -“Now what’s the matter?” asked Mollie, frowning.</p> - -<p>“Search me,” returned the Little Captain, cheerfully. “I beg your -indulgence, ladies, till I find what’s up.”</p> - -<p>But she could not find “what was up,” and neither, for that matter, -could any of the other girls. The only fact that they knew positively -was that for some mysterious reason and in some mysterious way -the engine of the little boat had “lain down”—gone suddenly and -irrevocably “dead.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I’ll say this is our unlucky day,” said Mollie, disgustedly, -straightening up from her work on the engine to face the Little -Captain. “Beginning with engine trouble, then tramps and now more -engine trouble——”</p> - -<p>“Well, there’s one comfort,” spoke up Amy, trying to be optimistic. -“We’ve had about all the trouble we can have. Things can’t be any -worse.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes, they can,” contradicted Grace, in a voice of patient -resignation. “Has any one happened to notice that it’s raining?”</p> - -<p>“Raining!” they gasped, and with one accord, turned startled faces to -the sky. What they saw there did little to cheer them up.</p> - -<p>Mollie groaned.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">82</a></span> -“This was all we needed,” said she, “to make it a perfect day.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, for goodness’ sake, cheer up,” commanded the Little Captain. -“Anybody would think from the way you talk that you’d never been rained -on before. Didn’t we buy these suits especially for knockabout wear? A -drop or two of rain can’t hurt them.”</p> - -<p>“They may shrink,” said Grace doubtfully, carefully wiping a drop of -water from her “knickers” with a square of lace handkerchief.</p> - -<p>In spite of their plight, the sight appealed to the girls’ sense of -humor.</p> - -<p>They giggled, and Mollie, taking out her own rather soiled and grimy -handkerchief, carefully and gravely wiped another spot from Grace’s -suit.</p> - -<p>“Stop your nonsense,” cried Betty, her eyes searching the gray and -lowering sky. “If we don’t get busy we may all be drowned. Amy,” she -added, in the tone of authority she always used when they faced an -emergency, “get out those oars, will you? I’m going to give you some -elbow work to do.”</p> - -<p>As Amy obeyed, the girls thanked their stars for Betty’s -thoughtfulness. They had laughed when she had first suggested the oars, -asking “if she did not realize what a reflection it was on the <i>Gem</i>,” -but Betty had insisted, just the same, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">83</a></span> now it seemed as though the -oars were to play a rather important part in their adventure.</p> - -<p>The girls took turns rowing while Betty kept the wheel, steering a -straight course along the shore, meanwhile edging in steadily closer -to it. She was looking for the second land-mark Henry Blackford had -suggested, a small inlet off the main lake, like the one near Triangle -Island, in which it would be easy to run the <i>Gem</i>.</p> - -<p>The cabin, Henry Blackford had assured them, was situated on a rise of -ground directly over the inlet. Betty remembered his words perfectly.</p> - -<p>“If you follow your nose straight up the hill,” he had said, laughing, -“you can’t fail to find it. The house is situated in a small cleared -space at the very top of the hill.”</p> - -<p>And so Betty searched with anxious eyes for the inlet, now and then -allowing her gaze to travel to the gray sky.</p> - -<p>Luckily for them the storm seemed in no great hurry to overtake them. -Although the clouds gathered blacker and more threatening every moment -the rain reached them only in an occasional drop and Betty began to -hope that they might gain the shelter of the cabin before the downpour -overwhelmed them. Luckily they had brought the tarpaulin for the <i>Gem</i> -so that the little boat should not suffer.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">84</a></span> -Although the girls rowed steadily and hard they made slow progress, -pulling as they were against the wind. It seemed to Betty’s impatience -that they fairly crawled along.</p> - -<p>“Oh, dear, where is that old inlet, anyway?” sighed Amy, unconsciously -uttering Betty’s thought. “Do you suppose we could have passed it, -Betty?”</p> - -<p>“Not with my eagle eye doing duty,” Betty assured her, cheerfully, but -she was beginning to feel a bit anxious about it herself. Was it really -possible that they had passed the spot? The foliage was very heavy all -along the shore, the branches of trees, weighted with leaves, fairly -dragging in the clear water. And there was another drop of rain—and -another——</p> - -<p>And then suddenly, almost in the act of passing, she saw the inlet, a -narrow, beckoning little strip of water, welcoming them home.</p> - -<p>Almost at the same moment the other girls espied it also and let out a -yell of pure joy.</p> - -<p>“Turn to the right!” shouted Mollie jubilantly. “We are making camp at -last!”</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">85</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="xi" id="xi"></a>CHAPTER XI<br /> -<span>BURNED DOWN</span></h2> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Skillfully</span> Betty maneuvered the little boat down the narrow neck of -water, carefully avoiding the overhanging branches of trees. She was -looking for just the right place to land.</p> - -<p>The next moment she found it—a spot just made for the purpose. There -was a smooth stretch, entirely cleared of bushes and tree stumps with -an out-jutting bank that made an ideal landing.</p> - -<p>“Right you are!” exclaimed Mollie, as the Little Captain steered close -to shore, bidding Amy “let up” on the oars. “Couldn’t have been better -if we’d had it made to order.”</p> - -<p>“And we beat the rain at that,” observed Grace.</p> - -<p>“Your precious suit is saved,” said Mollie, sarcastically. “Of course -that’s what you mean.”</p> - -<p>But Grace was too glad to straighten her cramped legs and scramble -on shore to take notice of the words or the tone in which they were -uttered.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">86</a></span> -The other girls followed her example while Betty remained to cover the -<i>Gem</i> with the tarpaulin.</p> - -<p>“We’ll find the shack first,” she said as she followed the girls -and paused to make sure that the boat was well fastened and could -be trusted to remain where she was. “Then we’ll come back for the -eatables.”</p> - -<p>“Gladly,” agreed Grace, for she was again beginning to feel the first -pangs of hunger.</p> - -<p>“And now,” said Mollie, as arm and arm she and Betty led the way up the -rather steep ascent, “here’s hoping we find the shack.”</p> - -<p>“I guess there’s not much doubt of that,” said Betty, confidently. “All -we’ll have to do now will be to take possession.”</p> - -<p>And so, of course, they were bewildered when, upon reaching the cleared -space at the top of the hill which Henry Blackford had described to -them, they found no cabin.</p> - -<p>They stopped and rubbed their eyes while Grace and Amy, bringing up the -rear, stopped and stared also.</p> - -<p>“Wh-where is it?” asked Grace, too astonished to know just what she was -saying. “It must be here.”</p> - -<p>“I’m glad you’re so sure of that,” snapped<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">87</a></span> Mollie. “Now perhaps, -you’ll tell us where it is.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t let’s quarrel,” cautioned the Little Captain, adding with a -puzzled frown: “Perhaps we came up the wrong hill.”</p> - -<p>“No,” said Amy, positively. “I’m quite sure from what Henry told me -about it, that this is the place. See, there’s the huge gnarled old -oak up there. He thought we’d have lots of fun seeing how far we could -climb up it.”</p> - -<p>“But where is the house?” cried Grace in a voice that was almost a -wail. “Trees may be all very well, but I never heard of one keeping the -rain off.”</p> - -<p>“Look here!” called Betty. As usual she was the first to regain her -wits. Going forward and looking around, she discovered what was hidden -from the other girls where they stood, and the discovery filled her -with dismay.</p> - -<p>“Ashes,” she explained, as the girls hurried over to her. “I guess -there’s no doubt but what this is the place all right. And probably the -shack stood here once.”</p> - -<p>“Burned down!” said Mollie, in a low voice. “Oh, Betty, now what are we -going to do?”</p> - -<p>And she might well ask the question. Except for the tell-tale ashes, -no one would have known<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">88</a></span> that there had ever been a cabin on that -spot. The blaze which had consumed it had destroyed every timber. All -that remained intact—and these were blackened and tarnished by the -fire—were some pieces of metal which had probably been door hinges. -Even the ashes looked as if they were not too recent. They were sodden -and beaten into the soft earth as though by a terrific torrent of rain. -There was a desolate look about the whole place, a depressing smell of -burned wood lingered in the air.</p> - -<p>Well might Mollie ask: “What are we going to do now?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know,” admitted Betty in reply to the question. But the next -moment she had rallied and spoke in her ordinary voice.</p> - -<p>“It’s hard luck, of course,” she said, “but after all it’s nothing to -cry about. We’ll have to put up a tent, that’s all.”</p> - -<p>“But we haven’t any,” protested Amy. “You know we didn’t bring any with -us.”</p> - -<p>“And we can’t stay in this forsaken place, without some sort of -shelter,” added Grace, looking up anxiously to where the sky shone -grayly through the trees. “Oh, girls, I think this is awful.”</p> - -<p>“Well, what do you want to do about it?” asked the Little Captain, -exasperated into losing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">89</a></span> her patience. “Do you want to go home and -confess that you were stumped by the first little obstacle you found in -your way? That would be fine for the Outdoor Girls, I must say.”</p> - -<p>“No, of course we don’t want to do any such thing,” said Mollie, -stoutly. “We’ll stay and face it out some way. Although I must say,” -she could not help adding, “that I don’t see how it’s to be done.”</p> - -<p>“There’s the tarpaulin,” said Betty, her quick brain already working -eagerly. “We’ve been camping enough and seen the boys erect enough -tents to know how the job is done.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, we could put up a real tent all right,” agreed Grace, enthusiasm -for the adventure beginning to revive as she saw Betty’s plan. “But I -don’t see how we can use a tarpaulin——”</p> - -<p>“Neither do I,” confessed the Little Captain, with a whimsical chuckle. -“But before I’m many minutes older I’m going to find out. Amy dear, -would you mind stealing the tarpaulin from the <i>Gem</i>? It’s a mean thing -to do I know, but we need it just now more than the boat does.”</p> - -<p>Amy agreed, and Betty fell to work giving orders like any general. And, -like any general who is worth his salt, she herself headed the fray, -working twice as hard as any of her army.</p> - -<p>“Suppose you bring me some of those fallen<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">90</a></span> branches, Grace and -Mollie,” she said. “Thank goodness for the storm they must have had -here that ripped off all those perfectly good props for us.</p> - -<p>“Try to bring me only those of the same length, girls, and pass them -up if they’re brittle and rotten. I tell you, if we keep on like -this we’ll have a perfectly good shelter before we know it. Just a -minute—I’ll run and get my knife.”</p> - -<p>Betty ran back to the <i>Gem</i> and passed Amy carrying the tarpaulin.</p> - -<p>“Back in a minute,” gasped the Little Captain, adding to herself as she -clambered aboard the boat: “It’s stopped raining. That’s one stroke of -luck.”</p> - -<p>Then she was back again, starting to point a couple of the sticks which -the girls had brought for her approval.</p> - -<p>This done, she stacked up a small pile of shorter props, whittling -these to a point as she had done the others. It was a neat job and, -considering that Mollie and Amy and Grace pitched in with a will, soon -completed.</p> - -<p>Then Betty chose a spot where the trees were in pretty good position -for the erecting of the tent and, squarely in the middle of this space, -planted one of the long poles.</p> - -<p>When they had fixed it securely, fastening it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">91</a></span> down with pieces of rope -to short stakes driven deep into the ground, Betty stood off to regard -the work critically.</p> - -<p>“Pretty good, so far as it goes,” she said, adding whimsically: “Unless -we have a strong wind during the night. I don’t believe we even need -the second long prop. Now let’s get busy and plant the short ones.”</p> - -<p>As the girls caught the idea, their spirits began to soar and they -worked feverishly. After the first shock of their discovery that the -cabin which was to have served as their camp for the summer was no -cabin at all but merely a heap of sodden ashes, they began rather to -enjoy the new turn of affairs.</p> - -<p>This was romance and adventure of the highest order, and with Betty’s -resourcefulness and wit to do away with obstacles, they certainly -intended to make the most of the circumstances.</p> - -<p>They buried the short stakes in the ground at regular intervals, -fastening them the same as they had the center one, and then, when all -was in readiness, Betty, with Mollie’s help, stretched the tarpaulin -over the supports.</p> - -<p>By making small holes in the latter and passing pieces of stout rope -through them and around the supports, the girls finally completed a job -of which they were justly proud.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">92</a></span> -Ropes were also stretched from two of the smaller supports to the -trunks of trees, and Betty fastened the loose end of the tarpaulin back -with a safety pin, making an admirable flap.</p> - -<p>“Pretty neat, for amateurs,” chuckled the Little Captain, when -everything was done that could be done to make the improvised little -tent secure and water tight. “It will give us shelter for the night -anyway, and to-morrow we can think of something better to do.”</p> - -<p>“Looks pretty nifty to me,” said Mollie, regarding their handiwork with -intense satisfaction. “I reckon the boys themselves couldn’t have made -a better job, considering the tools we had to work with.”</p> - -<p>“Humph,” said Grace, “I bet they couldn’t have done as well.”</p> - -<p>“My, we don’t like ourselves or anything, do we?” laughed Betty. “Now -suppose, instead of patting ourselves on the back, we get busy and make -a fire. I reckon we could stand a little something to eat.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll go back to the <i>Gem</i> and get some of the supplies,” volunteered -Amy, adding, as she started off: “Somebody’d better help me though. -It’ll be quite a job.”</p> - -<p>“Go with her, will you, Mollie?” directed the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">93</a></span> Little Captain. “Grace -and I will get some brushwood together and start the fire.”</p> - -<p>“There surely is plenty of firewood lying around loose,” remarked -Grace, when Amy and Mollie had gone. “It wouldn’t take long to gather -enough to start the whole woods blazing.”</p> - -<p>“That’s what puzzles me,” said Betty, and Grace looked at her -inquiringly.</p> - -<p>“What do you mean?”</p> - -<p>“Why,” said the Little Captain, straightening up and regarding Grace -with a puzzled look, “I can’t understand how a shack the size of this -one here could have burned to the ground without starting a serious -fire in the woods. There must have been a terrible blaze.”</p> - -<p>“I suppose,” said Grace thoughtfully, “there either was no wind at all -or so very little that the flames went straight upward.”</p> - -<p>“I hope,” said the Little Captain, as though speaking aloud, “that -there aren’t any tramps around here.”</p> - -<p>“Tramps!” Grace echoed the word, horrified. “Betty Nelson, what ever -made you think of that?”</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">94</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="xii" id="xii"></a>CHAPTER XII<br /> -<span>MAKING CAMP</span></h2> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Betty</span> regretted her recklessness in speaking out her thought about -tramps several times during the next two or three hours. Grace repeated -what she had said to Mollie and Amy when they came back with the -provisions. Mollie only laughed and said:</p> - -<p>“That’s a long shot, Gracie, and I, for one, will bet there has never -been a tramp within five miles of this place.”</p> - -<p>Amy took the idea more seriously.</p> - -<p>However, as there was plenty of work still to be done before dark -they soon forgot everything but the delight of making a real, -“honest-to-goodness” camp.</p> - -<p>Betty and Amy had stacked up a huge pile of firewood while Mollie and -Amy lugged up the blanket rolls and other paraphernalia from the <i>Gem</i> -and Betty busied herself with making a fireplace that would have done -credit to many a more experienced woodsman.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">95</a></span> -First she scooped out enough soft earth to make a fairly deep hole -which was about a foot and a half wide across the top. The inside of -the hole she lined with stones and small pieces of rock, building up a -sort of stone “fence” around the top of it.</p> - -<p>And then looking about her for something that might serve to put over -the top of her “stove” she came across what was undoubtedly the find -of that afternoon. This was a large wire grill—rusted and old, to be -sure—but a gift of the gods, nevertheless.</p> - -<p>“Look here, girls! Who says we’re not lucky?” she fairly crowed, -holding up the “find” before their enraptured eyes. “If we don’t have a -good supper to-night, then it won’t be because we haven’t a per-fect-ly -marvelous stove.”</p> - -<p>“Hooray!” cried Mollie, waving a frying pan joyfully about her head. -“Which shall it be, Little Captain? Bacon and eggs or potatoes and -onions?”</p> - -<p>Betty’s eyes twinkled.</p> - -<p>“From the way I feel,” she said, “I think it had better be both.”</p> - -<p>“So be it,” replied Mollie, happily, and a moment later was busy -finding the potatoes and onions.</p> - -<p>“Here,” she said, shoving the latter strong-smelling<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">96</a></span> vegetable in -Grace’s direction. “Stop looking in your mirror, vain thing, and get -busy. You peel the onions and I’ll tend to the potatoes.”</p> - -<p>“Such lack of delicacy,” sighed Grace, as she obediently put away her -mirror and took up an onion. “Who suggested onions, anyway? They always -make my eyes water.”</p> - -<p>“Notice you eat ’em just the same,” returned Mollie, unfeelingly, -adding, as Betty put a match to the fire which she and Grace had laid -with the greatest care: “Whee, there goes Betty. That’s right, old -girl, let her roar!”</p> - -<p>“Such language!” laughed Betty, as she turned her face away from the -flood of smoke that threatened to suffocate her.</p> - -<p>The blaze from the dry wood leapt up merrily and the girls gave a whoop -of sheer joy.</p> - -<p><a name="frontis" id="frontis"></a>“This is the life!” cried Mollie, putting even more than her usual -“pep” into the peeling of potatoes. “Hustle up, Gracie, and we’ll soon -have an aroma around this little old camp that will draw the hungry -coyotes for miles around.”</p> - -<p>“Goodness, I hope not,” said Betty, as she put a generous supply of -butter in the frying pan and Grace dumped her first consignment of -onions into it where they sizzled and fried delightfully. “If we -attracted too many animals I doubt if we’d<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">97</a></span> have enough onions to go -around. More butter, Gracie?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, pile it on,” returned Grace, extravagantly. “You can’t have too -much butter when you’re frying onions. Got those potatoes ready, -Mollie? The onions are browning.”</p> - -<p>“Right here,” replied Mollie, as she added the potatoes to the golden -brown deliciousness in the frying pan. “Now what shall I do next, -Betty?”</p> - -<p>“You might get out the bacon,” suggested the Little Captain. “We’ll be -ready for it in a few minutes. Meanwhile, I guess our fire needs more -wood.”</p> - -<p>And while Mollie rummaged for the bacon and Betty put more wood on the -fire Amy “set the table.” There was home-made nut bread which Mrs. -Billette herself had prepared for them, delicious ginger cookies, a -jar of home-made preserves, and a huge coffee cake contributed by Mrs. -Nelson.</p> - -<p>“Looks as if we wouldn’t starve,” remarked Grace, contentedly. “Get out -that pack of paper dishes and napkins, Amy, and we’ll be ready to eat. -The grub’s ready.”</p> - -<p>“Such language!” exclaimed Amy, as she set out four paper plates, four -paper cups, and two or three larger plates which she announced were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">98</a></span> -vegetable dishes. “You should say ‘Dinner is served.’”</p> - -<p>“Grub’s all right,” protested Grace. “When in camp speak the language -of campers, you know.”</p> - -<p>“Bacon and eggs are ready,” announced Mollie at this point. “Who wants -some?”</p> - -<p>“What a question!” laughed Betty. “Here, hold your plates, everybody. -First come gets the biggest piece of bacon.”</p> - -<p>There was some wild old scrabbling over this, with Amy coming out -winner.</p> - -<p>“You nearly pushed me into the butter,” complained Grace, when Amy -returned triumphantly with her prize.</p> - -<p>“Goodness, what a waste of good butter,” Amy retorted.</p> - -<p>Any one who has, after several hours’ work in the fresh air, been -treated to potatoes and onions and bacon and eggs, to say nothing of -nut bread and coffee cake, can appreciate just how the Outdoor Girls -enjoyed that supper.</p> - -<p>Not until they had cooked a second panful of bacon and eggs and cleared -up the last scraps of coffee cake, did the girls really feel satisfied.</p> - -<p>Then, after lazing for a few minutes, they scouted about to find some -water in which to wash their cooking utensils. They found it in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">99</a></span> the -form of a delightful little spring that fed the merriest of merry -little brooks further down the ravine.</p> - -<p>It was an enchanted spot, there beside the brook—rich, heavy moss -beneath their feet, the tinkle of rushing water in their ears, the -chirping of sleepy birds overhead.</p> - -<p>They lingered there, held by the beauty of the spot until reminded by -the growing dusk that they must complete preparations for the night -before complete darkness fell.</p> - -<p>So, having filled a pail with water, they returned reluctantly to their -camp and placed the pail over the fire. In a few moments the water -was bubbling merrily and Mollie began briskly to wash the cutlery and -utensils they had used.</p> - -<p>“All the comforts of home,” she laughed. “Even hot dish water. Who -could ask for more?”</p> - -<p>“And while you girls are fixing the dishes,” said the Little Captain, -“I guess I’d better get busy and make up the beds for the night. It -won’t be so easy to do after dark.”</p> - -<p>“Beds,” echoed the girls, staring up at her. It was honestly the first -time they had realized the need for beds.</p> - -<p>“That’s what I said,” returned Betty, whimsically. “They may only -consist of a couple of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">100</a></span> blankets apiece but we can call ’em what we -like.”</p> - -<p>“What’s in a name?” murmured Grace, adding wistfully: “Oh, my comfy -home and my still more comfy bed.”</p> - -<p>“Stop it,” commanded Mollie. “You know very well, home was never like -this. What if we do have to sleep with nothing but blankets between us -and the cold, cold ground for one night? It will be all the more fun.”</p> - -<p>As Betty began to spread the blankets within the shelter of the tent -Amy came in to see if she could help her and Betty welcomed her -gratefully.</p> - -<p>“I can’t seem to manage the old things alone,” she said. “The blankets -are so big and the tent is so small. Spread down that corner, will you, -Amy—there’s a dear. Now, I wonder,” she paused to consider, “if one -blanket under us and one over will be enough.”</p> - -<p>“More than enough, I should say, considering that the night is just -about as hot as any we’ve had,” said Amy. “I’d just as soon sleep -without anything over me.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, you’ll need a cover toward morning,” said Betty, as she spread -four blankets side by side in a neat row, doubling the edges under so -that the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">101</a></span> beds when finished resembled nothing so much as sleeping -bags. “It gets pretty cold around dawn out here in the woods. Now,” she -added, regarding her finished work thoughtfully, “I guess that’s about -as right as I can make it.”</p> - -<p>“It’s just fine,” returned Amy, enthusiastically, adding as she slipped -an arm fondly about the Little Captain: “You always know just what to -do to make people comfortable, Betty dear. I don’t know what we’d do -without you.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, nonsense,” retorted Betty gayly. “Probably you’d get along a good -deal better. Now let’s go out and see what those girls are doing.”</p> - -<p>Mollie and Grace were very busy as Amy and the Little Captain stepped -from the tent. They were gathering more firewood—enough, Mollie -explained, to make a “rip-roaring campfire.”</p> - -<p>Betty and Amy went to work with them and it was not long before they -had a pile of wood large enough to satisfy even their longing in the -matter of a fire.</p> - -<p>Then, having piled the dried timber up neatly with a skill born of long -experience, they fired it and stood about happily as the flames licked -upward, crackling and hissing merrily.</p> - -<p>As the blaze grew the heat from the fire became intense and they were -forced to retreat<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">102</a></span> from it almost to the opening of their tent. Here -they flung themselves to the ground, watching the flames in dreamy -content.</p> - -<p>“Well, Amy, are you satisfied?” asked Grace at last, breaking a rather -long silence. “You wanted a fire, you know.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, it’s gorgeous,” returned Amy, happily. “Don’t you think it needs a -little more wood on this end, Betty?”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps,” said the Little Captain, lazily. “Can you reach the wood, -Amy?”</p> - -<p>For answer Amy threw a handful of twigs on the blaze where they twisted -and sputtered, sending out that acrid smell of burning wood that is so -beloved of campers.</p> - -<p>“I wonder,” said Mollie, breaking another long silence, “what happened -to Henry Blackford’s shack, anyway. It’s sort of mysterious, burning -down all by itself.”</p> - -<p>“That’s probably something we’ll never know,” said Betty, softly.</p> - -<p>And so they sat about their campfire, not realizing the swift passing -of time till the blaze burned low and in its flickering glow Betty -looked at her watch.</p> - -<p>Then she began softly to whistle “Taps.”</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">103</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="xiii" id="xiii"></a>CHAPTER XIII<br /> -<span>NIGHT IN THE TENT</span></h2> - - -<p><span class="smcap">It</span> was decided not to let the campfire go out entirely. In the first -place, they had brought no mosquito netting and a fire was necessary to -keep off insects.</p> - -<p>And then, though this they did not acknowledge even to themselves, they -felt a wee bit lonesome, away out here far from everybody, and the fire -would give them just the sense of security that they needed.</p> - -<p>And so they banked it, with the agreement that whoever woke in the -night was to put more wood on it and stir it up generally.</p> - -<p>They had great sport crawling into their sleeping bags.</p> - -<p>“Oh, dear, all the rocks in the place are under my spine!” cried Grace, -as she strove in vain to shift to a comfortable position. “I’ll be all -holes in the morning, if I last that long, I know I shall.”</p> - -<p>“Quick! Who has Grace’s hair mattress?”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">104</a></span> cried Mollie, urgently. “Hurry -up and hand it over, Betty Nelson. I know you’re lying on it.”</p> - -<p>“I’d hate to tell you what I’m lying on,” chuckled Betty, lifting up a -corner of the blanket and uprooting a broken-off twig. “I’ll exchange -my place for Grace’s in a moment.”</p> - -<p>“No, you don’t,” retorted Grace. “This place is bad but it might be -worse.”</p> - -<p>A chuckle in the darkness. Then the sound of a tremendous yawn.</p> - -<p>“Oh,” said Amy, “I wish you’d stop talking and let me go to sleep. I’m -nearly dead.”</p> - -<p>And then there was silence while the girls, despite their uncomfortable -beds, slept heavily. Outside the tent the fire sputtered sleepily while -in the distance a night owl sent its mournful cry echoing through the -still woods. After a while the moon, fighting its way through the film -of clouds, flung its soft radiance down through the trees, filling the -woods with silvery magic. And still the girls slept on.</p> - -<p>When they awakened moonlight had fled before the merciless onslaught of -the sun. Where the fire had been the night before were a few smoldering -ashes, for no one had wakened to attend to it.</p> - -<p>Having scrambled from the discomfort of their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">105</a></span> beds out into the -brilliant sunshine, the girls regarded the spot where the fire had been -with considerable amazement.</p> - -<p>“Well, who would have thought we’d sleep like that?” said Mollie, -rubbing a bruised shin which had reposed in too close proximity to a -sharp stone during the night. “We might have been visited by any number -of wild animals and tramps and we’d never have known it.”</p> - -<p>“What we don’t know will never hurt us,” said Grace sententiously. “I -only hope the <i>Gem’s</i> all right.”</p> - -<p>But Betty had already seen to that and, coming back at that precise -minute, announced that the motor boat was “feeling fine.”</p> - -<p>“And now for breakfast,” she said, briskly. “We’ve got a lot to do -to-day and we can’t afford to lose any time.”</p> - -<p>Not till later when they were hungrily devouring rolls and coffee did -they stop to ask her what she meant.</p> - -<p>“I suppose you have some plans,” said Mollie. “So you might as well -tell us about them.”</p> - -<p>“All right, only hand me another roll first,” returned Betty. “Thanks. -Well, it’s like this. Of course we all know we can’t go on like this -forever.”</p> - -<p>“Tell us something we don’t know,” commanded<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">106</a></span> Mollie, flippantly, and -the Little Captain eyed her severely.</p> - -<p>“If you’re going to interrupt——” she began, whereupon Mollie became -becomingly humble.</p> - -<p>“I didn’t mean to start anything, honest,” she said. “Proceed, fair -damsel, proceed.”</p> - -<p>“Well,” Betty began again, “I thought the best thing we could do would -be to get back to Deepdale——”</p> - -<p>“Betty Nelson, you’re never going to give up the trip!” cried Mollie, -horrified, and Betty broke in impatiently.</p> - -<p>“You do get the wildest ideas, Mollie,” she said. “Who said anything -about giving up anything, I’d like to know! I was going to remark that -a couple of us might return to Deepdale where we can get a regular -tent. The boys had several tents, you know——”</p> - -<p>“And Will said the other day,” Amy broke in eagerly, “that he had had -a chance to lay in a lot of air mattresses cheap. He thought we might -need them sometime——”</p> - -<p>“Lovely,” said Mollie, adding with a chuckle: “Now Grace can take her -comfort.”</p> - -<p>“Funny Will didn’t say anything to me about buying air mattresses,” -said Grace, resentfully. Worshiping her brother as she did, Grace had -always been a little jealous of his affection for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">107</a></span> quiet Amy. “He might -have told me,” she added.</p> - -<p>“They’ll be just the thing, anyway,” said Betty, enthusiastically. -“I’ve heard those air mattresses are as soft as down.”</p> - -<p>“Anything would be better than what we had last night,” agreed Mollie. -“But go on, Betty. You and Amy, say, go back to Deepdale for a tent; -and then what do Grace and I do?”</p> - -<p>“Nothing, I guess,” dimpled Betty, “except see that the lake doesn’t -run away while we’re gone. We may be away over night,” she added, more -soberly. “If we can’t get in touch with the boys right away, we might -be too late to make camp again before dark. You wouldn’t be scared?” -she asked.</p> - -<p>“Scared!” Mollie hooted the idea scornfully. “What’s there to be scared -of? You go ahead, Betty. You needn’t worry about us.”</p> - -<p>“Better leave us that fake gun of yours,” Grace suggested as, a little -while later, Betty and Amy started off toward the <i>Gem</i>. “We might need -it.”</p> - -<p>Betty laughed and, taking the weapon from her pocket where it had -reposed all night, flung it toward Grace.</p> - -<p>“Here’s good luck to you,” she cried. “And I hope you won’t need it.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">108</a></span> -“Ditto,” cried Grace, as she pocketed the realistic looking toy.</p> - -<p>“You don’t really expect that thing to protect us, do you?” asked -Mollie, regarding her incredulously.</p> - -<p>“Why not?” asked Grace, unabashed. “It did good work once; why should -it not again?”</p> - -<p>“Why, indeed?” echoed Mollie, sarcastically, but she said no more about -it.</p> - -<p>Yet, strange as it may seem, the inadequate little toy gave Grace the -comfortable, satisfied feeling of being well protected.</p> - -<p>She and Mollie had been gathering up the breakfast dishes when the -latter suddenly dropped a sauce pan with a clatter that made Grace jump -nervously.</p> - -<p>“For goodness’ sake——” began the latter, but Mollie did not wait for -her to finish.</p> - -<p>“What geese we mortals be, Grace Ford,” she said. “How does Betty -expect to get back to Deepdale when the <i>Gem’s</i> engine is out of fix?”</p> - -<p>And without waiting for a reply if, in fact, she had expected any, she -took to her heels in the direction where the motor boat lay, Grace -following more slowly behind her.</p> - -<p>But before they could reach the water’s edge a familiar putt-putt came -to them and they were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">109</a></span> just in time to see Betty triumphantly steer the -little boat away from shore.</p> - -<p>“What on earth did you do to it?” called Mollie, and Betty made a face -at her.</p> - -<p>“Ask the <i>Gem</i>,” she shouted above the noise of the motor. “I was -fussing with the engine and I accidentally touched a wire. You see the -result! Good-by, we’ll see you again as soon as we can.”</p> - -<p>Mollie and Grace stood on the shore waving as long as the motor boat -was in sight, then, feeling rather lonely and forlorn, they turned back -to camp.</p> - -<p>“How quiet everything seems without the Little Captain,” sighed Grace, -as they went to the familiar work of cleaning up. “I wish she was -coming back to-day.”</p> - -<p>“So do I,” answered Mollie, and then stopped suddenly, cocking her head -to listen. “Did you hear that?” she asked. “It sounded—Oh, Grace, I’m -getting as bad as Amy!”</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">110</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="xiv" id="xiv"></a>CHAPTER XIV<br /> -<span>THE PROWLER</span></h2> - - -<p><span class="smcap">So</span> sure had Mollie been that she had heard a sound like somebody -creeping stealthily through the woods that for a long time she was -uncomfortable and nervous, though she strove to hide her uneasiness -from Grace.</p> - -<p>After the first scare, they had combed the woods thoroughly in the -direction of the noise that Mollie thought she had heard, but had found -nothing—and no one.</p> - -<p>“Funny how a person’s ears can play strange tricks sometimes,” said -Mollie, as, their morning’s work done, they wandered down toward the -little brook. “I could have sworn I heard a heavy body crashing through -the brush. And yet I couldn’t have heard it at all. After this,” she -added with chagrin, “I’ll never dare laugh at Amy again.”</p> - -<p>They reached the brook and lay down lazily on the carpet of thick moss -which lined its banks while Grace invitingly opened the box of fudge.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">111</a></span> -There was about half of it still left, and so they set to work with a -will, the remaining pieces disappearing like snow before the sun.</p> - -<p>Gradually the peace of the place communicated itself to them and -Mollie’s scare disappeared into the background of their contentment.</p> - -<p>“I wonder,” said Grace, after a dreamy interval when she had watched -the water of the brook splashing merrily over the stones in its path, -“what became of that little old woman who did so much embroidery for -the Woman’s Exchange? I wonder if she’s all alone somewhere, sick, -maybe, or too old and feeble to work any more.”</p> - -<p>“I hope she’s not,” replied Mollie, adding with a laugh: “It would be -much pleasanter to think that perhaps she has come into a fortune, or -something, and so doesn’t have to work for a living any more.”</p> - -<p>“Well,” sighed Grace, “as long as we’re not apt ever to hear of the -old soul again, we might as well take the cheery view. Have some more -fudge?”</p> - -<p>“Is this all you have?” asked Mollie, looking anxiously at the fast -dwindling supply. “My, I never tasted such delicious candy in my life.”</p> - -<p>“I would have bought another box if you girls hadn’t been in such an -awful hurry. Now you see what you get.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">112</a></span> -“Well,” said Mollie, philosophically, “give me another piece, anyway. -We might as well enjoy it while it lasts.”</p> - -<p>After a while they thought it might be a good idea to wander around a -bit and see just what kind of country surrounded their camp.</p> - -<p>“We need the hike, too,” Mollie added. “I shouldn’t wonder if we’d be -sick, eating all that fudge.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll be with you in a minute,” said Grace, and hurried back toward the -camp, leaving Mollie to stand looking after her in surprise.</p> - -<p>“Now what’s she after?” was her thought, and a moment later she found -out.</p> - -<p>Grace reappeared through the trees, stuffing something into the pocket -of her coat which Mollie recognized as Betty’s toy pistol.</p> - -<p>“Oh, Gracie, ’tis to laugh!” she chuckled, as they started on their -hike. “What do you expect to kill with that thing? A couple of rabbits -for supper, maybe?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, keep still,” said Grace, feeling a bit sheepish. “If I like to -lug the thing along what difference does it make to you? I wish,” -longingly, “that Betty and Amy were back.”</p> - -<p>“That’s only the tenth time you’ve wished that same wish in the last -two hours,” scoffed Mollie. “And you might just as well stop wishing -till this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">113</a></span> time to-morrow morning, anyway. I don’t expect them back a -minute before then.”</p> - -<p>Grace was silent for some time while they both trudged through the -woods, climbing bowlders that got in their way, crashing through heavy -underbrush, with now and then a stop to catch their breath and enjoy -the beauty of the wild woodland about them.</p> - -<p>It was during one of these rest periods that Grace again spoke of what -was in her thoughts.</p> - -<p>“I wonder if the boys will surely come up over the week-end,” she said, -pulling a piece of tall grass and chewing it reflectively. “It would be -just like them to have too much work to do.”</p> - -<p>“I guess they’ll all be here—all but Allen, anyway,” was Mollie’s -reassuring reply. “He may be kept on that case he’s trying to -straighten out.”</p> - -<p>“That one about the stubborn old boy and his will?” said Grace, -wrinkling her pretty forehead in an attempt to bring back the details -of the case. “I remember Allen acted pretty mysteriously about it. I -only hope he won’t be silly enough to let work interfere with pleasure.”</p> - -<p>“That’s just what he will do, being Allen,” replied Mollie, promptly. -“That’s one of the things that makes him most popular—he sticks close -to a job till it is finished right. And I suppose he won’t think he -can take a vacation till he has<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">114</a></span> straightened out the case of this old -man’s will to his satisfaction.”</p> - -<p>The girls went on again for a short distance but then, finding -themselves confronted by a veritable fence of intertwined vines and -brambles, decided they had gone far enough and turned back toward camp.</p> - -<p>After a lunch which tasted like nectar and ambrosia to them, they were -at a loss what to do with themselves and finally decided to go fishing.</p> - -<p>“Since we didn’t have sense enough to bring regular fishing tackle,” -grumbled Mollie, as she carefully picked out two supple young branches -which had fallen to the ground, “we’ll have to fish the way the farmer -boy does at the old swimming pool.”</p> - -<p>“We haven’t even got an old swimming pool or fishing hole, or whatever -it is we need,” said Grace. “I imagine that’s even more important than -the tackle we use.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, well, we’ll find one, a hole I mean,” promised Mollie. “There must -be a deep spot in that brook somewhere, and all we have to do is to -follow it to find out.”</p> - -<p>“Sounds easy,” agreed Grace, adding, as she laughingly held aloft her -branch with the string attached to it: “Now that we have our bent pins -firmly in position, shall we go?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">115</a></span> -“You bet,” said Mollie gayly. “Mark my words, we’ll come back with -enough fish to last us a week.”</p> - -<p>But alas for her high hopes. They caught not one fish, though they -spent a cramped motionless afternoon on the banks of as pretty and -promising a fishing pool as one would ever want to see.</p> - -<p>“I guess,” said Grace, with an attempt at persiflage as they returned -wearily to camp, “Betty’s fake pistol would have done as much damage as -our fishing lines, Mollie.”</p> - -<p>“Couldn’t have done much less,” agreed Mollie, adding with a chuckle: -“Lucky we didn’t depend on that fish for our dinner.”</p> - -<p>“In that case, Betty and Amy would have found only our starved remains -when they returned,” said Grace, adding eagerly, as their improvised -tent came in view: “I say, how about a can of pork and beans to-night?”</p> - -<p>“Perfectly topping, perfectly topping, old thing,” returned Mollie, in -her best English manner. “An inspiration, that. No other word would fit -it, truly.”</p> - -<p>And then they giggled and went merrily about the preparation of the -“inspiration.” Later they built another campfire and sat beside it for -a long time. They did not acknowledge to each<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">116</a></span> other how reluctant they -were to “turn in” that night.</p> - -<p>For although they had carefully refrained from speaking of the scare -Mollie had given them early that morning, they had not forgotten it and -the night shadows made them uneasy.</p> - -<p>However, as even a campfire can lose some of its charm if gazed upon -too long, the girls finally found their eyes closing from weariness. A -day like this spent entirely in the open always made them very tired, -and at last the moment came when they could not put off the business of -“turning in” for another second.</p> - -<p>“The tent will seem pretty large for the two of us,” said Grace as, a -few moments later, they rolled themselves in their blankets.</p> - -<p>“Shouldn’t wonder if we’d rattle around some,” agreed Mollie. “But -it’ll be nice to have plenty of room anyway.”</p> - -<p>Strange that, lying there quiet, waiting for sleep to come, the girls -heard so many more noises than they had heard on the night before.</p> - -<p>It seemed to them that the entire woodland was alive with flutterings -and queer crunchings and snapping of twigs, and once Grace even raised -herself on her elbow, so sure was she that something was sniffing about -the door of their tent.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">117</a></span> -But there was nothing there, and at Mollie’s impatient command she lay -down again. Her fingers stole under the edge of the blanket where she -had hidden something. It was Betty’s toy pistol!</p> - -<p>Toward the middle of the night Grace’s eyes sprang wide open as though -she had touched a spring. The moment before she had been heavily -asleep, now she was as wide awake as though she had never slept at all.</p> - -<p>What was it that sent terrified chills chasing up and down her spine? -Was it the rhythmic patter-patter of rain on the tautly stretched -tarpaulin? That would be enough to wake her surely.</p> - -<p>But no, that was not all. She had heard a noise, a peculiar, shuffling -noise that had penetrated even through her sleep, a noise like some man -or animal circling the tent.</p> - -<p>At first it seemed almost impossible for her to move. She felt as -though she were in the grip of a nightmare where she had no control -whatever over her muscles. She tried to call to Mollie, but her voice -died in a weak little gasp in her throat.</p> - -<p>By a great effort she finally succeeded in dragging herself to a -sitting position. Then she waited, her hand at her throat, her eyes -striving<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">118</a></span> to pierce the gloom behind the smoldering embers of the fire.</p> - -<p>She saw nothing, heard nothing but the rhythmic drip-drip of the rain. -The night seemed suddenly and curiously still as though, like her, it -were holding its breath to listen.</p> - -<p>Then the silence was broken by Mollie’s voice, soft and husky with -sleep.</p> - -<p>“What in the world——” she began, but Grace caught her arm in a tight -grip.</p> - -<p>“Listen!” she commanded.</p> - -<p>Wondering, Mollie obeyed and then suddenly she too was sitting upright, -her body rigid. For once again came that shuffling sound like a heavy -body stealthily encircling the tent.</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">119</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="xv" id="xv"></a>CHAPTER XV<br /> -<span>A SHADOWY BULK</span></h2> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Regardless</span> of Grace’s detaining hand, Mollie sprang to her feet. She -crept to the flap opening, then, flinging it wide, sprang into the -open. Grace, more afraid of being left alone in the tent than anything -else, followed.</p> - -<p>The night was intensely black. The rain had chased away the moon and -stars and the sky was covered with lowering clouds. The chill of the -descending rain made Mollie shiver convulsively.</p> - -<p>There it came, that stealthy dragging sound. It was at the corner of -the tent and Mollie crouched back against the canvas, hoping that the -intruder, whatever it was, might take her for part of the shadows.</p> - -<p>But as she stepped back a twig cracked betrayingly beneath her foot -and at the corner of the tent a black shape detached itself from the -blacker shadows, stood upright for a moment, staring in her direction. -Mollie was quite sure her heart stood still. She gasped and felt as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">120</a></span> -though she were strangling while her eyes remained irresistibly fixed -on the thing at the corner of the tent.</p> - -<p>She heard a gasp behind her and knew that Grace also had seen.</p> - -<p>Suddenly the shape turned and moved off into the deeper shadows of the -woods. It made no pretense of hiding its movements, but crashed noisily -through the underbrush.</p> - -<p>As though rooted to the spot Mollie and Grace remained motionless until -the last sound of their enemy’s retreat died in the distance.</p> - -<p>Then Mollie half stumbled, half fell into the tent, nearly upsetting -Grace as she did so. Her hands were shaking and her throat felt dry.</p> - -<p>“Where are the searchlights?” she asked in a strained husky whisper. -“Do you know where Betty put them, Grace?”</p> - -<p>“Here,” answered Grace, and, after a moment of groping in the dark, a -hand torch suddenly flooded the gloom with its light. In the glow the -girls regarded one another fearfully, the fright they had had showing -plainly on their faces.</p> - -<p>“Let’s sit down and t-talk this thing over,” suggested Mollie, trying -bravely to get herself in hand. “I g-guess neither of us will want to -sleep for a while.”</p> - -<p>“Sleep!” exclaimed Grace, shakily. “I feel as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">121</a></span> though I never wanted to -sleep again. M-Mollie, did you see what I saw?”</p> - -<p>“Perfectly,” said Mollie. Her voice was steady once more but it might -be noted that she sat with her face toward the tent flap. “Nothing’s -going to take me by surprise if I can help it,” she had told herself -defiantly.</p> - -<p>“Then what was it?” persisted Grace. She also was watching the tent -flap. “Do you think it was an—an animal?”</p> - -<p>“Nonsense,” retorted Mollie brusquely. “Didn’t you see it stand -upright? And what animal ever does that?”</p> - -<p>Grace giggled hysterically.</p> - -<p>“Well, if it’s a m-man,” she said, “so much the worse. What did he -want, anyway, prowling around our tent in the m-middle of the night?”</p> - -<p>“It’s nearer morning,” said Mollie, regarding her wrist watch and -seeing that the hands pointed to four-thirty. “It’s the rain makes it -seem so early.”</p> - -<p>“Well, anyway, it’s pitch black,” returned Grace, hugging herself hard -to keep from shivering. “What difference does the time make?”</p> - -<p>“None, except that it isn’t so long to wait till morning,” admitted -Mollie, adding briskly: “Now, we’ve just got to buckle on our common -sense and make up our minds not to be scared.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">122</a></span> -“Tell me that at nine o’clock to-morrow morning with the sun shining,” -returned Grace, shivering in spite of herself. “Just now I’m scared -black and blue.”</p> - -<p>“Well, if that’s the way you feel——”</p> - -<p>“It’s the way you feel too,” returned Grace, quickly. “You know you’re -just frightened to death, Mollie. Look at your teeth chattering.”</p> - -<p>Mollie promptly clamped her lips down on this circumstantial evidence -and commanded her teeth to stop chattering.</p> - -<p>“I’m cold,” she defended weakly. “That rain——”</p> - -<p>“Yes and you were foolish to go out there in it,” Grace scolded. -“Suppose it had been a wild animal prowling around out there, what -chance would you have had against it, unarmed?”</p> - -<p>“What chance would we have had against it in the tent?” countered -Mollie.</p> - -<p>“We couldn’t have had less,” came from Grace. “Then, often an animal -will hesitate to go in any place it isn’t familiar with. Anyway, the -tent was all the protection we had.”</p> - -<p>“I suppose so,” said Mollie, wearily. She was beginning to feel -dreadfully drowsy again and, if it had not been for the fact that Grace -had seen exactly what she had seen, she might almost have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">123</a></span> been able to -persuade herself that once more her imagination had been playing her -tricks.</p> - -<p>At the thought her eyes sprang wide open again and she stared at Grace.</p> - -<p>“Then,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper, “I bet I did hear -some one moving in the woods this morning.”</p> - -<p>“I bet you did, too,” said Grace, moving a little further away from the -flap of the tent. “Mollie, do you suppose there are tramps around here -after all?”</p> - -<p>“Looks like it,” answered Mollie, grimly, adding, with an attempt of -lightness: “Just now, I wish Betty’s fake pistol were a real one.”</p> - -<p>“Sh-h,” warned Grace. “Somebody might be listening. I thought I -heard——” She drew back the tent flap ever so cautiously, but there -was nothing visible. Only the mournful drip, drip of the rain from the -trees came to them.</p> - -<p>“What do you suppose they want?” whispered Grace, drawing nearer to -Mollie as though for protection. “What do they mean by hanging around?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, how do I know any better than you do?” snapped Mollie, for her -nerves were beginning to show the strain they had been under. “And I -don’t see why you speak in the plural, anyway. We saw only one man, -didn’t we?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">124</a></span> -“Where there’s one, there’s probably more,” remarked Grace, gloomily, -at which Mollie gave a little impatient toss of her head.</p> - -<p>“We’re probably making altogether too much fuss about a little thing,” -she said. “If we don’t happen to be alone on this end of the lake, that -doesn’t say that our neighbors are all villains. This—this—prowler -may have come simply out of curiosity.”</p> - -<p>“Humph!” sniffed Grace. “Then why did he choose night time to satisfy -his curiosity and why did he seem scared when he found we had heard -him? Curiosity—huh!”</p> - -<p>“Well, believe the worst if you want to,” returned Mollie, wearily. -“Goodness, but I’m getting s-sleepy——”</p> - -<p>“See here,” warned Grace, in a voice that once more startled Mollie’s -eyes wide open. “If you think you have a chance of going to sleep and -leaving me here to keep watch alone, you were never more mistaken in -your life, Mollie Billette. You’ll stay awake if I have to stick pins -in you.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, all right,” returned Mollie, with a sigh, trying to settle herself -in a more comfortable position, “if that’s the way you feel about -it—But listen here, Grace, if I keep awake just to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">125</a></span> suit you, you’ve -got to make yourself entertaining.”</p> - -<p>“Well, of all the——” Grace began, breaking off to add with real -curiosity: “Do you mean to tell me that you aren’t scared any longer?”</p> - -<p>“I’m scared to death, but I’m sleepier yet,” returned Mollie, stifling -a tremendous yawn. “Better hurry up, Grace. If you don’t start -something interesting pretty quick I’m apt to drop off despite all the -king’s horses and all the king’s men. Going—going—gone——”</p> - -<p>“Hold on there,” broke in Grace desperately. “I have an idea. Why not -play checkers?”</p> - -<p>“Why not, indeed?” returned Mollie, opening her eyes with what almost -seemed interest.</p> - -<p>And so it came to pass that two Outdoor Girls spent the short time that -still remained to dawn in a very peculiar manner. Luckily the girls -seldom went anywhere without carrying some games with them and this -habit stood them in good stead now.</p> - -<p>From somewhere among the jumble of things within the tent Grace -produced a much battered and worn board and men and so they settled -down to play until daylight should put in its friendly appearance.</p> - -<p>And when at last the first rays of the sun<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">126</a></span> broke through the clearing -sky, the two girls were so utterly exhausted from lack of sleep and the -nerve strain they had been under that they simply sprawled out upon the -blankets and fell into a sound slumber.</p> - -<p>The sun had crept high in the heavens when at last they awoke, staring -at one another stupidly.</p> - -<p>“Was it a bad dream, Mollie, or did it really happen?” queried -Grace, as she rubbed a hand across her forehead. “I declare I can’t -remember——”</p> - -<p>“Well, I can, only too well,” cut in Mollie shortly. Mollie’s temper -was almost always short before breakfast. “Stop staring in that -befuddled fashion, Grace Ford, and help me get breakfast. I feel badly -in need of sustenance.”</p> - -<p>They went about the getting of breakfast in a curiously silent manner, -too busy with their thoughts to say much. And they both looked rather -grave and hollow-eyed.</p> - -<p>It was true the situation did not seem nearly so terrifying in the -broad daylight, but just the same, they knew their adventure had been -rather serious.</p> - -<p>“I’m glad Betty will be back pretty soon,” said Grace at last, breaking -the long silence. “She always knows what to do.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know that she’ll be able to do much<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">127</a></span> more about this than we -have done,” retorted Mollie. It is to be noted that she had not yet had -her breakfast. “Anybody would think Betty had some sort of supernatural -power of making things come out right.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know about the supernatural,” returned Grace. “But I do know -that she pretty nearly always makes things come out all right.”</p> - -<p>“Humph,” snorted Mollie, and tossed her head.</p> - -<p>Luckily the girls had thought to put some firewood within the shelter -of the tent before they had turned in the night before, so that they -had enough dry wood to make a good fire. If they had been forced to -try burning wet wood nobody knows what might have happened to Mollie’s -temper!</p> - -<p>And when, just before noon, they heard the familiar putt-putting of the -<i>Gem</i> out on the lake, Mollie, as well as Grace, felt a great relief as -though a heavy burden had suddenly slipped from her shoulders.</p> - -<p>For the Little Captain had come back!</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">128</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="xvi" id="xvi"></a>CHAPTER XVI<br /> -<span>AIR MATTRESSES</span></h2> - - -<p><span class="smcap">When</span> Mollie and Grace saw that not only Amy and the Little Captain, but -Will Ford and Frank Haley also, were in the little boat, the relief and -joy of the girls reached a climax.</p> - -<p>“Well, this is something like!” cried Mollie, putting an arm about -Grace and squeezing her ecstatically. “Nothing like having the boys -around once in a while, eh, Gracie?”</p> - -<p>“I’ll say!” returned Grace, as she waved to the quartette in the boat. -They were still too far away and there were too many trees in their -path for the <i>Gem’s</i> occupants to see the wave, but that made no -difference to Grace.</p> - -<p>However, it took only a few minutes for the little motor boat to nose -its way up the narrow inlet to the improvised landing above which -Mollie and Grace were so eagerly waiting.</p> - -<p>Although Betty and Amy and the boys as well had expected a rather warm -greeting, they were entirely unprepared for the kind they really got.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">129</a></span> -They were hugged and kissed—boys as well as girls, much to the glee of -the former—till the Little Captain called out laughingly to “Stop it!”</p> - -<p>“What’s the matter with you?” she asked. “Are you going stark, raving -crazy?”</p> - -<p>“If they are, don’t attempt to stop them, Betty,” laughed Frank Haley, -and Will added, happily:</p> - -<p>“Home was never like this.”</p> - -<p>However, in due time the girls calmed down to a more normal key and the -whole party started toward the camp.</p> - -<p>“Hear you had pretty tough luck—shack burned down and no tent,” said -Will. “It surely must have been a facer for you. Wonder you didn’t come -back to Deepdale, full speed.”</p> - -<p>“Will Ford, is that what you think of us?” asked gentle Amy -indignantly, and Will countered lightly with:</p> - -<p>“You ought to know better than to ask me what I think of you, -Amy—especially when there’s a crowd around.”</p> - -<p>The girls giggled and Amy flushed and everybody was happy!</p> - -<p>It was not till after Mollie and Betty had prepared something for the -famished boys to eat—and they had eaten it—that they settled down to -a serious discussion of plans for the future.</p> - -<p>“We’ve brought back a regular, waterproof tent<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">130</a></span> with us,” explained the -Little Captain. “Also four perfectly delightful air mattresses. But the -boys think we oughtn’t to stay.”</p> - -<p>“Humph,” said Mollie, valiantly, “I’d like to see ’em get us away.”</p> - -<p>Strange that with the coming of the boys and Betty and Amy, the -adventure of the night before had lost most of its terrifying aspect. -It seemed almost something to laugh at.</p> - -<p>However, when some time later Grace mentioned the affair to the boys, -they did not seem inclined to laugh at it—not one bit.</p> - -<p>“It’s a pretty serious thing, I think,” said Frank Haley. “I have a -strange prejudice against anything that prowls at night.”</p> - -<p>“Same here,” said Will, looking worried. “Of course, if you girls are -sure you saw some one——”</p> - -<p>“Oh, there’s no doubt about that,” said Mollie, positively. “We both -saw it—or him—it was hard to tell whether it was really a man or not -in the dark. But anyway,” she added, trying to make light of it, “I -don’t think there’s anything to be excited about. Somebody was probably -just—curious.”</p> - -<p>But they hooted this idea as Grace had done some hours earlier. People -did not go prowling<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">131</a></span> about a camp in the middle of the night just out -of harmless curiosity.</p> - -<p>“However, we’re going to spend to-night here, anyway,” said Will, -rising and looking about him. “And to-morrow will be time enough to -decide whether you want to stay here or not.”</p> - -<p>“There’s no deciding to be done about that—it’s settled,” returned -Betty, adding, gayly: “How do you like our tent, Will? Isn’t it a -masterpiece?”</p> - -<p>“Masterpiece is right,” Will returned, admiringly. “It’s about as -thorough a piece of work as I’ve seen. How about it, Frank?”</p> - -<p>“Fine,” returned Frank, as he walked about the makeshift tent, -examining it. “All to the good, girls. Did you say it was rain-tight, -too?” he asked of Mollie, who laughed grimly.</p> - -<p>“I guess we ought to know,” she said. “We sat for hours playing -checkers with the rain pattering on top of it.”</p> - -<p>“Raining, raining everywhere, and not a drop on us,” said Grace, -adding, as they laughed: “Mighty lucky for us, too, that we didn’t get -wet. All we needed was a soaking to make our contentment complete.”</p> - -<p>“You poor children,” said Betty, commiseratingly. “You must have had -one awful time.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">132</a></span> -“So much so that we’d rather think of something else,” said Grace, -adding, as she turned to her brother: “How about the tent you brought, -Will? Aren’t you going to put it up for us?”</p> - -<p>“It’s for that express purpose that we came,” Will returned as he led -the way back to the <i>Gem</i>. “Might as well get the business part of our -mission over with first and then we can enjoy ourselves.”</p> - -<p>So they went to work, and it was not long before they had the new tent -up, as snug and pretty a tent as any one would wish to see. It even had -a window in one side of it, a window whose canvas flap could be pulled -up or let down from the inside by means of a convenient cord.</p> - -<p>The boys would not let the girls take down the makeshift tent of -tarpaulin, saying that it would serve as an excellent shelter for them, -the boys, for this one night in camp. And since they had brought along -another piece of tarpaulin to cover the <i>Gem</i> in case of bad weather, -there was no reason why they should not leave the original tent -standing.</p> - -<p>When the boys were unloading the paraphernalia from the <i>Gem</i> Mollie -noticed with surprise that they had brought along their bicycles.</p> - -<p>“What are they for?” she asked, and the boys eyed her pityingly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">133</a></span> -“How did you suppose we were going to get back to Deepdale?” Frank -asked. “We can’t take the <i>Gem</i>, and it’s a little too far to -walk—when you’re in a hurry anyway.”</p> - -<p>“Well,” was Mollie’s biting comment, “the only wonder is you didn’t -bring along automobiles. They’d have been much quicker.”</p> - -<p>“We thought of that,” agreed Will, solemnly. “But unfortunately the -<i>Gem</i> protested.”</p> - -<p>But it was when Will produced his air mattresses that the girls were -most deeply interested. When he first unrolled them they looked like -nothing so much as dejected strips of canvas, about six feet long by -two and a half feet wide.</p> - -<p>But when he began to blow one of them up—oh, what a change there was! -Before their enchanted eyes the dejected strip of canvas grew and -assumed shape, blooming out majestically into a bed that, for comfort, -would have delighted a king.</p> - -<p>Betty, lolling luxuriously upon it, declared she felt as though she -were floating on clouds.</p> - -<p>“Get up and give me a feel,” commanded Mollie, and the Little Captain -reluctantly obeyed.</p> - -<p>“But what’s this funny thing lacing down the front?” asked Amy, -pointing to a loose fold of the canvas. “Are you supposed to get inside -that?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">134</a></span> -“Certainly,” answered Will, with all the pride of possession. “That’s -where the beauty of these things comes in. It makes all the difference -in the world between comfort and discomfort.”</p> - -<p>“But how does it work?” asked Mollie, impatiently.</p> - -<p>“Just a moment, fair maid. I’m coming to that,” protested Will. “You -see, it’s this way. You roll all your bedclothes inside this flap, -whatever you think you may need. Then you crawl in——”</p> - -<p>“Allee same Indian pappoose, eh,” murmured Betty, irrepressibly.</p> - -<p>“About the same idea,” agreed Will. “Only a little more so. After -you’ve tucked your covers in comfortably about you, you lace this -outside flap up to your chin and, presto, you’ve got the most complete -sleeping bag in captivity.”</p> - -<p>“Seems almost too good to be true,” drawled Grace. “Won’t this sleeping -bag be a little too warm for comfort?”</p> - -<p>“Depends on how many covers you use,” returned Will.</p> - -<p>“I suppose,” said the Little Captain, “it’s also pretty good for -keeping the bugs off.”</p> - -<p>“Precisely,” returned Will, enthusiastically. “Completely puzzles -the little dears, and by the time they’ve figured out how to get at -you——”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">135</a></span> -“They have tired of the hunt and gone to find easier game,” finished -Frank.</p> - -<p>When, some time later, four tired Outdoor Girls tested the wondrous new -mattresses, they did not wonder at Will’s enthusiasm. It was, as the -Little Captain had said, like floating on clouds.</p> - -<p>Betty was the last to go to sleep. She lay for what seemed a long time, -luxuriating in the air mattress and the thought that Frank and Will -were in the makeshift tent so near them.</p> - -<p>“If only——” she murmured drowsily, “if only Allen were with them.”</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">136</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="xvii" id="xvii"></a>CHAPTER XVII<br /> -<span>THE OLD MAID OF THE MOUNTAINS</span></h2> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Rather</span> early the next morning, although the girls did their best to -dissuade them, Frank and Will declared that they must be getting back -to Deepdale.</p> - -<p>“If we expect to come up for the week-end,” said Will, “we’ll have to -work hard for the next two or three days.”</p> - -<p>So the girls were forced to let them go, accompanying them quite a -little distance along the rough woods road that led to the main highway -a mile or two further on.</p> - -<p>“If you girls need provisions or anything,” Frank told them just before -they said good-by, “there are several prosperous farms a little further -on that could supply you with fresh milk and eggs and butter.”</p> - -<p>“See you later,” added Will, swinging his bicycle into position, -adding, for Betty’s special benefit: “And next time we come we’ll bring -Allen along.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">137</a></span> -“Be sure you do,” said Mollie, wickedly. “Betty is simply pining away.”</p> - -<p>Then the girls turned back to camp once more, feeling rather lonesome. -They did wish the boys could have stayed.</p> - -<p>“I guess we might as well pull down this thing,” said Betty, eyeing -the tent which they had erected on the first night of their stay in -the woods. “We have a real tent now and when the boys come up for the -week-end, they’ll have that big one of Roy’s with them.”</p> - -<p>So down came the tarpaulin, although the girls had almost as much -difficulty in the dismantling of the improvised tent as they had had in -the erecting of it.</p> - -<p>At last it was down, however, and they set about making the camp as -neat as possible. This done, they wandered through the woods, trying -to find if there were any camp in the neighborhood which might harbor -tramps.</p> - -<p>They found none, and they finally returned to camp more mystified than -before.</p> - -<p>That night around the campfire—the prettiest one they had yet -made—Betty cautioned them that the best thing they could do would be -to put “this scare about tramps” out of their minds.</p> - -<p>“There’s no use ruining our whole summer,” she said. “The chances -are, even if there are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">138</a></span> tramps about, they don’t mean to annoy us. We -haven’t any jewelry or valuables that they might hope to steal, and -they will probably be only too glad to give us a wide berth.”</p> - -<p>“That’s what I say,” agreed Mollie, heartily. “It’s up to us to say -whether we’re going to let such a foolish thing ruin our fun. I, for -one, don’t intend to.”</p> - -<p>“Nor I,” said Amy, stoutly. “Now that I’m here I’m going to have the -time of my life.”</p> - -<p>“Good,” said Betty, patting Amy’s hand encouragingly. “That’s the way -to talk. And now will you put some more wood on the fire, Gracie? I -feel like telling some stories.”</p> - -<p>“All right,” agreed Grace, with a glance into the black shadows of the -woodland beyond the dancing light of the fire. “Tell as many as you -like, as long as they’re not ghost stories.”</p> - -<p>And so, after this, the Outdoor Girls did really make a determined -effort to forget all about the possibility of tramps lurking in the -neighborhood and set about, as only they knew how, to crowd each day to -the brim with fun.</p> - -<p>They made several trips through the woods to a near-by farmhouse for -supplies, and on one of these trips they decided not to stop at the -farmhouse but to hike a little further on, up into the hills.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">139</a></span> -They had never been so far away from camp before, and it was with a -feeling of adventure that they started to climb a miniature mountain -into the denser woodland beyond.</p> - -<p>“Oh, it’s lovely up here,” said the Little Captain. “The higher up you -get the better the air becomes.”</p> - -<p>“Fine,” agreed Grace, adding as she came abreast of Betty: “What’s that -over there, Little Captain? Doesn’t it look like smoke?”</p> - -<p>The girls gazed in the direction of her pointing finger and saw that, -sure enough, right above the rise of the hill, a thin line of smoke was -curling.</p> - -<p>“Somebody’s camp, maybe,” said Mollie, instinctively lowering her -voice. “Funny thing, away out here in the wilds.”</p> - -<p>“About the only place you’d expect to find a camp, I suppose,” drawled -Grace, but Betty interrupted, cautiously pushing them a little further -back down the hill.</p> - -<p>“Listen,” she said, in a whisper, her eyes bright with eagerness. -“Maybe that’s the camp of the tramps that we’ve been looking for. And -if it is we’ll have to be careful not to let them know we’re around.”</p> - -<p>“You said something, Betty Nelson,” agreed Grace, beginning to back -still further down<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">140</a></span> the hill. “I vote we get away from here.”</p> - -<p>“Nonsense,” said Betty, sharply, but still in a whisper. “You can run -away, if you want to, but I’m going to see what that smoke means.”</p> - -<p>“Right you are,” agreed Mollie, and together they began cautiously to -ascend the hill, Amy and Grace bringing up the rear.</p> - -<p>They had almost reached the top of the hill when some one came suddenly -toward them through the trees, bringing them to a short stop.</p> - -<p>And what they saw made them rub their eyes hard to make sure they were -not dreaming.</p> - -<p>A little old lady she was, with a figure so slight and thin it looked -as if a breath of wind might blow it away and a face that was sweet -in spite of the wrinkles of age. Her head was uncovered and her hair, -curly and snow-white, framed her face softly and pleasantly. Altogether -she was a little old lady who looked as though she might have stepped -straight out of a story book.</p> - -<p>She did not seem to see the astonished girls at first but came straight -on, head bent and old feet faltering uncertainly on the rocky path. -Then suddenly she looked up and saw them.</p> - -<p>A thin, blue-veined hand flew to her throat in swift alarm and she -stared at them silently.</p> - -<p>Betty, recovering from her surprise, flew to the old lady’s side, -taking a wrinkled old hand in her firm young one.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<img src="images/i-140.jpg" width="400" height="629" alt="" /> -<div class="caption">“OH, I’M SO SORRY IF WE STARTLED YOU,” SAID BETTY.<br /> -<cite>The Outdoor Girls Around the Campfire.</cite> <i>Page 141</i></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">141</a></span> -“Oh, I’m so sorry if we startled you,” said the Little Captain, -penitently. “You see we saw the smoke from your fire and we thought——”</p> - -<p>“Oh, were you coming to see me?” asked the little old lady, a light -springing to her eyes. “I’m glad. I’ve been very lonesome, lately. Do -come up, dears, and rest yourselves. You look very worn.”</p> - -<p>And so she turned, retracing her steps and evidently taking it as a -matter of course that the girls would follow her. Betty ran forward, -catching the old lady’s arm and helping her over the rough places, -meanwhile sending an urgent look of command over her shoulder to the -still amazed girls. The look said more plainly than words:</p> - -<p>“If you dare tell this old soul we didn’t come on purpose to see her, -I’ll murder you all.”</p> - -<p>“We’ll play the game,” Mollie called, as though in response to spoken -words, and Betty nodded contentedly.</p> - -<p>Their queer little hostess caught nothing of this byplay, she was -seemingly too intent upon not stumbling over the stones and tree stumps -that dotted her front yard.</p> - -<p>“Some day,” she said, in quaint apology, “I am<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">142</a></span> going to have all these -rocks and logs removed. But, you see, I’m not strong enough to do it -myself.” At this pathetic admission Betty felt a strong desire to take -the frail little person in her arms and tell her it was all right. Who -minded a few sticks and stones, anyway?</p> - -<p>Midway of the clearing there stood a little cabin, badly in need of -paint and repairs, and it was from the chimney of this small abode -that the smoke was pouring in a thin spiral—the smoke which had first -warned the girls of human presence.</p> - -<p>The little old lady swung wide her door with a gesture as grand as -though she were welcoming her guests to a palace.</p> - -<p>“Come in,” she said, adding with a sigh as they obeyed: “I wish I -had some refreshments to offer you young ladies, but the fact is, -I—have—nothing left in the house. I was on my way,” she added -hastily, as though the girls might misconstrue her confession, “to lay -in some more supplies when I met you.”</p> - -<p>They stayed with their queer little hostess for the better part of an -hour and before the time had passed, they had fallen hopelessly in love -with her.</p> - -<p>She was sweet and quaint and pathetically eager that they should enjoy -themselves. The girls,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">143</a></span> growing more and more interested as they came -to know her better, skillfully drew her out, leading her to talk about -herself.</p> - -<p>This she did with a frankness that was disarming.</p> - -<p>“They call me the Old Maid of the Mountains—the good people around -here,” she confessed, as though she took real pride in the title. -“Sometimes they come to see me, although often they are too busy with -their own affairs to bother about a little old woman. Although,” she -added bravely, as though once more afraid that the girls might be led -to pity her, “I am not often lonesome. I have my work, you see.”</p> - -<p>“Work?” repeated Betty vaguely. Somehow it seemed impossible that this -frail little creature was able to work.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” returned the little old lady, interpreting her puzzled look, “I -do needlework—a great deal of it. Though,” she added, with a sigh, “it -is hard for me to do it lately. My eyes are not as good as they were. -Take care of your eyes in your youth, my dears,” she finished, looking -around at them earnestly. “And never, whatever you do, cry!”</p> - -<p>The girls, rather amazed at this command, could find nothing to say. -However, this made little difference, as the old lady, once started,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">144</a></span> -seemed glad enough to have somebody to talk to.</p> - -<p>She rambled on and on, while the girls listened eagerly. Suddenly, with -a quick look at the clock, she started to her feet.</p> - -<p>“Mercy me!” she exclaimed, in dismay. “It is getting late, my dears, -and I must get to the farm and back before nightfall. I hope you’ll -pardon me, but it takes me such a long, long time.” She sighed again -and patiently reached for her shawl. When she tottered and grasped the -edge of a table for support, the girls realized how really weak and -feeble she was.</p> - -<p>“I do believe,” was Betty’s shocked thought, “that she’s actually -hungry.”</p> - -<p>Aloud she said, with the special, irresistible manner that she reserved -for very old people.</p> - -<p>“You’re going to stay just where you are! I’ll run and get what you -need.”</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">145</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="xviii" id="xviii"></a>CHAPTER XVIII<br /> -<span>A FEAST FOR A KING</span></h2> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Before</span> the little old lady found breath for reply Betty had darted from -the room. After a surprised moment, Amy followed her.</p> - -<p>Grace and Mollie, following Betty’s unexpressed wish, stayed with the -old lady.</p> - -<p>Half way down the hill Amy caught up to Betty.</p> - -<p>“Where to?” she asked, panting. “And why the dreadful hurry?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, Amy!” exclaimed the Little Captain, slowing her pace, “did you -ever see anything so pitiful and so dear as that little old thing—did -you?”</p> - -<p>“She’s a darling,” agreed Amy, warmly. “Imagine her really enjoying -being called the Old Maid of the Mountains!”</p> - -<p>“She’s quaint and, in some ways, rather queer,” admitted Betty, as they -reached the main road and swung along toward the nearest farmhouse. -“But I reckon she gets that way from living so much alone. Poor little -soul, she’s altogether too<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">146</a></span> feeble to live alone. Amy,” changing the -subject abruptly, “how much cash do you happen to have on hand?”</p> - -<p>“Two dollars and three cents,” returned Amy, promptly. “I didn’t bring -much along because I thought we wouldn’t need a great deal in the way -of provisions.”</p> - -<p>“It’ll do,” said Betty, adding musingly: “I have a dollar, and with -that we ought to get the farmer’s wife to give us a pretty good dinner.”</p> - -<p>“What are you going to get?” asked Amy, as they turned into the broad -drive that led up to the rambling porch of the old farmhouse.</p> - -<p>“A chicken, if I can,” said Betty. “We can cook it in the old lady’s -oven. I noticed she had a pretty hot fire in the stove in spite of the -hot weather. And apple sauce if I can. And fresh butter and maybe a -home-made pie——”</p> - -<p>“Good gracious!” cried Amy. “What do you think this is, Thanksgiving?”</p> - -<p>“It’s going to be a mighty fine party if I have anything to say about -it,” returned Betty, as the farmer’s wife appeared on the threshold—a -gigantic figure of a woman but with a rosy, kindly face that attested -to her good-nature.</p> - -<p>As the girls had been there several times before, she recognized them -instantly and greeted them with a broad smile.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">147</a></span> -“Come right into the kitchen,” she said, waving a hand toward the -interior of the house from which floated an appetizing aroma. “I’ve a -pie in the oven and I’m afraid it will burn.”</p> - -<p>With these words she vanished, leaving the girls to follow. This they -did eagerly, for the smell of baking things drew them irresistibly.</p> - -<p>“And now what’ll you have?” asked the good-natured giantess, whose name -was Mrs. Joyce. “I’ve got plenty of fresh eggs to-day—the hens have -been workin’ overtime—and more milk than I know what to do with. It’ll -be a mercy if you’ll take it off my hands.”</p> - -<p>Betty laughed.</p> - -<p>“It’s very kind of you,” she said. “But it isn’t milk and eggs that -we’re really after to-day. You see, we want the makings for a real -feast.”</p> - -<p>Then she explained while the kindly woman listened with interest and -sympathy.</p> - -<p>“And so you’ve met the Old Maid of the Mountains,” she said, an -indulgent smile on her wide mouth. “A queer little soul, but a good -woman for all that. We folk around here try our best to befriend her, -but she’s too proud to take much from us. Sure, if it’s a spread you -want, you shall have it.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Joyce sent Henry, the hired man, out<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">148</a></span> to kill a chicken, “the -likeliest bird in the lot,” and the girls waited while the slain fowl -was duly plucked and cleaned.</p> - -<p>Afterward the farmer’s wife filled a huge hamper for them, putting in, -in spite of their protests, a generous supply of home-made biscuits and -doughnuts, adding as a final glorious gift a huge apple pie which she -had taken from the oven, crisp and flaky of crust, but a moment before.</p> - -<p>“Oh, you’re too good to us, Mrs. Joyce,” murmured Amy, longing eyes on -the tempting pastry. “We don’t deserve it.”</p> - -<p>“Anybody who tries to do good in this world deserves every nice thing -that comes to ’em,” said the good woman stoutly, as she securely -fastened the top of the hamper. “Now, be gone with you, while I tend to -the rest of my baking.”</p> - -<p>“But, Mrs. Joyce, we haven’t paid you yet,” protested Betty. “How -much——”</p> - -<p>“Run along with you,” repeated the big woman, already busy with her -oven. “You don’t owe me a cent.”</p> - -<p>However, Betty, with Amy’s help did finally get her to consent to take -some money for the feast—although it was only a tenth of what it was -really worth—and when the girls turned once more toward the cabin of -the Old Maid of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">149</a></span> Mountains it was with a warm feeling about their -hearts.</p> - -<p>“There are so many lovely people in the world,” said Amy, contentedly -as, with the basket between them, they toiled up the steep ascent.</p> - -<p>“I only hope,” said Betty in a low tone, as they stopped before the -door of the little cabin, “that our little old lady won’t object to our -contributing our feast.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t think she will,” returned Amy, “as long as we’re going to eat -it too.”</p> - -<p>But when the Old Maid of the Mountains saw what that basket contained -she was too amazed and bewildered at first to make any protest, if, -indeed, she had wanted to. She just sat and stared from one to the -other of the girls as though she were trying to figure things out.</p> - -<p>“But what are you going to do, my dears?” she asked in a plaintive, -uncertain little voice that went to Betty’s heart. “I don’t understand.”</p> - -<p>“Why,” explained Betty, gayly, “if you don’t mind, we’ve invited -ourselves to dinner with you. That is,” she paused and added with that -pretty deference she always paid to the old, “if you are quite sure you -don’t mind?”</p> - -<p>She was startled then, and disturbed to see that the old lady’s eyes -had suddenly filled with tears. But all the quaint little person said -was:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">150</a></span> -“I do not mind!”</p> - -<p>And indeed, as the preparations for the feast gayly proceeded, it -almost seemed as though the little old lady grew younger. Her eyes -became bright and a color warmed her sweet old face, making her look -more than ever like a picture out of a story book.</p> - -<p>“It is so lovely to have young ladies about,” she sighed, as Betty -gayly tested the chicken with a fork and proclaimed that it was done. -“Youth is a wonderful thing.”</p> - -<p>“You,” said Betty, turning to her impulsively, “will never be old.”</p> - -<p>The old lady shook her head, although the compliment evidently pleased -her.</p> - -<p>“My soul will remain young perhaps, my dear,” she said, gently. “But it -is my body that must feel the weight of years.”</p> - -<p>“After all,” returned the Little Captain, “it’s the soul that really -counts. That’s what mother says.”</p> - -<p>“You are a dear child,” returned the little old lady, reaching up to -pat the hand that Betty had laid on her shoulder. “And you must have a -very sweet mother. I envy her. I have always longed to have a daughter -of my own.” At the words such a look of sadness spread over the -wrinkled old face that Betty knew she had chanced upon a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">151</a></span> secret wound -in the old lady’s heart. She had a quick moment of wondering what had -been the early life of the Old Maid of the Mountains.</p> - -<p>However, as Mollie announced that dinner was ready to serve, they were -soon merry again, crowding eagerly about the table.</p> - -<p>Their hostess occupied the seat of honor at the head of the table while -Betty took the foot, proudly presiding over the carving of the chicken.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know anything about this business,” she admitted, as she -severed a brownly roasted leg from the bird with the aid of a carving -knife of finest steel.</p> - -<p>This was one thing Betty, and the other girls, too, had noticed about -the contents of the little cabin. Although the furnishings were scant, -they were all of good material.</p> - -<p>The crockery—what there was of it—was of the finest china, and the -cutlery—what there was of that—was tempered steel and real silver. -Like the thoroughbred old lady, they were genuine, seeming strangely -incongruous and out of place in the tumbled-down little cabin.</p> - -<p>“She’s a mystery,” thought Betty, as she struggled nobly with the -chicken. “I’d give a good deal to know something about her past. I -reckon she’s had an interesting one.”</p> - -<p>Take it all in all, it was one of the most delicious<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">152</a></span> dinners that the -Outdoor Girls had ever sat down to, and, as Mollie afterward observed: -“That was saying something.”</p> - -<p>As for their quaint little hostess, it is safe to say she had not been -given such a treat in a long while.</p> - -<p>She ate as though she were famished, and Betty realized with a new rush -of pity that what she had at first suspected was true, the old lady had -been really hungry—half fed.</p> - -<p>Yielding to the girl’s eager entreaties she even took a second piece of -Mrs. Joyce’s wondrous pie, and when she had finished she sat back with -a sigh, looking at the girls plaintively.</p> - -<p>“I know I shall be sick,” she said. “I have not eaten so much in——” -she caught herself up suddenly as though sorry for the admission and -went on talking hurriedly, trying to cover it up with a flow of words.</p> - -<p>After dinner the girls carefully cleaned up, anxious that the little -old lady’s party should not be spoiled by any hard work on her part. -And then, as the twilight shadows were beginning to fall, they knew it -would be necessary to hurry if they were to reach camp before dark.</p> - -<p>“And we’re none too sure of the way, either,” Mollie said to the Little -Captain in an undertone. “There’s no time to waste.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">153</a></span> -But when they explained this to the old lady, she seemed so -disappointed and frail and little that they had hard work to get away -at all.</p> - -<p>“We’ll come back to-morrow or next day,” Betty promised, as they -stepped out into the open, the old lady following them hospitably to -the door. “We’ve just had a lovely time.”</p> - -<p>At the edge of the woods they turned and looked back.</p> - -<p>The Old Maid of the Mountains was waving her hand.</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">154</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="xix" id="xix"></a>CHAPTER XIX<br /> -<span>THE STORM</span></h2> - - -<p><span class="smcap">So</span> interested were the girls in the little old lady and so fond had -they grown of her that they found it hard to keep away from the little -cabin where she lived.</p> - -<p>They kept her supplied with canned goods of all sorts, to say nothing -of milk and fresh eggs, until the old lady lost her frail and wasted -look and even seemed less feeble.</p> - -<p>She insisted on paying for what they gave her, and the girls humored -her to the extent of letting her pay a mere fraction of what the -supplies were actually worth. With this she was well content, for it -gave her the feeling of independence that it was necessary for her to -have.</p> - -<p>Then one day, coming up the hill to the little cabin, the girls found -the Old Maid of the Mountains sitting in front of her door, bending -closely over some needlework she held in her hand.</p> - -<p>She looked up as the girls accosted her and then passed her hand -wonderingly before her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">155</a></span> eyes. There was a puzzled expression on her -face.</p> - -<p>“I—I can’t see,” she said plaintively. “The sun must be too strong.”</p> - -<p>“You have strained your eyes, sewing,” scolded Betty, as she took the -work from the old lady’s unresisting hands. “Feeling better now?” she -asked anxiously.</p> - -<p>The old lady nodded.</p> - -<p>“There were black dots dancing before my eyes,” she explained. “But now -they are gone. I feel better.” She reached up a hand for the embroidery -on which she had been working but Betty never even noticed the gesture. -She was gazing at the piece of work, wide-eyed.</p> - -<p>“Girls!” she cried. “Look at this! Isn’t it——” her voice was agitated -as she held out the embroidered centerpiece to Grace. “Isn’t it the -companion piece to the one you bought for your mother, Grace?”</p> - -<p>Grace nodded dumbly, while in Mollie’s black eyes began to smolder -a great excitement. And the next moment Amy, too, had grasped the -significance of Betty’s question.</p> - -<p>The little old lady sat staring from one to the other of them in -puzzled bewilderment.</p> - -<p>“You do not like my work?” she asked, gently.</p> - -<p>“Like it,” repeated Betty vaguely, and then<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">156</a></span> turned excitedly to the -little woman. “Tell me,” she demanded. “Did you ever sell embroidery at -the Woman’s Exchange in Kayford?”</p> - -<p>The old lady seemed still more puzzled.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” she answered. “I used to do a great deal of work for the -Exchange before—before—my eyes became so bad. It is taxing, you -know,” she finished, gently and uncomplainingly. “That sort of work.”</p> - -<p>The girls exchanged wondering glances and then Betty explained to -the little old lady how they had come to hear of her that day at the -Woman’s Exchange.</p> - -<p>“We’ve been wondering about you a great deal,” put in Amy, gently. “I’m -very glad we have found you.”</p> - -<p>“That is good of you, my dear,” said the old lady, with her grave -smile. “You have been very, very good to an old woman.”</p> - -<p>On the way back to camp that night the girls discussed their discovery -excitedly.</p> - -<p>“Who would ever have expected to find our poor old lady in the Old Maid -of the Mountains?” marveled Amy. “It’s just like a story.”</p> - -<p>“It’s a pretty sad story, just the same,” said Betty, gravely. “Think -of that poor lonesome little soul deprived of her one small means of -support because her eyes have failed! Oh, girls, I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">157</a></span> wish we could find -a million dollars for her somewhere!”</p> - -<p>But, however fascinating the subject might be, the girls had something -to think of besides their Old Maid of the Mountains. For this was -Friday and the boys were expected the following afternoon!</p> - -<p>“It seems an age since we’ve seen them,” said Amy, plaintively. “I hope -they’ll come early.”</p> - -<p>It was not until they were building a campfire later on that the girls -noticed any decided change in the weather. And even when they did, they -at first attached no special importance to it.</p> - -<p>But when the wind, which had begun as a soft sighing in the trees, -waxed so vicious that the flames from the fire began to reach out -hungrily for the surrounding trees, the girls began seriously to worry.</p> - -<p>“Looks like a big gale,” said the Little Captain, soberly. “Better -check the flames, girls. Don’t want to start a forest fire.”</p> - -<p>And so, for the first night since they had made their camp, they were -forced to go without their campfire. They stood somberly watching the -last stubborn flames flicker, licking up in sudden yellow darts, then -dying down morosely.</p> - -<p>“It’s a shame,” said Grace. “Talk about Hamlet<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">158</a></span> with Hamlet left out. -That’s what a camp is without a campfire.”</p> - -<p>“Humph,” said Mollie, putting back a strand of hair that the wind had -whipped about her face, “shouldn’t wonder if we’d be lucky to have even -our tent left to us by morning. Just listen to that wind!”</p> - -<p>“If it only doesn’t rain, too,” said Amy, sharing the general disquiet.</p> - -<p>“Wouldn’t mind the rain half as much as the wind,” remarked the Little -Captain, as she started on an inspection of the tent to make sure it -was as securely fastened as it was possible for it to be.</p> - -<p>At last, satisfied that it was as strong as human hands could make it, -she returned to the girls who were still watching the dying flames of -their campfire.</p> - -<p>The wind was rising higher and higher every moment while the branches -of the trees swayed and moaned beneath its fury. Leaves and small twigs -fell upon the girls where they stood, mute evidence of the wrath of the -elements.</p> - -<p>“Th-there comes the rain!” said Amy suddenly. “Listen!”</p> - -<p>They listened, and, far out on the lake, they could hear a tearing, -rending sound and a muffled<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">159</a></span> splashing that they knew was rain beating -on the water.</p> - -<p>“A cloudburst!” muttered Mollie, adding, suddenly: “Did you cover the -<i>Gem</i>, Betty?”</p> - -<p>The Little Captain nodded and made a swift movement toward the tent.</p> - -<p>“Get inside, everybody,” she commanded. “This is going to be a -beautiful storm once it reaches us. Might as well stay dry as long as -we can.”</p> - -<p>They had barely crowded into the tent when the rain overtook them, -tearing down in a solid, sheeting torrent. Betty pulled the flap taut, -fastening it securely.</p> - -<p>At the same moment Mollie rushed over to the window in the back of the -tent, pulling down its covering of canvas.</p> - -<p>“All secure so far,” she said, trying to make her voice sound cheerful. -“Now let’s hope the tent will hold up.”</p> - -<p>“Let’s light the torches, somebody,” cried Betty. “And when we’ve found -the matches we can light some candles, too. In about two minutes we’ll -be as cozy as bugs in a rug.”</p> - -<p>It was impossible to withstand Betty’s optimism, and in a short time, -with the aid of plentiful candle light, they were not only feeling -more<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">160</a></span> resigned about the storm but were even beginning to enjoy the -novelty of it.</p> - -<p>“Rain cease, tent be water-tight,” chanted Grace, raising her eyes -aloft. “Be water-tight, tent——”</p> - -<p>“You needn’t be so prayerful about it,” chuckled Betty. “Do you suppose -the boys would have lent it to us, if it hadn’t been water-tight?”</p> - -<p>“I’m just putting in my plea for good measure,” explained Grace. “Whew, -I never did hear such a storm.”</p> - -<p>“It’s awful,” agreed Mollie, rising restlessly and walking over to the -flap of the tent. She stood there a moment, then, shaking her head as -though satisfied, returned to her seat.</p> - -<p>A few minutes later, however, she repeated the action, standing so long -by the tent flap this time that Betty was moved to comment.</p> - -<p>“What’s the matter, honey?” she asked, adding flippantly: “If you’re -waiting for the boys you’re wasting your time. They’re not due till -to-morrow, you know.”</p> - -<p>Instead of answering, Mollie made an imperative little gesture with her -hand. Startled, Betty joined her silently and was still further alarmed -to find that Mollie was trembling.</p> - -<p>“There’s somebody out there, Betty,” she said,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">161</a></span> in a stage whisper. -“Are you game to—lift—the flap——”</p> - -<p>For answer Betty stooped and began untying the cord that held the flap -while Grace and Amy came over to see what was wrong. Before they could -speak, Mollie motioned them to silence and they stood, frozen into -immobility, fearing they knew not what.</p> - -<p>Swift as thought, Betty flung back the flap of the tent, shading her -eyes to see out into the dark. A wild gust of wind rushed viciously -into the tent.</p> - -<p>At the same moment out in the night two black figures flung into the -woodland, crouched almost double, running. Over Betty’s shoulder -Mollie had seen also, and now she clasped the Little Captain’s arm -convulsively.</p> - -<p>“Come inside, Betty, come inside!” she cried wildly, and dazedly Betty -obeyed, letting fall the flap of the tent. It flung crazily back -and forth, whipped by the savage wind, but the Little Captain never -noticed. She was regarding the girls with dilated eyes.</p> - -<p>“That time,” she whispered, “I saw for myself!”</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">162</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="xx" id="xx"></a>CHAPTER XX<br /> -<span>THE HOLD-UP</span></h2> - - -<p><span class="smcap">To</span> say that the Outdoor Girls were thoroughly shaken by this -experience would be to treat the matter lightly. They were filled with -consternation.</p> - -<p>It was certain now that there were tramps in the neighborhood, tramps -who chose stormy dark nights to prowl and spy upon them.</p> - -<p>“What can they want?” Amy demanded, half tearfully. “We haven’t a thing -with us that would be worth their while to steal——”</p> - -<p>“They don’t know that, I suppose,” broke in the Little Captain.</p> - -<p>“But if their purpose is to steal,” argued Mollie, “why in the world do -they always run away when they find they are discovered?”</p> - -<p>“Maybe they think we’re armed,” suggested Grace, and in spite of her -alarm, Betty’s eyes twinkled.</p> - -<p>“We are,” she said, patting the pocket where the toy pistol reposed.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">163</a></span> -“Maybe,” said Amy, thoughtfully, “these tramps belong to the same gang -as those we had the row with on Triangle Island.”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps,” Mollie took her up eagerly, “they’re the <em>very</em> same ones. -We’re not so very far from Triangle Island, you know.”</p> - -<p>“If that is true,” said the Little Captain whimsically, “maybe the toy -pistol is serving as our protection after all. If they think we’re -armed, they’ll be mighty careful how they get too close to us.”</p> - -<p>“I only hope,” said Grace, and again her tone was prayerful, “that they -don’t think to call our bluff.”</p> - -<p>There followed a long silence during which the girls tried to take up -their reading again and did not make much of a success of it.</p> - -<p>Outside the storm raged with undiminished fury, the wind threatening -any moment to tear the tent from over their heads. The rain continued -to fall in torrents.</p> - -<p>“I wish that rain would stop,” sighed Grace, uneasily. “The sound of it -in the woods outside makes me think I hear footsteps all the time.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t believe we’ll be bothered any more to-night,” said the Little -Captain.</p> - -<p>“And to-morrow,” added Amy thankfully, “the boys will be here.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">164</a></span> -After a while, since the storm seemed destined to continue through -the night and since they could not very well sit up till morning, the -Outdoor Girls finally turned out their lights and went to bed.</p> - -<p>They passed an uneasy, comfortless night with one or the other of them -forever getting up to steal over to the tent flap and peer fearfully -into the darkness beyond. It is safe to say that not one of them slept -two solid hours of the time.</p> - -<p>And when morning came, revealing a dreary dark day, they felt, as they -looked, hollow-eyed and spiritless.</p> - -<p>“The weather looks just the way I feel,” remarked Grace, as she went -mechanically about the preparing of breakfast. “I’m so sleepy I can -hardly keep my eyes open.”</p> - -<p>However, later in the morning, it seemed as though nature relented of -her harsh treatment and decided to give the girls a bit of sunshine. -And it is remarkable what a difference a little sun will make.</p> - -<p>The girls perked up miraculously and began clearing up the camp in -anticipation of the boys’ arrival.</p> - -<p>“I wonder when they’ll be here,” mused Mollie, as she gathered all -paper and bits of refuse<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">165</a></span> from in front of the tent and made them into -a neat pile ready to be burned.</p> - -<p>“About noon, I suppose,” said the Little Captain. All morning she had -been wondering if Allen would be with the boys, and now as the time -drew near for their arrival she was nervous and jumpy, not at all like -her usual calm young self.</p> - -<p>The girls noticed the change, and once Mollie said, teasingly:</p> - -<p>“Cheer up, honey. You know Will promised to bring Allen along, if he -had to do it at the end of a rope. And you know, too, that Will is a -man of his word!”</p> - -<p>“I wonder,” Amy had added, casually, “if Allen has fixed up the matter -of that old man’s will yet. He has been so very mysterious about it——”</p> - -<p>“That he’s made us all curious,” finished Grace.</p> - -<p>“I don’t see why,” said Mollie, pushing some burning scraps back into -the heap of blazing paper, “he doesn’t tell us what he knows and let us -share in the fun.”</p> - -<p>“He will, when he gets ready,” said Betty, adding with a little caper -she could not repress: “Oh, girls, it’s almost eleven o’clock. Aren’t -you getting a bit excited?”</p> - -<p>“Getting!” drawled Grace. “We have been, all along. Look at Amy,” she -added with a chuckle,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">166</a></span> “hanging up a piece of rag and throwing her -jacket on the floor!”</p> - -<p>“She has it bad, poor child,” laughed Mollie, as, caught in the act, -Amy laughed sheepishly.</p> - -<p>“If you were attending to your own affairs, you wouldn’t have time to -see so much,” she retorted, proceeding to restore her jacket to its -proper place.</p> - -<p>“There’s one thing we must remember,” said Betty soberly. “And that is, -not to neglect our Old Maid of the Mountains just because the boys are -here. I think she has come to depend on us more than we think.”</p> - -<p>The girls agreed to this, saying that nothing should make them forget -the lonely little old lady in the cabin up on the hill.</p> - -<p>And then, a little before they expected them, came the boys.</p> - -<p>The girls heard their voices before they saw them, and Betty’s heart -jumped when she recognized Allen’s voice. Not till that moment had she -realized how great had been her fear that his “mysterious” case would -make it necessary for him to remain in town.</p> - -<p>The girls gave one hasty moment to the smoothing of their hair, made -untidy by a rather stiff breeze, and the next moment were rushing into -the woods to meet the boys half way.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">167</a></span> -They had agreed not to show too much enthusiasm over the arrival of the -latter for the reason, as Mollie had stated, that the boys were getting -spoiled with so much attention showered upon them.</p> - -<p>But in the joy of the moment the girls forgot all about their -resolution, with the result that the boys were treated to a most -riotous welcome.</p> - -<p>“Seems as if we were getting pretty popular around here, fellows,” said -Roy, with a grin, and Mollie promptly attempted to put him in his place.</p> - -<p>“<em>Any</em> man would be welcome under the circumstances,” she said -haughtily, and not till afterward did the boys think to ask her what -she meant by that statement.</p> - -<p>As for Allen, he made straight for Betty where she had lingered a -little behind the others.</p> - -<p>“Say, it’s been a long time,” he cried boyishly, taking both her hands -in his, his brown, handsome face alight with eagerness. “Did you miss -me, Betty?”</p> - -<p>“Never mind us, Allen,” drawled Grace, with a wink at the assembled -company. “Would it be doing you a favor to remove ourselves from the -surrounding landscape?”</p> - -<p>“Don’t bother,” laughed Allen, while the wild<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">168</a></span> rose in Betty’s face -turned a deeper pink. “We don’t mind you in the least, do we, Betty?”</p> - -<p>“Not at all,” said Betty, demurely, and Mollie threw up her hands in -despair.</p> - -<p>“They’re just plain crazy, both of them,” she said. A moment later she -turned to Frank, adding in a different tone: “What’s the matter with -you and Will, anyway? You both look as mad as hops.”</p> - -<p>“That’s nothing to the way we feel,” Frank assured her, and immediately -he and Will poured forth a tale that made the girls stare in surprise -and excitement.</p> - -<p>It seemed that when Frank and Will had started back to Deepdale the -morning after they had spent the night in camp with the girls, helping -them get up their tent, they had not gone very far along the road when -they had been stopped by a couple of rough-looking men. The latter had -flourished pistols at them and commanded them to “Loosen up!”</p> - -<p>“Oh! And did you?” queried Amy, horrified.</p> - -<p>Will shrugged.</p> - -<p>“What else could we do?” he said. “We were unarmed.”</p> - -<p>“Did—did they steal much?” asked Grace, going around to Will as though -to protect him from the danger which had threatened him.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">169</a></span> -“They took my watch and some odd change I happened to have on me, and -forty dollars of Frank’s,” said Will, at which Frank pulled a long face.</p> - -<p>“It was just after pay day,” he admitted ruefully.</p> - -<p>“And we’ve been spending all our spare time since trying to find the -scoundrels,” finished Will, grimly. “And we’ll get ’em yet!”</p> - -<p>“Let us help,” begged Amy. She was always very brave when Will was -around. “If you were robbed near here maybe the same tramps did it that -have been annoying us.”</p> - -<p>“What?” cried Allen, his anxious glance traveling toward Betty. He -had heard of the set-to the girls had had with the tramps on Triangle -Island from Will and Frank, and it is safe to say the young lawyer had -not spent a really comfortable minute since. “Are those fellows still -bothering you?”</p> - -<p>“I think they came again last night,” admitted the Little Captain. -“They gave us a good deal of a scare, but as soon as they knew we had -seen them, they ran off into the woods again.”</p> - -<p>“Cowards!” muttered Allen, clenching his fist. “I’d just like to get my -hands on them!”</p> - -<p>“You have nothing on me, old man,” Will assured him. “As soon as we -get some lunch”—here<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">170</a></span> he sent a pleading glance in the direction of -the girls—“it will be our job to comb the surrounding country pretty -thoroughly. If we don’t find the thieves, at least we can make a good -try at it.”</p> - -<p>So agitated were the girls and boys over this latest act of the -ruffianly tramps that they did not eat lunch with as much zest as -usual. All they could think of was their eagerness to start off on a -search for the thieves who had so boldly robbed the two boys.</p> - -<p>It was decided that they separate into pairs—Allen and Betty, Frank -and Mollie, Roy and Grace, and Amy and Will, advancing in different -directions through the woods. They were to return to the camp in an -hour or two and report what they had found—if anything.</p> - -<p>“And we want to make it a point to cover as much distance as possible,” -said Will, just before they started. “No stopping on the way, you know.”</p> - -<p>“Speak for yourself, Will Ford,” Mollie retorted. “You needn’t worry -about the rest of us.”</p> - -<p>Then they parted, setting off briskly on their tour of inspection.</p> - -<p>For quite a distance Betty and Allen were silent, occupied with their -rather sober<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">171</a></span> thoughts. Then Betty, realizing that they had not spoken -for a long while, looked up at Allen teasingly.</p> - -<p>“Don’t look so dreadfully black and cross,” she said. “Have I offended -you, m’lord?”</p> - -<p>“Heavens, no,” said Allen, adding with a deepening of the scowl on his -forehead: “I want to find those tramps, Betty, and put them where they -can’t cause you any more trouble. I can’t tell you how worried I am -about leaving you here, alone and unprotected.”</p> - -<p>“I’m not alone, the girls are with me,” Betty protested, with a -maddening smile.</p> - -<p>“Bosh!” retorted Allen impolitely, at which the Little Captain only -chuckled.</p> - -<p>There followed another long silence in which they conscientiously -searched the surrounding woodland in an attempt to discover something -that might give them a clew to the whereabouts of the tramps. Again it -was Betty who broke the silence.</p> - -<p>“Allen,” she said, “you’re worried about something else besides me, -aren’t you?”</p> - -<p>Allen started as though she had read his thoughts.</p> - -<p>“You are a little witch, aren’t you?” he asked, lightly. “You can even -tell what a fellow’s thinking.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">172</a></span> -“But what is wrong?” persisted Betty. “Won’t you tell me, please?”</p> - -<p>Betty was irresistible when she spoke that way—at least she was to -Allen.</p> - -<p>“I didn’t mean to trouble you with it,” he said, reluctantly. -“Especially as I’m still not at liberty to go into details. But I <em>am</em> -worried, Betty. You see, it’s my duty, as a lawyer, to see that justice -is done whenever it is possible. And now I have reason to believe—to -know—that a great injustice has been committed and I can’t see my way -clear to righting the wrong.”</p> - -<p>“Is it,” asked Betty, after a sympathetic silence, “anything to do with -that old man’s will—the client who died?”</p> - -<p>Allen nodded. Then he said suddenly, turning to her with his old -cheerful smile: “But we’re not going to let shop talk spoil our fun, -are we, little Betty? I’ll have to be going back on Monday.”</p> - -<p>“Oh,” cried Betty, disappointed, “can’t you stay?”</p> - -<p>“I’m afraid not,” said Allen, gravely. “Business is business, you know.”</p> - -<p>“Y-yes,” said Betty doubtfully. “I suppose so.”</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">173</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="xxi" id="xxi"></a>CHAPTER XXI<br /> -<span>LONELINESS</span></h2> - - -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> campers failed to find the tramps. Grace and Roy stumbled across an -old hut, where it was evident somebody had been living recently, but -the place was empty and gave every appearance of desertion. So, after -searching thoroughly through the surrounding woods, the two were forced -to return to camp with only this meager find to report.</p> - -<p>However, as the rest of the party had found no trace whatever of the -tramps, Grace and Roy were consoled and began to think that they had, -after all, come away with what small honors there were.</p> - -<p>The next day the young people took up the search again and pursued it -faithfully, but they met with no greater success than they had the day -before.</p> - -<p>“I’m beginning to think the tramps must live in a hole in the ground,” -said Grace, disconsolately, as they sat about the campfire Sunday -evening recounting the day’s experiences.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">174</a></span> -“If they do, they’ll have to come up for air sometime,” said Betty, -adding belligerently: “And when they do, we’ll get ’em!”</p> - -<p>“’At a boy,” said Frank, adding, as he lazily poked the fire with a -stick: “And now what do you say we change the subject? I’m sick of the -very name of tramp.”</p> - -<p>It was with decided reluctance that Allen said good-by to Betty the -following morning.</p> - -<p>“I wish you’d chuck it all and come back with me,” he pleaded for -perhaps the fiftieth time. But Betty only shook her head.</p> - -<p>“I couldn’t,” she said. “It would be running away. And besides, we’re -perfectly safe here.”</p> - -<p>Allen was not a bit sure about it, but as he had already used all the -arguments he could think of, he was forced to give in.</p> - -<p>Roy decided to accompany Allen back to Deepdale, saying that, as much -as he deplored the fact, duty called him, and the girls, after loud -lamentations, finally surrendered to the inevitable.</p> - -<p>“I don’t see why you pull such long faces,” Frank reproached them once. -“Won’t you have Will and me still with you?”</p> - -<p>“Humph,” Mollie retorted, “and do you think you’re the whole universe?”</p> - -<p>And then Allen and Roy were gone, promising to return at the earliest -possible moment.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">175</a></span> -The Outdoor Girls and their two remaining escorts returned to camp to -discuss plans for the day. Betty was unusually thoughtful. She was -remembering what Allen had said about the injustice that had been done -by that old man who had died with something on his mind.</p> - -<p>“I hope Allen sees that justice is done, and pretty soon,” she mused, -rather wistfully. “He is so absorbed and queer these days that he isn’t -like the old Allen a bit.”</p> - -<p>She came out of her reverie to find that the boys and girls were in the -midst of an animated discussion as to whether they should go fishing or -not. It seemed that the boys were for the sport and the girls against -it.</p> - -<p>“Not for me, thank you,” said Grace, decidedly. “Mollie and I spent the -whole afternoon a while ago trying for trout and never caught one.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, well,” said Frank, patronizingly, “you just didn’t know how to go -about it, that’s all.”</p> - -<p>“I tell you what let’s do,” proposed Betty, wading boldly into the -fray. “If you boys want to go fishing, go ahead. And while you’re -wasting your perfectly good time, we’ll go to see the Old Maid of the -Mountains.”</p> - -<p>“The what?” asked both boys together, and at their comical look of -perplexity, the girls giggled.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">176</a></span> -They told of their discovery of the little old lady, and, somewhat to -the surprise of the girls, the boys evinced a very real interest. And -when Betty graphically related the feast they had had in the cabin of -the Old Maid of the Mountains, Frank, in an injured tone, declared:</p> - -<p>“It wasn’t fair to pull off a party like that without giving us a bid.”</p> - -<p>After the boys had started out gayly, promising to bring home at least -a dozen fish, the girls set out in a different direction. They felt -rather penitent because they had not seen the little old lady for two -days and they wondered if she had been frightened at all during the -storm. Also they were anxious to see more of her exquisite embroideries.</p> - -<p>“It certainly is queer,” marveled Mollie, as they neared the little -house on the top of the hill, “that we just happened to run across the -little old lady and find out she’s the same one the girl in the Woman’s -Exchange told us of.”</p> - -<p>The girls agreed that it was, Amy adding something unoriginal to the -effect that “it was a pretty small world, after all.”</p> - -<p>The girls found the little old woman as gentle and uncomplaining as -ever, although they thought they could sense under the calmness of her -manner how much she had missed them.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">177</a></span> -When Grace asked to see some more of her needlework, the old lady’s -eyes brightened and she hurried into the next room, returning with two -or three pieces of such elaborate and exquisite workmanship that the -girls were newly astonished.</p> - -<p>“How in the world did you ever learn to do it?” asked Betty.</p> - -<p>“My mother taught me when I was a child,” returned the queer little -person, evidently much pleased and flattered by their admiration. “My -mother did wonderful work.”</p> - -<p>“It couldn’t have been better than this,” protested Amy, at which the -little old lady shook her head doubtfully, although she looked more -proud and pleased than ever.</p> - -<p>They spent a happy afternoon with their Old Maid of the Mountains, -listening to her sprightly reminiscences of “the days when she was -young.” But as the hours passed there seemed to be a good deal of -sadness mixed with her mood and she fell frequently into long silences -from which the girls found it difficult to arouse her.</p> - -<p>They were worried about her, for she seemed to have grown even more -feeble since they had last seen her and she had formed the habit of -muttering to herself.</p> - -<p>Once Betty heard her say, so softly that the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">178</a></span> Little Captain could -hardly be sure she heard the words at all:</p> - -<p>“The injustice of it, oh, the <em>injustice</em> of it!”</p> - -<p>Betty wrinkled her pretty brows in a thoughtful expression and sighed, -wishing she could do something to help.</p> - -<p>“I don’t suppose anything can be done, after all,” she thought with -another sigh. “The world is full of injustice.”</p> - -<p>During one of her talkative spells the girls learned that the real name -of the Old Maid of the Mountains was Isabella Weeks and that the little -cabin she now occupied once belonged to her grandfather.</p> - -<p>“It’s about the only thing I have left,” the old lady had said in a -burst of confidence and had immediately relapsed into one of her long -silences.</p> - -<p>On their way back to camp that night the girls were unusually -thoughtful. Through Betty’s head kept running persistently the refrain -of the little old lady’s muttered words:</p> - -<p>“The injustice of it, oh, the <em>injustice</em> of it!”</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">179</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="xxii" id="xxii"></a>CHAPTER XXII<br /> -<span>A CLEW</span></h2> - - -<p><span class="smcap">As</span> the Outdoor Girls were nearing camp Mollie finally broke the long -silence that had fallen upon them.</p> - -<p>“Something’s got to be done for that old lady,” she said, explosively. -“She oughtn’t to live up there all alone. Didn’t you notice to-day how -queer she acted? It’s enough to drive anybody crazy, living alone like -that.”</p> - -<p>“I think she has probably had a great deal of trouble——” began Amy.</p> - -<p>“Humph,” grunted Mollie. “She has plenty of that now.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, but I mean in her early life,” persisted Amy. “Do you notice that -every time she tries to tell us about something real connected with her -girlhood she brings herself up short——”</p> - -<p>“And closes up like a clam?” Grace finished, adding, with a nod: “Yes, -I’ve noticed that.”</p> - -<p>“I suppose if her past life hasn’t been pleasant,” said Betty, gently, -“she naturally wouldn’t want to talk about it.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">180</a></span> -“That’s true, of course,” argued Mollie. “But she doesn’t have to be -so—so—secretive about it. She acts as though there were some mystery -that she was trying to conceal.”</p> - -<p>“Well, it’s her mystery,” drawled Grace. “I suppose she has a perfect -right to conceal it if she wants to.”</p> - -<p>“But we really ought to help her,” said Mollie, going back to her -original point. “She’s far too old and feeble to be living alone.”</p> - -<p>They walked on for a while in silence and then Mollie asked suddenly:</p> - -<p>“By the way, Betty—I meant to ask you before—has Allen said anything -about that case he was working on?”</p> - -<p>“Not much,” answered Betty, “except that he’s still working on it. He -says he can’t really say anything about it yet.”</p> - -<p>“There you go again,” said Mollie, feeling injured. “I believe he’s -just cooking up something, so as to make us curious.”</p> - -<p>“Hardly,” laughed Betty, adding, reasonably: “It must be pretty serious -to keep him in town, you know, when he’s crazy to be here with us. -Well, what in the world——” she broke off to stare as they came out -into the open space before their camp.</p> - -<p>Frank and Will had returned from their fishing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">181</a></span> trip and, unlike -Mollie and Grace, they had not returned empty-handed. No wonder the -girls stared. There were at least a dozen good-sized fish in the -pan, all cleaned and ready for cooking. Having got thus far in their -preparations, the boys had turned their attention to the making of a -fire good enough to do justice to the day’s catch.</p> - -<p>When they espied the girls they beckoned to them gleefully.</p> - -<p>“Come hither and look what we have brought,” called Frank, invitingly.</p> - -<p>“We see it!” exclaimed Betty heartily. “You sure did have good luck!”</p> - -<p>“Good luck nothing,” snorted Will. “That’s all the credit you ever get -for being a high-class sportsman.”</p> - -<p>“I suppose,” said Mollie, with elaborate sarcasm, “that you simply -whistled to the innocent fish and they came running.”</p> - -<p>“Swimming,” corrected Frank, gravely, at which nonsense they were -forced to laugh.</p> - -<p>The delightful days passed one after another till it was almost time to -look for Allen and Roy again. They fished and hiked and took long rides -in the <i>Gem</i> and generally and thoroughly enjoyed themselves.</p> - -<p>However, even in the height of their fun the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">182</a></span> girls never forgot Miss -Weeks, their little Old Maid of the Mountains. They even one day -enticed her down to their camp, taking the easiest and shortest way, -later giving her a ride in the motor boat.</p> - -<p>Although the little old lady seemed to enjoy herself immensely, the -ride was never repeated. In spite of the girls’ attentions and the -wholesome food they continued to supply her with, the little old lady -grew paler day by day until she finally became so feeble it seemed as -though a strong wind might blow her away altogether.</p> - -<p>And because the girls had taken a profound interest in the lonesome old -lady and had grown very fond of her they worried a good deal about her -condition and tried hard to think of some way in which they might help -her without hurting her pride.</p> - -<p>But it seemed a problem that was almost impossible of solution and for -the present, at least, they were forced to give it up.</p> - -<p>And then Allen and Roy were with them once more, Allen still grave and -thoughtful, but very, very glad to be with them, just the same.</p> - -<p>He was relieved when the boys and girls told him there had been no sign -of the tramps during his absence and it might have been noticed that he -looked at Betty as though he thought it altogether<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">183</a></span> too good to be true -that she was still safe and happy.</p> - -<p>“You don’t know what I’ve been through,” he told her a little later -that same day. They had become separated from the others and, finding a -convenient stone wall, had hoisted themselves upon it, swinging their -feet and all ready for a good old “pow-wow.” “I’ve imagined all sorts -of awful things happening to you,” Allen went on, while Betty demurely -looked the other way. “I had you so much on my mind that I couldn’t -half attend to my work.”</p> - -<p>“I’m sorry,” said Betty, still demurely. “I tried to behave myself.”</p> - -<p>“I can’t believe it,” said Allen, banteringly. “I’ve never seen you do -it yet.”</p> - -<p>“Well,” said Betty comfortably, “I don’t intend to argue about it. The -weather’s too warm, and, besides, we never do agree.”</p> - -<p>“I think we do—sometimes—very well,” said Allen, and at his tone, -Betty hastily changed the subject.</p> - -<p>“Tell me,” she said, “about what you have been doing in town. Have you -found out any more about what that poor old man had on his mind?”</p> - -<p>“I know all about that,” said Allen, the puzzled frown growing on his -forehead which Betty had come to associate with any mention of the -case<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">184</a></span> he was working on. “I know the old man and his motives from A to -Z. If I could only find his sister——”</p> - -<p>“His sister!” Betty exclaimed, surprised, and Allen bit his lip.</p> - -<p>“I shouldn’t have said that,” he said, adding, abruptly: “Let’s talk of -something else.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know anything to talk about,” said Betty, a little coolly. -She did not like the way Allen shut her out of his confidence, even -if it was business. “We’ve been having lots of fun, but not very much -adventure.”</p> - -<p>“Miss me?” he questioned, and immediately Betty became her old -tantalizing self once more. She smiled at him mysteriously and -murmured, with her face turned the other way: “Wouldn’t you like to -know?”</p> - -<p>It was Allen’s turn to be put out. Since he said nothing, neither did -Betty, and for some time they sat staring before them, each busy with -his own thoughts.</p> - -<p>It was Betty at last who broke the rather ridiculous silence by -speaking of the Old Maid of the Mountains. By Allen’s blank stare she -realized that this was the first mention he had heard of their little -old lady.</p> - -<p>“Let’s get down and join the others,” said Betty, as she swung herself -to the ground, “and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">185</a></span> while we’re on the way I’ll tell you of our queer -little discovery.”</p> - -<p>Betty had expected Allen to be rather mildly interested, but she was -not prepared for the sudden keen interest he showed when she mentioned -the exquisite needlework of the little old lady.</p> - -<p>“What kind of embroidery does she do?” he queried, excitedly.</p> - -<p>“Why,” said Betty, puzzled at his attitude, “she does all kinds——”</p> - -<p>“Any special design, or pattern?” asked Allen, impatiently.</p> - -<p>“Why,” returned Betty, “I do recall that she seemed to have a special -fancy for butterflies and roses. It’s Danish embroidery she does, very -elaborate and a great deal of open work. But why, Allen? Why are you so -anxious to know?”</p> - -<p>Allen countered with another question.</p> - -<p>“Can I—will it be possible—for me to see this old lady?” he asked, -almost feverishly.</p> - -<p>“Allen,” said Betty, with a chuckle, “in just about a moment I’ll be -getting jealous!”</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">186</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="xxiii" id="xxiii"></a>CHAPTER XXIII<br /> -<span>THE LEAN-TO</span></h2> - - -<p><span class="smcap">For</span> answer Allen took Betty by the shoulder and shook her gently.</p> - -<p>“Betty,” he said, “I don’t think you understand how really important -this is to me. If this old lady is who I think she is, all my -difficulties are solved.”</p> - -<p>“But I don’t see——”</p> - -<p>“I’ll tell you, then,” interrupted Allen. There was no doubt but what -he was terribly in earnest and something of his excitement communicated -itself to Betty.</p> - -<p>“You remember this man who died—my client?” he began again, striding -along, his hands in his pockets, a furious frown on his face.</p> - -<p>“Remember him?” echoed Betty. “When have I had a chance to forget——”</p> - -<p>But again Allen interrupted impatiently.</p> - -<p>“This old man,” said the young lawyer, and despite herself Betty was -impressed by his earnestness, “was, as I think I have told you before,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">187</a></span> -a pretty stubborn fellow. What he believed, he believed with all his -heart and, what was more, he never allowed any one to argue with him.”</p> - -<p>For the life of her Betty could not see what this had to do with the -Old Maid of the Mountains. But she said nothing, merely wrinkling up -her nose in bewilderment as Allen rushed on.</p> - -<p>“In his younger days,” continued Allen, “he was in partnership with a -man named James Barton. Now it seems that this old man, this client of -mine, had a bitter quarrel with his partner.</p> - -<p>“People who knew both the men when they were young—and I have had -occasion to talk to quite a few of them in connection with the case and -in hope of clearing up the mystery—say that no one knew the cause of -the quarrel and neither of the two men would say a word about it one -way or another.”</p> - -<p>“But what has that to do——” began Betty, becoming more and more -puzzled.</p> - -<p>“I’m telling you,” insisted Allen. She had never known him to be so -impatient of interruption before. “Just about here enters the sister of -Luther Weeks.”</p> - -<p>“Weeks! Weeks! Luther Weeks!” repeated Betty, gazing wide-eyed at -Allen. “Who was he?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">188</a></span> -“Luther Weeks was the name of the old man who just died—my client,” -explained Allen, trying hard to be patient.</p> - -<p>“Oh!” exclaimed Betty, and then as the thing came to her with full -force she gripped his arm excitedly. “Allen,” she cried, “that is the -name of our old lady—our Old Maid of the Mountains! Isabella Weeks!”</p> - -<p>“Then that practically settles it,” returned Allen, the light of great -relief in his eyes. “By Jove, but this is luck!”</p> - -<p>“You haven’t really told me anything,” cried Betty, shaking his arm, -for it was her turn to be impatient. “Even if our Old Maid of the -Mountains is the sister of your dead client, I don’t see——”</p> - -<p>“That’s the romantic—and pathetic—part of it,” said Allen, softly. -“In her youth Isabella Weeks was engaged to be married to James Barton, -the partner of her brother, Luther Weeks.”</p> - -<p>“Oh!” exclaimed Betty, then clapped her hand over her mouth, waiting -eagerly for Allen to go on.</p> - -<p>“When the partners quarreled,” the young lawyer continued, slowly, -“Luther Weeks commanded his sister to give up Barton.”</p> - -<p>“And did she do it?” asked Betty, with all<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">189</a></span> the incredulity of a modern -girl for such weakness. “Surely she wouldn’t give her lover up because -her brother told her to.”</p> - -<p>“No,” answered Allen, with a shake of his head, “I imagine she wouldn’t -have sent James Barton away if that had been the only reason.”</p> - -<p>“Then what other was there?” asked Betty, adding with an impatient -shake of the head: “Oh, Allen, you are so slow!”</p> - -<p>“Give me time,” protested Allen, with a smile for her impatience. -Impatience was marvelously becoming to Betty. “It seems,” he went on, -“that Luther Weeks got it into his crusty head that James Barton had -mishandled funds belonging to the firm.”</p> - -<p>“Oh,” said Betty, softly, with a swift pang of pity for the Isabella -Weeks of that time. “And had he, Allen?”</p> - -<p>Allen shook his head soberly.</p> - -<p>“That’s just the pity of it,” he said. “After Luther Weeks had done all -the damage he could do by his accusations—driving his sister from him -and separating her from the man she loved—he found out that Barton had -been perfectly sincere and upright in all his transactions.”</p> - -<p>“And what had happened to him then—to James Barton, I mean?” asked -Betty breathlessly.</p> - -<p>“He had disappeared,” said Allen. “Went to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">190</a></span> some other country, -perhaps, to start life over again.”</p> - -<p>“And Isabella never saw him again?” asked Betty, pityingly.</p> - -<p>“Never, so far as any one knows,” replied Allen, adding grimly: “I tell -you Luther Weeks has had a good deal to answer for.”</p> - -<p>“And so that is what he—Luther Weeks, that is—had on his conscience?” -Betty rather stated than asked. “What about his will, Allen?”</p> - -<p>“His will makes restitution as far as restitution is possible,” -returned Allen. “He left all his money to his sister, Isabella Weeks, -in case she could be found.”</p> - -<p>Betty’s face lighted joyfully.</p> - -<p>“Oh, Allen,” she cried, “did he leave much money?”</p> - -<p>“It isn’t a fortune, but it’s enough. Forty thousand dollars.”</p> - -<p>Betty drew in her breath sharply.</p> - -<p>“Allen,” she breathed, “do you realize what that will mean to our Old -Maid of the Mountains? Not a fortune! It will seem limitless wealth to -her. Oh, I’m so glad—I’m so glad!”</p> - -<p>They heard the voices of the other girls and boys directly ahead of -them and, taking Allen by the hand, the Little Captain dragged him -eagerly forward.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">191</a></span> -“Oh, hurry, hurry!” she begged. “I can’t wait to tell them!” She -paused, eyeing Allen half doubtfully. “It will be all right to tell -them, won’t it?” she asked.</p> - -<p>“Perfectly,” said Allen, cheerfully. “I don’t care how many of them -know about it now. The more the merrier.”</p> - -<p>So Betty experienced the unutterable delight of breaking the glad news -to the girls. And, even before she had finished, they were all, by -mutual consent, starting in the direction of the cabin of the Old Maid -of the Mountains.</p> - -<p>“I can’t believe it yet,” said Mollie, her eyes looking as if they were -about to pop out of her head with wonder and delight. “And to think -that just the other day we were wondering what we could do to help her.”</p> - -<p>“I can’t wait to see her face when we tell her,” said Grace, smiling in -happy anticipation. “I reckon she will turn all rosy and pink, the way -it does sometimes when she forgets to be sad.”</p> - -<p>“It seems too wonderful to be true,” said quiet Amy, adding in a soft -little voice as if she were half ashamed of what she was saying: -“Sometimes it does seem that if you try very hard to help some one and -wish very hard for their happiness, something beautiful happens in the -end.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">192</a></span> -“It surely seems that way,” said the Little Captain.</p> - -<p>Will took Amy’s hand in his for a moment saying, with an adoring look:</p> - -<p>“Any one is lucky to have you rooting for him, Amy Blackford.”</p> - -<p>And so absorbed were they all that no one noticed they had taken the -wrong path until they had gone for a considerable distance into the -woods.</p> - -<p>This was the easiest kind of mistake to make, for at one point the two -woods paths intersected, going on from the point of intersection almost -at right angles, one to the other. In their pre-occupation, the young -folks had taken the wrong path.</p> - -<p>“A perfectly simple thing to do,” Roy declared. “But not a very serious -mistake except in that it will take us a little longer to reach the Old -Maid of the Mountains with the glad news.”</p> - -<p>In their present state of impatience, however, any sort of delay seemed -almost tragic, and the girls grumbled considerably as they turned to -retrace their steps.</p> - -<p>They had gone only a few feet when a call from Frank brought them to a -startled standstill. There was something in his voice that made them -turn quickly toward him.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">193</a></span> -“Look,” he said in a cautiously lowered tone, as he pointed ahead into -the woods. “See that smoke over there? Means a camp of some sort.”</p> - -<p>“Let’s go and investigate,” said Will immediately, feeling a sudden -terrific thirst for battle. “It was just a little further on that those -tramps attacked us the other day. Maybe—say maybe——” He said no more -but began running full speed through the woods toward the spiral of -smoke that curled upward through the trees.</p> - -<p>The girls had almost forgotten about the tramps by that time, but -Will’s excitement and lust of battle communicated itself to them and -they followed him hotfoot, careful the while to make as little noise as -possible.</p> - -<p>“We’re probably following a false scent again,” gasped Mollie. “There -isn’t one chance in a hundred there are tramps anywhere around here.”</p> - -<p>As they approached closer to their goal they could distinctly hear -the sound of voices, and their approach became still more cautious. -Creeping closer, they saw through the trees the most curious little -structure they had ever laid eyes on.</p> - -<p>It was a hut, hardly more than a lean-to, made of logs and piled -together in haphazard fashion. Grass and leaves had been used to -stuff up the cracks, and on one side—the side nearest the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">194</a></span> girls and -boys—was a small opening, evidently intended for a window.</p> - -<p>“I wonder what they do when it rains,” Betty whispered to Mollie, who -had pressed up close beside her. “They haven’t thought to put glass in -their window.”</p> - -<p>“Maybe,” said Mollie, with a suppressed chuckle, “it never rains on -this side of the house.”</p> - -<p>But Will had stolen near enough to the cabin—if such it could be -called—to look in through the window. Now he crept back to them -holding up a cautioning hand.</p> - -<p>“They’re in there!” he whispered, his eyes black with excitement and -eagerness. “The roughnecks who robbed us and a couple of others as -well!”</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">195</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="xxiv" id="xxiv"></a>CHAPTER XXIV<br /> -<span>ROMANCE</span></h2> - - -<p><span class="smcap">While</span> the Outdoor Girls were still staring at Will as though they could -not believe their ears, there came to them another sound that made them -start and look over their shoulders toward the roadway.</p> - -<p>From that direction came a babble of voices—many voices—raised in -excited and angry expostulation. The girls and boys hesitated, a bit -bewildered by this new turn of affairs, not knowing exactly what to do.</p> - -<p>And in that moment things began to happen!</p> - -<p>Out of that crazy lean-to rushed the tramps, throwing frightened -glances over their shoulders toward the roadway from which direction -the voices were steadily growing louder. They did not, in that first -moment, see the boys and girls, for the latter were pretty well hidden -by the trees and shrubbery.</p> - -<p>And when they did see them, it was too late—for two of the tramps at -least.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">196</a></span> -With a yell that startled the girls more than the sight of the tramps, -Will and Frank sprang forward, grappling with two of the men while -Allen and Roy rushed off in hot pursuit of the other two.</p> - -<p>It seemed at first as if the boys were going to get the worst of the -hand-to-hand struggle, for the men were burly ruffians and they fought -with the fury of desperation.</p> - -<p>But Will and Frank were desperate too—and mad clean through. They were -getting revenge for that other time when they had been held up in the -open road and robbed of their money and watches.</p> - -<p>It was a terrible fight while it lasted, but it came to an end with -great suddenness. Not for nothing had the boys studied the art of -wrestling.</p> - -<p>It was Will who first got the better of his enemy, tripping him neatly -as he lunged forward, and then, as the burly ruffian fell, sitting none -too lightly on his chest.</p> - -<p>Frank came a close second, smiting his opponent a knockout blow on the -point of the jaw that stretched him senseless upon the ground.</p> - -<p>So it happened that when Allen and Roy returned red and perspiring to -announce that the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">197</a></span> other two men had gotten clean away and eager to -offer assistance to Will and Frank, they found the latter in no need -whatever of their aid.</p> - -<p>And the next moment there burst through the trees a dozen of the -queerest characters the girls had ever seen—an assorted collection of -farmers from all over the countryside. And these bewhiskered gentlemen -were angry, there was no doubt in the world about that. Even their -chin-whiskers trembled with wrath.</p> - -<p>It had all happened so suddenly that the girls felt a trifle dizzy. -Besides, they did want dreadfully to laugh. Those funny old men staring -at them for all the world as though they were to blame—and Will -sitting on the fat tramp’s chest!</p> - -<p>Mollie did giggle hysterically and one of the farmers, a red-faced old -man, swung about at the slight sound.</p> - -<p>“I can’t see what all’s so funny,” he said reprovingly, at which all -the girls got suddenly red in the face and had to turn away for a -minute to gain control of their emotions. The red-faced old farmer -gazed suspiciously at their backs, then turned to Will.</p> - -<p>“What you doin’ settin’ there?” he asked, at which Will grinned -broadly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">198</a></span> -“It’s the most comfortable seat I’ve had in a long time,” he said, -rising and dusting off his hands. “Ever since this rascal here relieved -me of my watch and my friend of his money, I’ve dreamed of sitting on -his neck in just this way.”</p> - -<p>“Look out,” cried Betty suddenly. She had recovered her composure and -from the tail of her eye had noticed that Frank’s victim was coming to. -“He’s going to get away.”</p> - -<p>“Nothing like that!” cried Frank, as with one lunge he sank his hand in -the tramp’s collar. “After me spoiling a good set of knuckles on his -jaw?”</p> - -<p>And then the farmers, who up to this time had been too much amazed to -do anything, explained that they also were after the tramps. They had -been missing all sorts of poultry and fruit for a long time past but -had not been able to figure out who had done the damage.</p> - -<p>However, on the night before, Samuel Jones—he of the red face and -self-appointed leadership—had caught a couple of the rascals in the -very act of stealing two of his best hens and had made after them.</p> - -<p>In vain did he bestir his pudgy legs in an entirely unaccustomed spurt -of speed—the thieves had been too quick for him. However, before they -had disappeared he had recognized them as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">199</a></span> a couple of ill-favored -scamps who had been seen loitering around the countryside.</p> - -<p>“And so,” he finished, his chin whiskers quivering still more violently -with emotion, “I got together a posse of our leadin’ citizens, as you -might say, an’ we come a-huntin’ for these here thieves what comes -around in the middle of the night stealin’ from honest men. Much -obliged to you, young fellers, for doin’ the job up so neat for us.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t mention it,” said Frank. Will adding with a grin:</p> - -<p>“It was a great pleasure!”</p> - -<p>Next thing, the tramps were commanded to “loosen up and come across -with the goods.” At first they sullenly refused, but upon Frank -threatening to administer another upper cut and the farmers raising -their shotguns suggestively, the scoundrels changed their minds and -grudgingly led the way into the log hut.</p> - -<p>Even then the boys had no real hope of getting back the things that had -been stolen from them. The robbery had occurred long enough before to -have given the tramps plenty of time to dispose of both watch and money.</p> - -<p>But they were agreeably surprised and delighted when, upon a little -further persuasion, the fellows revealed a hiding place in one corner -of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">200</a></span> hut—a hole about a foot deep, lined with stones and covered -with several boards which, in turn, were covered with stones and dirt.</p> - -<p>With a whoop of joy Will pulled from this hiding place not only his -watch and a wallet filled with money—four ten dollar bills which -Frank positively identified as his own—but two newly plucked chickens -carefully wrapped in newspaper to keep them from the dirt.</p> - -<p>Samuel Jones’ eyes shone and his mouth beneath the whiskers was grim as -he turned to his companions.</p> - -<p>“An’ you were tellin’ me,” he said, in a voice shrill with triumph, -“that I didn’t know what I wuz talkin’ about. Them two hens is mine, -I’m tellin’ you, stole from me at twelve o’clock last night. Now you’ll -believe me, mebbe.”</p> - -<p>“Too bad to do the poor hobos out of a good chicken dinner,” Allen -suggested, with a twinkle in his eye as Mr. Jones carefully tucked his -property under one arm, taking his shotgun in the other. “Just when -they had it all prepared, too!”</p> - -<p>“Humph!” grunted Jones. “They’ll git their dinner all right—in the -county jail. Come along, you two. Forward march, now. An’ make it -snappy too. We ain’t in no humorin’ mood.”</p> - -<p>“Well,” said Betty, her eyes dancing as she watched the “posse” -disappear through the trees,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">201</a></span> the sullen tramps marching sheepishly -along with them, “if that isn’t the snappiest work I ever saw, then I -wouldn’t say so. Boys, you deserve a medal.”</p> - -<p>“And to think you got your watch and money and everything!” said Grace -delightedly, as Frank fondly caressed his recovered bank roll and Will -slipped his beloved watch back into his pocket.</p> - -<p>“It was a lucky chance that led us to take the wrong path all right,” -sighed Amy, who was secretly worrying for fear Will had received some -broken bones or internal injuries in the fray.</p> - -<p>“The only thing that makes me mad,” said Allen, as they turned to -retrace their steps, “is that we didn’t catch the other two scoundrels, -Roy. It seemed a shame to let them get off scot free.”</p> - -<p>“Tough luck,” agreed Roy, adding philosophically: “Though I guess -they’ve had scare enough to keep them away from this neighborhood for -some time to come.”</p> - -<p>Once again they reached the intersection of the two paths, and this -time chose the one that led to the cabin of the Old Maid of the -Mountains. Instinctively they increased their pace, eagerly impatient -to see the old lady.</p> - -<p>When they reached the little house on the hill there was no sign of its -owner anywhere. They<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">202</a></span> had half expected to find her seated outside the -door, enjoying the sunshine, as was her custom, and the deserted aspect -of her front yard alarmed them.</p> - -<p>They hurried forward anxiously. Then, just before they reached the -cabin, all the boys except Allen dropped behind on the plea that a -crowd of strangers might startle the old lady.</p> - -<p>“Of course it’s necessary for Allen to be among those present, but as -for us, we prefer to wait outside,” stated Roy.</p> - -<p>At Betty’s soft knock a faint voice called to them to enter. They found -the Old Maid of the Mountains pottering about some household tasks and -her rare old face lighted up at sight of the girls.</p> - -<p>Then she caught sight of Allen and her hand flew to her throat in that -gesture of alarm the girls had come to know so well.</p> - -<p>“Who—who are you?” she gasped.</p> - -<p>Very gently the Little Captain put an arm about her and pushed her into -a chair.</p> - -<p>“Don’t be alarmed, Miss Weeks,” she said. “We’ve brought you some very -good news. Do you feel strong enough to hear it?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, oh, yes!” said the little old lady, still staring at Allen.</p> - -<p>It was then that the young lawyer came forward.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">203</a></span> Betty introduced him -very simply and he explained to Isabella Weeks as gently as he could -what had transpired within the last few weeks.</p> - -<p>During the greater part of the recital she sat like one dazed and who -finds it hard to comprehend. Only once did she show any real emotion, -and that was when Allen spoke of James Barton’s innocence.</p> - -<p>“Innocent!” she cried, a great pride flashing up in her eyes. “You need -not tell me that. I was not the one who doubted his innocence. But -before I could tell him that he had gone, thinking himself disgraced. -But go on,” she added, gently. “I did not mean to interrupt.”</p> - -<p>So Allen finished his story, telling of her brother’s death and the -will which he had made in her favor. She seemed more startled at first -by the mention of the money which was now hers than she was delighted.</p> - -<p>“What would I do with all that money?” she cried, almost with dismay. -“I could not use it all.”</p> - -<p>“But you could use some of it,” said Betty, adding, slyly: “Wouldn’t it -be rather nice for instance to have a pretty home with roses over the -door and a maid or two to wait upon you and never another worry as long -as you live?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">204</a></span> -The old lady smiled, gently stroking Betty’s soft cheek.</p> - -<p>“It would be nice,” she said. “Especially the roses. And butterflies. -Do you think there will be butterflies?” She asked the last question -with all the wistfulness of a child and this time it was Mollie who was -quick to promise.</p> - -<p>“You shall have dozens of them,” she said. “And they’ll be every color -of the rainbow.”</p> - -<p>This reminded Allen of the embroideries which had been the main -clew leading to the discovery of the old lady. He asked if he might -see them, and a moment later a handful were given to him for his -inspection. Man though he was, he could not but see the rare beauty of -the work, and when he handed them back to Isabella Weeks there was a -new respect in his eyes.</p> - -<p>“Your brother spoke particularly of your fine needlework,” he said, -adding gravely: “Your brother was very, very anxious that you should -be found. Almost his last words were of you with the hope that, if -you still lived, you would some day come to forgive him for his cruel -injustice.”</p> - -<p>Tears filled the old lady’s eyes.</p> - -<p>“He was forgiven long ago,” she murmured.</p> - -<p>Allen was about to turn away out of respect<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">205</a></span> for her emotion when she -suddenly laid a frail old hand on his arm.</p> - -<p>“And James Barton?” she murmured. “Is he—Do you know where he is?”</p> - -<p>Allen shook his head.</p> - -<p>“Would you like to have me find him?” he asked gently.</p> - -<p>The girls looked at their little Old Maid of the Mountains and found -that their own eyes were filled with tears. The old lady was blushing -like any girl and for the moment her sweet old face was almost -beautiful.</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes!” she answered eagerly.</p> - -<p>“Then,” said Allen, covering her thin little hand with his own strong -brown one, “James Barton shall be found!”</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">206</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="xxv" id="xxv"></a>CHAPTER XXV<br /> -<span>YOUNG HEARTS</span></h2> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Never</span> before in all their rather adventurous lives had the Outdoor -Girls been so thrilled. It seemed incredible to them that their Old -Maid of the Mountains whom they had befriended out of pity should turn -out to be the heroine of such a genuine romance.</p> - -<p>As for the little old lady herself, she professed an eager desire to -get back to the city, and although she gave as her reason a natural -wish to have legal matters in regard to her dead brother’s will -settled, the girls knew that in reality she was hoping to meet James -Barton, the wronged lover, of her younger days.</p> - -<p>As soon as it was settled that Isabella Weeks was to return to the -city, there to occupy a small apartment until she should secure a more -suitable home, the girls lost all interest in their camp. They had -about decided to return to Deepdale with the old lady when the latter -herself settled the question for them.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">207</a></span> -Allen had returned to town, intent upon carrying out his promise to -find James Barton, if such a thing were possible. But the other boys -had remained with the girls at the camp, thinking that since the latter -were planning to return to Deepdale so soon anyway, they, the boys, -might wait so all could go together.</p> - -<p>They were up at her cabin one day soon after the breaking of the news. -Isabella Weeks suddenly turned to the girls, a wistful expression on -her sweet old face.</p> - -<p>“I have a favor to ask of you,” she said, and paused, while the puzzled -girls waited for her to go on. “I wonder,” said the old lady after a -moment, “if you would take pity on an old woman and help her find a -pretty little home somewhere——”</p> - -<p>The girls did not wait for her to finish. Ardently they hugged her, -assuring her that there was nothing in the world they would like better -than to help her.</p> - -<p>“We wanted to ask you to let us,” said Amy, taking one old hand in -hers and patting it gently, “but we thought you might think we were -interfering——”</p> - -<p>“Oh, my dears,” the little old lady replied, with a catch in her -breath, “you could never interfere. Why, everything I have, I owe to -you.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">208</a></span> -And though this statement was not quite true, the girls did not think -it worth while to contradict the little lady, for they loved to see her -with that soft flush of excitement on her cheeks and the light of a new -found interest in her eyes.</p> - -<p>Thus it came to pass that the girls found themselves in the agreeable -position of escort to the Old Maid of the Mountains and they looked -forward eagerly to their return to Deepdale and the finding of the -“right kind of little home” for their friend.</p> - -<p>“It does seem a shame,” Mollie remarked when a few days later they -were clearing up the camp preparatory to leaving for Deepdale the next -morning, “to go home when we still have several weeks of lovely weather -before us.”</p> - -<p>“We’ll still have lovely weather in Deepdale,” retorted Grace. “And I, -for one, wouldn’t miss the fun we’re going to have for all the camping -in the world.”</p> - -<p>“Nor I,” agreed Betty, adding wistfully: “I do hope Allen can find -James Barton.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I hope so!” echoed Amy fervently. “Miss Weeks has so set her heart -on finding him that it will be a terrible blow if he fails to turn up.”</p> - -<p>“What I’m afraid of,” said Mollie, with a dark frown while she -carefully folded an extra blanket, “is that this old lover of hers is -dead.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">209</a></span> After all these years it would be hardly possible that he’s -still alive. Allen said he was several years older than our old lady, -and she’s pretty old.”</p> - -<p>“Goodness! don’t be so gloomy,” protested the Little Captain. “I’m not -going to believe anything like that until I have to.”</p> - -<p>The next morning, ably assisted by the boys, the girls got their -paraphernalia aboard the <i>Gem</i>. It was a glorious morning, a fact for -which they were profoundly grateful. The trip would be hard enough on -the little old lady, under the most favorable circumstances, and bad -weather would be sure to complicate matters.</p> - -<p>However, luck was on their side and they accomplished the journey -without the slightest mishap. The engine of the <i>Gem</i> was working -beautifully, with the result that they made record time.</p> - -<p>Once the little boat was made fast to the dock at Deepdale Betty rushed -up to her house, explained to her understanding and sympathetic mother -about the old lady, and then, backing her little roadster out of the -garage, rushed back to the dock again.</p> - -<p>Then she drove off with the old lady, leaving the boys and the other -girls to attend to the <i>Gem</i> and the disposal of its cargo. For Betty, -like the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">210</a></span> Little Captain she was, had decided to take the Old Maid of -the Mountains to her own home until she and the other girls should have -a chance to find the ideal home for the little old lady.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Nelson welcomed her guest with her usual warm kindliness and, -seeing that Miss Weeks was nearly exhausted from the unusual exertion -of the morning, hurried her off to bed, promising to have “something -hearty” sent up on a tray.</p> - -<p>To Isabella Weeks it was untold luxury to be so fussed over and cared -for. She tried several times to express her gratitude, but emotion so -choked her that the words would not come.</p> - -<p>Once when Betty was starting to leave the room, she caught at the -girl’s hand, pressing it for a moment to her withered old cheek.</p> - -<p>“I was right,” she murmured. “Your mother is very lovely, dear child; -and you are just like her.”</p> - -<p>Then followed days of house hunting and furniture selection that were -pure joy to the Outdoor Girls. Although the little old lady was too -frail to go with them on their shopping trips, each evening they talked -over the adventures of the day with her, telling her just what they had -bought and submitting long lists, with the price opposite each article, -for her inspection.</p> - -<p>They found exactly the right kind of house,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">211</a></span> a little four-room -bungalow with a broad, low porch and window boxes in every window. This -they furnished gayly with wicker and cretonne and comfortable cushions -heaped up everywhere.</p> - -<p>When it was all ready—complete even to the maid with white cap and -apron—they proudly bore the old lady to her new home, triumphantly -exhibiting the results of their work.</p> - -<p>The old lady seemed completely carried away with delight. And so they -were taken totally unawares when after an inspection of the four -rooms the owner of the pretty bungalow dropped into a deep-seated, -gayly-cushioned chair and, covering her face with her hands, began to -weep silently.</p> - -<p>Disconcerted, utterly bewildered, the girls stared at her. But suddenly -the little old lady lifted a face to them that was radiant through the -tears.</p> - -<p>“Don’t be alarmed, my dears,” she said, in her quaint, wistful way. -“I’m not ill. I don’t believe joy ever made any one ill, do you?”</p> - -<p>“Not ever in the world!” answered the Little Captain, happily.</p> - -<p>Days followed during which the girls were almost always with Isabella -Weeks. Through all the red tape of legal procedure she insisted on -their presence. And though her health seemed to improve<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">212</a></span> daily, owing -to good food and good care and lack of worry, the girls noticed that -she was restless and uneasy, seeming always to listen for some one who -did not come.</p> - -<p>“She’s waiting for James Barton,” thought Betty, adding softly: “I hope -we hear good news from Allen soon.”</p> - -<p>Betty heard from the young lawyer nearly every day, but he gave no -assurance that he would be able to locate James Barton. In fact, he was -so noncommittal about the result of his search that the girls finally -began to believe the worst.</p> - -<p>Then one evening, as Betty read to the old lady and the rest of the -girls lounged about the pretty living room, there was a sudden sounding -of a motor horn from without the house that drew them all to their feet.</p> - -<p>The little old lady turned suddenly white, her hand flew to her throat. -Betty, having glanced out the window, came over and laid a quieting -hand on the old lady’s shoulder. One would never have told from Betty’s -voice how her heart was thumping.</p> - -<p>“It’s Allen,” she said, softly. “And he has some one with him.”</p> - -<p>The next moment the door was flung open and Allen himself stepped -inside the room. Beside<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">213</a></span> him was one of the handsomest old gentlemen -the girls had ever seen. Erect and soldierly in his bearing, -broad-shouldered and ruddy of face, with a mass of curly iron gray -hair, he was the kind of man one instinctively turns and stares after -in the street.</p> - -<p>There was a moment of tense silence while the two who had been lovers -in their youth looked deep into each other’s eyes. Then James Barton -started forward, eager hands outstretched.</p> - -<p>“Isabella!” he cried. “After all the wasted years I’ve come to you! Are -you glad?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, my dear!” the words seemed wrung from the little old lady as she -lifted her face to him. “All my life—I think—I’ve waited for this -moment——”</p> - -<p>Stumblingly, eyes blinded by tears, the girls found themselves outside -the house. Somehow Betty’s hand slipped into Allen’s.</p> - -<p>“You—you’re wonderful, Allen!” she whispered. “How did you ever do it?”</p> - -<p>The young lawyer leaned close to her.</p> - -<p>“I promised I would, didn’t I?” said he.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Two weeks later on a gloriously sunshiny morning, within the dim -interior of “the little church around the corner” before the minister -stood a pair of lovers, old in years but possessing the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">214</a></span> priceless gift -of hearts that will always be young.</p> - -<p>The slender, blue-veined hand of the little Old Maid of the Mountains -trembled in the grip of James Barton but her voice was sweet and -resolute as she answered clearly, “I do.”</p> - -<p>Back in the pew where four Outdoor Girls and four stalwart lads were -gathered, there sounded a muffled little sob. It was Amy who was crying -and Will quite openly and shamelessly held her hand.</p> - -<p>Then gently, as though unconsciously, Allen’s arm stole about -the Little Captain, drawing her close to him. And because of the -warmth about her heart—perhaps because of other reasons too, who -knows?—Betty did not draw away.</p> - - -<p class="center p120 mt3">THE END</p> - - - - -<div class="section"> -<hr class="divider" /> -</div> - -<p class="center p180 u"><strong><em>This Isn’t All!</em></strong></p> - -<div class="book-container"> -<p class="noi">Would you like to know what became of the good friends you have made in -this book?</p> - -<p class="noi">Would you like to read other stories continuing their adventures and -experiences, or other books quite as entertaining by the same author?</p> - -<p class="noi">On the <em>reverse side</em> of the wrapper which comes with this book, you -will find a wonderful list of stories which you can buy at the same -store where you got this book.</p> -</div> - -<p class="center p150"><strong><em>Don’t throw away the Wrapper</em></strong></p> - -<div class="book-container"> -<p class="noi"><i>Use it as a handy catalog of the books you want some day to have. -But in case you do mislay it, write to the Publishers for a complete -catalog.</i></p> -</div> - - - -<div class="section"> -<hr class="divider" /> -</div> - -<p class="center p180">THE OUTDOOR GIRLS SERIES</p> -<p class="center p120">By LAURA LEE HOPE<br/> -<em>Author of “The Blythe Girls Books.”</em></p> - -<hr class="double-thin" /> - -<p class="center p130">Every Volume Complete in Itself.</p> - -<hr class="double-thin" /> - -<div class="book-container"> -<p>These are the adventures of a group of bright, fun-loving, up-to-date -girls who have a common bond in their fondness for outdoor life, -camping, travel and adventure. There is excitement and humor in these -stories and girls will find in them the kind of pleasant associations -that they seek to create among their own friends and chums.</p> -</div> - -<div class="list-container-wide"> -<ul class="nobullet"> -<li>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS OF DEEPDALE</li> -<li>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT RAINBOW LAKE</li> -<li>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN A MOTOR CAR</li> -<li>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN A WINTER CAMP</li> -<li>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN FLORIDA</li> -<li>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT OCEAN VIEW</li> -<li>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN ARMY SERVICE</li> -<li>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS ON PINE ISLAND</li> -<li>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT THE HOSTESS HOUSE</li> -<li>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT BLUFF POINT</li> -<li>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT WILD ROSE LODGE</li> -<li>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN THE SADDLE</li> -<li>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AROUND THE CAMPFIRE</li> -<li>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS ON CAPE COD</li> -<li>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT FOAMING FALLS</li> -<li>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS ALONG THE COAST</li> -<li>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT SPRING HILL FARM</li> -<li>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT NEW MOON RANCH</li> -<li>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS ON A HIKE</li> -<li>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS ON A CANOE TRIP</li> -<li>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT CEDAR RIDGE</li> -<li>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN THE AIR</li> -</ul> -</div> - -<hr class="double-thin" /> - -<p class="center p120">GROSSET & DUNLAP, <span class="smcap">Publishers</span>, NEW YORK</p> - -<hr class="double" /> - - - -<div class="section"> -<hr class="divider" /> -</div> - -<p class="center p180"><i>The</i><br /> -<i>OUTDOOR GIRLS</i></p> - -<p class="center p120">By LAURA LEE HOPE<br /> -Author of The Bobbsey Twins<br /> -The Bunny Brown Series, Etc.</p> - -<hr class="double-thin" /> - -<div class="book-container"> -<p>These tales tell of the exciting adventures enjoyed by several bright, -up-to-date girls who love outdoor life.</p> -</div> - -<div class="list-container-wide"> -<ul class="nobullet"> -<li>The Outdoor Girls of Deepdale</li> -<li>The Outdoor Girls at Rainbow Lake</li> -<li>The Outdoor Girls in a Motor Car</li> -<li>The Outdoor Girls in a Winter Camp</li> -<li>The Outdoor Girls in Florida</li> -<li>The Outdoor Girls at Ocean View</li> -<li>The Outdoor Girls on Pine Island</li> -<li>The Outdoor Girls in Army Service</li> -<li>The Outdoor Girls at Hostess House</li> -<li>The Outdoor Girls at Bluff Point</li> -<li>The Outdoor Girls at Wild Rose Lodge</li> -<li>The Outdoor Girls in the Saddle</li> -<li>The Outdoor Girls Around the Campfire</li> -<li>The Outdoor Girls on Cape Cod</li> -<li>The Outdoor Girls at Foaming Falls</li> -<li>The Outdoor Girls Along the Coast</li> -<li>The Outdoor Girls at Spring Hill Farm</li> -<li>The Outdoor Girls at New Moon Ranch</li> -<li>The Outdoor Girls on a Hike</li> -<li>The Outdoor Girls on a Canoe Trip</li> -<li>The Outdoor Girls at Cedar Ridge</li> -<li>The Outdoor Girls in the Air</li> -</ul> -</div> -<hr class="double-thin" /> - -<p class="center p120">GROSSET & DUNLAP, NEW YORK</p> - - - - -<div class="section"> -<hr class="divider" /> -</div> - -<div class="book-container"> -<p class="center p180">Mystery Stories<br /> -for Girls</p> - -<p class="center p120"><i>By</i> LILIAN GARIS</p> - - -<p class="center">BARBARA HALE</p> - -<p>It was Barbara’s sympathy and understanding that helped her unravel -the mystery that surrounded the fascinating little Italians, Nicky and -Vicky—and that helped her recover the “Santa Maria” model for the -elderly Davis twins.</p> - -<p class="center">BARBARA HALE’S MYSTERY FRIEND</p> - -<p>One dark, dreary night, in the pouring rain, a little girl comes -tapping at the door of Barbara’s home. Who is she? Where is she from? -Have the strange Armenians with their beautiful embroideries anything -to do with her? Barbara has many anxious moments before she finds the -answers to these questions.</p> - -<p class="center">NANCY BRANDON</p> - -<p>Running a successful “Whatnot Shop” during her vacation did not keep -Nancy too busy to try to solve the mystery of the “disappearing” Mr. -Sanders, who had the whole town upset by his strange behavior.</p> - -<p class="center">NANCY BRANDON’S MYSTERY</p> - -<p>Nancy’s summer vacation in the New Hampshire mountains proves an -exciting one—for she determines to protect her cousin Rosa from the -bad influence of the mysterious, fiery tempered and bitter Orilla. And -Nancy has a real surprise when she discovers Orilla’s secrets.</p> - -<p class="center">JUDY JORDAN</p> - -<p>Judy seeks a writing career in New York City and makes many interesting -friends—the wealthy Estelle who wants to run away for excitement, -“Lord Dinny” who wants to write, too—and Dave Lane, a successful and -friendly reporter.</p> - -<p class="center">JUDY JORDAN’S DISCOVERY</p> - -<p>The mysterious but attractive man living alone in the Old Stewart -place piques Judy’s curiosity—and when she finally discovers his true -identity she has the surprise of her life.</p> - -<hr class="book-divider" /> - -<p class="center p120">GROSSET & DUNLAP, New York</p> - -<hr class="double" /> -</div> - - - - -<div class="section"> -<hr class="divider" /> -</div> - -<div class="book-container"> -<div class="figleft width300"> -<img src="images/nancy-drew.jpg" width="300" height="370" alt="" /> -</div> - -<p class="center pt3"><i>By</i><br /> -CAROLYN<br /> -KEENE</p> - -<p class="left-align noi mt3"><i>Solve these thrilling mysteries with Nancy Drew!</i></p> -</div> - - -<div class="book-container clear-both"> -<p class="center p180 pt1">Nancy Drew Mystery Stories</p> - -<p class="noi"><strong>THE SECRET OF THE OLD CLOCK</strong>—Nancy seeks to find a missing will -and an old clock plays a big part in the search.</p> - -<p class="noi"><strong>THE HIDDEN STAIRCASE</strong>—The discovery of a hidden staircase in an -old mansion helps to solve the secret of some mysterious happenings.</p> - -<p class="noi"><strong>THE BUNGALOW MYSTERY</strong>—Nancy has some weird experiences around a -deserted bungalow while trying to help a girl friend out of a dangerous -situation.</p> - -<p class="noi"><strong>THE MYSTERY AT LILAC INN</strong>—The strange mystery that had its -beginning at Lilac Inn needed quick thinking and instant action.</p> - -<p class="noi"><strong>THE SECRET AT SHADOW RANCH</strong>—On a vacation in Arizona Nancy -uncovers an old mystery and follows a faint clue.</p> - -<p class="noi"><strong>THE SECRET OF RED GATE FARM</strong>—Nancy becomes suspicious of a -secret society which meets on an old farm on a hillside.</p> - -<p class="noi"><strong>NANCY’S MYSTERIOUS LETTER</strong>—A thrilling story that centers around -the contents of a mysterious letter.</p> - -<p class="noi"><strong>THE SIGN OF THE TWISTED CANDLES</strong>—A chance stop at a little -country inn leads Nancy into a mysterious plot that involves a family -feud and a hidden will.</p> - -<hr class="" /> - -<p class="center p120">GROSSET & DUNLAP <i>Publishers</i> NEW YORK</p> -</div> - - - -<div class="section"> -<hr class="divider" /> -</div> -<div class="tn"> -<p class="center">Transcriber’s Note:</p> - -<p class="noi">Variations in spelling and hyphenation have been retained as they -appear in the original publication. Punctuation has been standardised.</p> -</div> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Outdoor Girls Around the Campfire, by -Laura Lee Hope - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AROUND THE *** - -***** This file should be named 60211-h.htm or 60211-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/0/2/1/60211/ - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Sue Clark and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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