"How many dresses are you going to take?"
"I wonder if we ought to bring along something for evening wear?"
"Anyhow we want something warm."
"And what about shoes—or boots? How would it do to wear leggings, like the boy scouts?"
"I'm sure we won't want anything like evening dresses. Where could we wear them up in the wilderness?"
"Why, perhaps there may be a lumbermen's dance."
"Oh, listen to Mollie! As if we'd go!"
"Why not? Of course we could go if we had a chaperone," and Mollie, who had proposed this, looked rather defiantly at her chums.
The other foregoing remarks had been shot back and forth so quickly, in such zig-zag fashion, that it was difficult to tell who said which; in many cases the authors themselves being hardly able to identify their verbal creations.
The girls were at the home of Grace, discussing, as they had been doing ever since it was practically decided that they were to go to camp, what they should take, and what to wear. It was far from being settled yet.
"Well, I'm sure of one thing," remarked Grace, "and that is that, as Amy says, we ought to have at least two warm cloth dresses."
"An extra skirt, too, would be no harm," added Betty. "If we go out in deep snow the skirt is sure to get wet, and then we could change on coming in."
"Yes, I think that would be wise," admitted Mollie. "I am almost tempted to wear—bloomers!"
"Mollie Billette!"
"I don't care," and she spoke defiantly. "More and more girls are coming to wear them. Why, if we wear them in the school gym. I don't see any harm in using them when we go camping."
"But up there—where we may meet a lot of rough lumbermen, who wouldn't understand—I'd like it, really I would," confessed Betty. "But I guess we'd better not. It's different here, and at school."
"Yes, I guess it is," admitted Mollie with a sigh. "But we can wear skirts of a sensible length, and leggings. I'm glad we thought ofthose. They'll be much more comfortable than boots, and not so heavy. But what about a light dress? Do you think we'd have any use for one? There's no use taking along a lot of clothes we won't wear."
"That's right," said Grace. "I spoke to papa about it, and he said that while there were often little affairs among the lumbermen and the residents up there, they never thought of wearing light clothes in winter. They'd think it queer if we did, and went to any of the parties. So let's don't bother with our fancy duds."
"Good!" cried Betty. "We'll be real outdoor girls, and dress as such. Well, so much is settled. I'll make a note of that," and she proceeded to set down the facts agreed to.
"Let me see," she mused, "what's this?" and she frowned over some cabalistic marks on her paper.
"Can't you read your own writing?" asked Amy with a smile.
"Well, it looks like 'hats,' but I'm sure I didn't mean that. We settled that we'd wear Tam-o'-Shanter affairs, or caps, so it can't be hats. Oh, I have it. It's 'eats'—what are we going to do about food?"
"Papa says," spoke Grace, "that we can get lots of canned stuff up there. The store thatused to supply the lumbermen is open. And we can send some cases of things from here. We can get fresh meat three times a week, and eggs from the farmers when they have any. So make a note of that, Little Captain."
"I will. But, as I understand it, the lumbermen have all left your father's camp now—it's in the hands of a receiver. Maybe the store will close."
"No, father said the country people depend on that store for their things. It wasn't just a camp grocery. It will be all right."
"Well, that settles the two important items of food and clothing," remarked Betty, checking them off on her list. "Of course we'll have to do considerable ordering, and decide on what variety we want to take, but that can be done later.
"Next, let me see what is next—oh, yes, how are we going to get to the camp—walk, ride, or——"
"Skate!" interrupted Mollie. "Why can't we skate there? It isn't so very far."
"And drag our baggage and sandwiches along behind us on sleds?" asked Betty.
"Too much work," declared Amy. "Let's hire a sled, get up a straw ride and go in style."
"Oh, say, what about Mr. Jallow? Do you think he will make trouble up there?" inquiredAmy, glancing rather apprehensively at Grace. "You know you said your father told you about his beginning to cut timber and——"
"Oh, we needn't worry about that," declared Grace with confidence. "The strip in dispute is far enough from the camp."
"Isn't it mean to have even that little worry, when it seemed as if everything was going to be so nice?" murmured Mollie. "And that Alice Jallow! I met her and Kittie on the street yesterday afternoon and I just cut them both—dead."
"Mollie, you never did!" cried gentle Amy.
"Yes I did, and I'll do it again. I guess they were surprised, for I heard them chattering like two—two crows—when I passed on."
"Serves them right—the way they talked about Amy," exclaimed Grace.
"Oh, but I don't want you girls to get into trouble on my account—to fight my—my battles for me," faltered Amy. "It is unpleasant enough as it is, without making it worse."
"Now don't you worry, little one," said Betty soothingly. "We can look after ourselves, and I'd like to know why we should not break a lance or two in your behalf."
"Of course!" cried Mollie.
"You're a member of our club," declaredGrace, "and club members must stand up for each other."
"Certainly," agreed Betty. "I don't like quarrels any more than you girls do, but I do think that Alice Jallow ought to know that we resent what she said."
"Oh, she knows it all right!" exclaimed Mollie. "I took good care that she should! She's a regular—cat. No other word expresses what I mean, and I don't care if it isn't a nice thing to say about a girl. She deserves it."
Amy flushed and looked troubled.
"Don't let's talk about it," suggested Betty quickly, catching an appealing glance from her little chum. "We all know there isn't the least foundation for it, any more than there was at first, and that's an old story."
"Oh, yes, there is a little more basis for it," said Amy in a low voice, and with a hasty look around.
"There is?" cried Betty, before she thought. "Oh, I didn't mean that!" she added quickly. "Don't tell us—unless it will make you feel better, Amy."
"It will, I think. I have been going to ever since the day Alice hurt me so, but I couldn't seem to come to it. But of late there has been a change in—in Mr. and Mrs. Stonington."
"Don't you call them Uncle and Aunt any more?" asked Grace in a low voice.
"I do to their faces—yes, but I don't think of them that way," and Amy's voice faltered.
"Why?" Betty wanted to know.
"Because, by the merest accident, I found the other day, a piece of paper in—in Mr. Stonington's desk. I had read it before I realized it and it intimated that a mistake had been made in assuming that the envelope pinned on my dress, when I was rescued from the flood, was really intended to be on me. In that case Mr. and Mrs. Stonington would be no relation to me."
"But if the envelope with their names and address on it was found on you, why shouldn't it refer to you?" asked Mollie.
"Because there weretwobabies rescued in that flood."
"Two babies?" It was a general chorus of surprise from the three girls.
"Yes. I was one. There was another. A man saved both of us, and set us on an improvised raft. He found the envelope lying loose near us, and as it was nearer to me he pinned it on my dress, assuming that it had come from my sleeve. But it may have been on the other baby."
"How did this become known?" asked Grace.
"Through this man. It seems that some newspaper reporter, on the anniversary of the flood in Rocky Ford—that's where I was found—this reporter wrote up the former incidents about it. He interviewed several who had made rescues, and this man was one. He told of having found two babies, and one paper. I know Mr. and Mrs. Stonington, who read this account, must have had their doubts about me raised anew, for I overheard them talking very earnestly about it."
"Poor Amy!" sighed Grace.
"Yes, it's dreadful not to know who you are," said Amy, with a rather cheerless smile. "But I am getting used to it now. It did hurt, though, to hear what Alice said about it that day."
"I should think so—the mean thing!" snapped Mollie, her quick temper on the verge of rising.
"But I know, no matter what happens, that Mr. and Mrs. Stonington will always care for me," Amy went on. "If it were not for that I don't know what I'd do. Now let's talk of something else—something more pleasant."
"Oh, this isn't unpleasant for us!" Betty hastened to assure her chum. "Only of course we know how you must feel about it. If we could only help you in some way!"
"I'm afraid you can't," said Amy softly. "It's good of you, though."
"It's like one of those queer puzzle stories, that end with a bump, in the middle, and leave you guessing—like 'The Lady or the Tiger,'" asserted Mollie. "I can't bear them. I get to thinking of the solution in the night and it sets me wild."
"Yes, it is like that," agreed Amy gently. "But I don't see how it can ever be known on which baby the envelope belonged."
"What became of the other baby?" asked Grace.
"I never heard, and the man who rescued me did not know either," answered Amy. "He turned us both over to the relief authorities, and, assuming that I belonged to Mr. and Mrs. Stonington, because of their address on the envelope, on my sleeve, they sent for—for my uncle, as I suppose I ought to call him, though he may not be—and he has kept me ever since."
"But there is just as much chance that you were the baby on whom the paper was pinned, as to think that you were not," came somewhat positively from Betty.
"Yes, I suppose so," Amy agreed. "But, please, let's talk about going camping. I want to forget that I may be a—nobody."
"You'll never be that, Amy—to us!" declared Mollie, positively.
"Thank you, dear."
"The question still to be settled," broke in Betty, determined to change the conversation, "is how are we to go to camp. Shall we skate or sled or——"
"Ice boat!" cried the voice of Will Ford at the door. "Ladies, excuse me, but I have arrived at a most propitious time, I observe. I overheard what you said. Allow me to suggest—an ice boat!"
They looked at him with rather startled glances, and he added:
"Shall I explain?"
"As it seems to be an unguessable riddle—do," urged his sister. "Did you bring any chocolates?"
"I did."
"Pay as you enter," said Mollie, laughingly.
Will entered with the air of one conferring a favor, and successfully evaded the efforts of his sister to take away a certain box he was carrying.
"Have patience, little sister mine!" he mocked. "Have patience, and you will get your desires."
"You mean thing! and I haven't had a chocolate all day. How did you come to bring them?"
"Amy asked me to," he said boldly.
"Oh, Will Ford! I did not!" and Amy blushed a "lobster red," as the lad ungallantly informed her.
"Well, anyhow take them, and dole them out," he added, tossing the box of confectionery into her lap.
"Oh, Amy, I always loved you!" confided Grace, "shooting" a look of wonder at her brother.
"And while Amy passes the treat, perhaps youwill kindly elucidate the riddle of the ice boat for us," suggested Mollie, catching a marshmallow chocolate which Amy deftly threw across the parlor.
"Nothing very complicated about it," replied Will, himself munching on some candy that he produced from a hidden source—likely one of his seemingly innumerable pockets. Betty said she never could understand how a boy could remember all the pockets he had—fourteen she once counted, when she had Allen Washburn enumerate them for her.
"It's this way," went on Will, with tantalizing slowness, but Grace knew better than to try to hurry him. "Allen and Frank and I have bought a big ice boat."
"You have?" cried Grace. "You never told me a thing about it." She looked her keen reproaches.
"Well, I'm telling you now," said Will. "It is a second-hand one, and used to belong to the Chacalott Club, down the river. They bought a new one for racing purposes, and Allen heard of the chance to get this one. He told me, I told Frank, Frank told—told——"
"Oh, spare us the horrible details!" protested Grace. "Where do we come in?"
"In the ice boat, of course. Where else didyou expect?" and Will grinned at her like a Cheshire cat.
"Provoking!" murmured Grace. "Do go on."
"Yes, do," urged Mollie. "We've got so much to do yet!"
"Well, as I said, we have a big, roomy ice boat," went on Will. "It isn't as comfortable as yourGem, Betty, and has no cabin."
"No cabin!" cried Amy. "I thought all boats had to have cabins."
"An ice boat is like a pair of stilts, crossed," explained Will. "There's no room for a cabin, but there is a sort of cockpit on this one. It will hold ten when they aren't spilled out on the way."
"Spilled out?" queried Mollie. "That sounds interesting."
"It is—when you're not spilled," said Will. "You see in a stiff breeze the ice boat sort of rears up on its hind legs, like an auto going around a curve on two wheels, and there the spilling begins.
"As I said, the cockpit of theSpiderwill hold about ten comfortably, and if half spill out, why so much the more comfort for those who succeed in holding themselves in."
"But what about us?" asked Grace.
"Oh, we'll hold you in," volunteered Will, cheerfully.
"No, I mean do you really intend for us to use it to go to camp?" insisted his sister.
"I sure do. It's a dandy boat—theSpider, and——"
"Spider!" exclaimed Betty with a little shiver. "What possessed you to take such a name?"
"It looks like a water bug—the ice is not far removed from water. HenceSpider. Do you get me—or the spider?"
"Oh, you boys!" sighed Grace. "Girls, shall we consider it—the ice boat?"
"It will be just the proper caper," said Will. "We can take you all up in one load, and your suit cases, too. Trunks can go by express. Then we can stay a week or so with you in the cabin, and——"
"You can stay—you boys—who said so?" demanded Grace a bit defiantly.
"Dad. I asked him. There are several furnished cabins there, and we can use one, he said. Oh, don't worry, we won't bother you," and he glared at his sister. Grace and Will did not get along any better than the average brother and sister, it will be noted.
"I think it would be nice," spoke gentle Amy,hastening to pour oil on troubled waters. "It wouldn't be quite so lonesome—with the boys there."
"Bless you for saying that!" exclaimed Will, with mock heroics. "You shall be doubly repaid. We'll see that you are never alone, Amy."
She blushed, but did not seem displeased.
"And as we boys are going anyhow," went on Will, "you girls can come in the ice boat, or not, just as you choose. I only thought I'd offer it."
"It's kind of you," declared Mollie.
"I think ice boating would be lovely," vouchsafed Betty.
Seeing her chums thus in favor Grace capitulated.
"All right," she said. "We'll go, with you boys."
"And you needn't think you are doing us a favor, either!" asserted Will a bit truculently. "We can get other girls. There is Kittie Rossmore, Alice——"
"Stop it!" commanded Grace, and Will subsided. He knew better than to keep on in that strain.
"The boat is a dandy, though," he went on. "We can pile the cockpit full of fur robes, andwhen the wind is right we can scoot up the lake to beat the band!"
"Such slang!" cried Grace.
"Well, I only meant hat band—or rubber band. That isn't slang."
And so it was decided. Will went on to describe the boat from the rudder and runners, to the sails and tackle, most of it being as Greek to the girls. But they made up their minds to soon learn how to run a craft on the ice.
"And if things go right I'll soon have a better one than theSpider," declared Will, as he prepared to take his leave.
"You mean you are going to buy another?" asked Grace.
"No, not buy—make one—and it will be a surprise, too, let me tell you!"
"How?" asked Betty, interested.
"Oh, you'll see when the time comes. It's a secret."
This naturally roused the curiosity of the girls, but Will, having accomplished his purpose in doing that, refused to talk further and left in a hurry, Frank having called for him.
As for the girls, there were many details yet to be settled, even though the matter of food and clothing had been decided, in a measure.
In the days that followed Mr. Ford reportedthat he had succeeded in getting Ted Franklin and his wife to go to the lumber camp, to live in one of the cabins and assume charge as care-takers.
"They'll have a cabin all ready for you girls," the lawyer had said to his daughter. "It will be near theirs, and if Will and the boys want to go up for week-ends, there is a cabin they can use."
"But, Daddy, tell Will not to bother us. He's sure to play some kind of tricks."
"Oh, I guess you girls can look after yourselves. Now, about getting yourselves and your things up there——"
"We've arranged about ourselves," said Grace. "We're going in the ice boat up the river. But our trunks——"
"I'll have them shipped. I have also sent an order to the storekeeper there to supply the cabin with stock provisions. The others you can buy as you need them. Now I guess that's all."
"Is Mr. Jallow cutting any more trees?"
"Yes, and I haven't succeeded in stopping him. There may be trouble—of a legal kind only," he hastened to assure his daughter, who looked alarmed. "Don't worry. Only if you should happen to run across that Paddy Malone up there—that old lumberman—hold on to him, or at least get him to communicate with me.With his testimony I can beat this Jallow."
"I hope we can find him," observed Grace.
There were seemingly a hundred and one things to do before starting off for camp, but somehow they got done. Betty was very busy, for though Grace had initiated the idea of the camp, the Little Captain naturally assumed the leadership, as she generally did.
The girls had two or three rides in the ice boat, and liked the experience very much. It was a novel sensation gliding over the frozen surface before a stiff wind. And really the boys managed theSpidervery well. In spite of the protest of the girls, they refused to change the name, even ignoring the compromise ofCobweb, which Grace declared quite poetical.
The day set for the start brought disappointment, for the wind blew in exactly the opposite direction desired, and, after waiting until late afternoon for a change, the trip was given up.
But in the night it grew colder, which was good for the condition of the ice, and the wind shifted. It blew straight up the river toward the distant lumber camp, and early the next morning Will was astir to make sure there would be no delay.
The start was made from Mollie's boathouse, where theSpiderwas moored. The suitcaseswere piled in the forward part of the cockpit, which was well provided with rugs. Then with Allen at the helm, and Will and Frank to look after the sail, the girls took their places.
"All aboard!" cried Will, looking at his sister and her chums. "Hold fast, everybody! Shall I shove off, Allen?"
"Yes!"
The boat glided out into the middle of the frozen river. The wind caught the sail, it curved out, and theSpidershot ahead, gathering speed every second.
"We're off!" cried Betty, waving her hands to those who had come to see them start.
"Good-bye! Good-bye!" was chorused over and over again.
As Amy waved with the others she little dreamed what a change would take place in her life before she saw dear Deepdale again.
Straight up the Argono River flew theSpider. Crawled would perhaps be a more appropriate term, considering the insect, but the ice boat did not crawl—it literally flew.
"Oh, this is just glorious!" cried Mollie, with shining eyes, as she crouched down amid the rugs near Will, and looked ahead at the white, icy stretch.
"It's the most comfortable form of motion I ever imagined could be," said Betty. "I'm so glad you thought of it, Will. I wouldn't have missed it for worlds."
"It's a little too swift for me," confessed Amy.
"Swift! I wish we could go faster!" exclaimed Mollie.
"We'll go faster soon, when we get around the bend," spoke Allen. "Then we'll get the full force of the wind, and then——"
"Yes, and then will be the time you girls willhave to hang on, even by your eyelids," declared Will. "You'll see!"
"Oh, is it as scary as all that?" asked Grace.
"You won't mind," declared Frank, soothingly. "He's only trying to scare you."
Amy looked a bit timid, but a reassuring glance from Betty put her at her ease once more.
Truly the ice boat was all that the boys had claimed for it. Roomy, as ice boats go, comfortable and speedy, it was really a prize.
"You deserve a vote of thanks, boys," said Mollie, as the sharp wind brightened the roses in her cheeks.
"Leave it to your Uncle Dudley," declared Will. "I told you that you'd like it."
"Here!" cried Grace, tossing him a chocolate.
"Oh!" he cried, as it hit him in the face, "whence this sudden flow of sisterly kindness."
"As a reward for your thoughtfulness in providing the boat," said Grace.
"That means I'll have to look out, or she'll be wanting me to do something more before night," spoke Will.
"I hope Mr. Franklin has fires lighted in our cabin," remarked Grace after a bit. "It will be real chilly, I'm afraid," and she drew her very becoming furs closer about her. Her face wasframed in them, and she looked, as Allen said, "like a picture on a magazine cover."
"I don't know whether to feel complimented or not," she confessed with a laugh. "I only know I'm cold-d-d-d-d! Burrrrr!" and she shivered.
"It isn't as warm as skating," said Allen. "But perhaps this may help," and with one hand he took from a box a long, round object. "It's a vacuum bottle of hot coffee," he explained. "I didn't think, until the last minute, or I'd have brought chocolate, Grace."
"Oh, coffee will do just as well!" she hastened to assure him. "It is just what I want to drive the shivers away."
"There are some cups there in that other box," said Allen to Frank. "If you'll get them out, and pass the refreshments around."
"Happy to oblige!" exclaimed Frank.
"There is sugar and milk already in the coffee," explained the young lawyer. "I hope none of you object."
They did not, as it developed, and soon they were sipping the hot beverage while gliding along, the wind having died out somewhat.
As they made the turn around the bend, a little later, they got the full force of the breeze, which, increasing in power, sent them along sosuddenly that the ice boat tilted on two runners.
"Oh, dear!" screamed Grace, clutching Mollie, and causing her to spill what remained of the cup of coffee.
"There, look what you did!" snapped the French girl, quickly.
"I—I didn't mean to," said Grace, contritely. "I thought we were going to spill."
"This was the only 'spill' there was," laughed Betty, as she helped Grace wipe up the trickling beverage.
"Oh, well, it doesn't matter," said Mollie—"mollified Mollie," as Will expressed it later. The little flash of temper died out almost as soon as it showed.
"Steady all!" called Allen, for the girls were moving about, and he needed less motion in order to handle the boat easily.
They were proceeding along at a fast pace when, from behind one of the boathouses along the shore of the frozen river, there shot out a small ice craft, containing two persons. It was so sudden, and cut so sharply across the path of theSpider, that Allen narrowly avoided a collision.
"Why don't you look before you come out?" he called sharply to the steersman of the smaller craft.
"Why don't you keep more to the middle of the river?" was the retort, and then the boat shot around and took the same direction as the one in which theSpiderwas going.
"Why, there's Alice Jallow in that boat!" exclaimed Betty. "Did you see, girls?"
"Sure enough! So it was!" agreed Mollie. "But who is that fellow with her?"
"Harry Brook," answered Will.
"Do you know him?" demanded Grace, quickly.
"A little. He's a new lad in town."
"Has he been going with—her—long?" asked Betty.
"I don't know. First time I ever saw him with her. Mind that chunk of wood just ahead, Allen."
"I see it, thanks. That fellow gave me a scare, though. I never saw him until I was almost into him."
"That's right," assented Frank. "I guess he doesn't know much about running one of these things. How are you coming on with your——" he added, looking at Will.
"Do you think it will rain?" asked Will, promptly, looking up into the cloudless sky, and nudging Frank sharply. "Keep still," he whispered.
"What is it?" demanded Grace. "Do you know his secret, Frank?"
"If he tells—I'll have revenge!" cried Will in theatrical fashion. "Mum's the word, old man," and he glanced significantly at Frank.
"All right—don't worry," was the retort.
"They seem to think they are having a race with us," remarked Allen, nodding in the direction of the other boat. It was a little distance ahead, but off to one side, a considerable space of glittering ice separating the two craft.
"Maybe he saw us coming, and shot out that way to make Alice think he was some ice yachtsman," suggested Will. "I'll tell him what I think the next time I see him."
"Oh, don't make any more trouble, Will," begged his sister. "We seem to be on the outs enough with the Jallow family. I only hope we don't meet Mr. Jallow up in the woods."
"He wouldn't dare annoy you," spoke Allen. "I know something about your father's case, and I think, when it is next tried, that Jallow will lose. He deserves to, I think, and I have gone over most of the evidence."
"If we could only get that missing lumberman to testify," said Grace, "it would end it all in papa's favor. But I suppose that is too much to hope for."
They were moving swiftly along now, and were a little more than a quarter of the way to the lumber camp. They intended to stop at noon, which would see them three-quarters there, and eat the lunch they had brought along.
It did seem that Alice and the young fellow with her invited theSpiderto a race, but Allen knew better than to accept. The other boat was a light craft, built purposely for racing, whereas the larger boat was not.
Gradually the boat containing the two occupants drew away up the river. Our friends gave it little thought until, when they were discussing the advisability of eating lunch, Frank called out:
"Here he comes back, tacking against the wind."
"Yes, and he doesn't know how to do it," said Allen in a low voice. "He'll have trouble if he doesn't watch out."
The small boat came nearer and nearer, gliding from side to side of the frozen river to make distance against a quartering wind.
"Look out where you're going!" suddenly cried Allen, as he saw the craft headed directly for the Spider. "Luff there! Luff!"
Evidently in the emergency the other boy lost his head. He came straight on, but Allen was not minded to suffer a collision. Quickly heshifted his helm, and so quickly that the next moment theSpideroverturned, spilling them all out.
There were hoarse shouts from the boys, and shrill screams from the girls as Allen, who had managed to jump clear, raced after the still moving boat to prevent it becoming damaged.
And, as he looked back to see the figures of his friends more or less entangled in luggage and fur robes, scattered over the ice, he saw the boat, the action of which had made it necessary for him to spill, herself turn over, throwing out Alice and her friend.
"Anybody hurt?" asked Will, as he sat up, a robe around his shoulders.
"Guess not," answered Frank, taking a quick survey of the girls. They were laughing now, and getting up.
Only a glance was needed to show that none of the party of campers had been more than bruised. They were all up now, getting rid of the entangling rugs, and collecting the scattered baggage, which had slid over the ice in various directions.
"Never mind that," advised Allen, who was busy with the ropes of the ice boat. "Let's right this, fellows," he suggested, "and see if it's damaged any. It doesn't look so; but we'd better make sure."
It was no easy task to get the boat on her runners again, but the girls lent their strength, no small feature in the aggregate, and soon theSpiderwas on her legs again, if that be the proper term.
"Look—they seem to be having trouble," remarked Betty, pointing to the overturned ice boat with one hand, while with the other she tried to get her rebellious hair in some sort of order.Her locks had become loosed—as had those of her chums—in the spill.
The youth who had been responsible for the accident was standing near Alice, seemingly ill at ease. Alice Jallow appeared to be crying. The boat was some distance off, and it needed but a glance to show that the mast was broken.
"Maybe she's hurt!" suggested Will, starting on the run toward the two figures. Allen had lowered the sail of theSpiderand had tossed out a sharp-pronged ice anchor.
"Shall we—I wonder if we had better gotoAlice?" asked Mollie, doubtfully.
"Oh, yes, we must, I think," spoke Betty. "Come on, girls." And even Amy, who might have been excused for not going, under the circumstances, started toward Alice, while Allen and Frank seeing that there was assistance enough, worked to get their own craft in shape, and to replace the rugs and luggage.
"Are you—can we help you—is there anything the matter, Alice?" asked Betty, gently, as she reached the sobbing girl.
"I can't get her to tell me," spoke Harry Brook. "But I don't believe she's more than scared."
"I am so! My elbow hurts terrible!" exclaimed Alice, petulantly.
"Perhaps if I look at it," suggested Grace, laying a hand on the arm of Alice.
"I'll thank you to let me alone!" was the snappish retort. "It was your fault we upset, anyhow. Let me alone!"
"Whew!" whistled Will. "Well, I like that!"
And his sister and her chums wished they were free to express themselves as forcibly.
"Our fault!" cried Will. "Why, you came right for us, Brook! You know you did. We had to jibe to get out of your way, and that's what put us in bad."
"I know it—I'm sorry," Harry had the grace to answer. "My mast is broken, too. The rudder seemed to jam, and I couldn't shift it."
"Well, I guess we can be of no service here," said Betty, a bit coldly. "Come on, girls," and without so much as a glance at the girl who had spurned their kind offer the four chums started back. It was very evident that Alice was not much hurt, for she walked off to one side.
"Shall I give you a hand at righting your boat, Harry?" asked Will, after rather an awkward pause.
"Yes—if you will. I guess I don't know so much about ice craft as I thought I did. It was easy enough going before the wind, but whenI turned to tack I had trouble. I'll just run her up on shore and see what I can do to-morrow about getting a new mast. Any of your crowd hurt?"
"No, only their—feelings."
"I'm sorry."
"Oh, well, accidents will happen." Will looked narrowly at Alice, but she averted her gaze. Then, when Harry had assured him there was nothing more to do, Will set out to rejoin his friends, while Harry, after sliding the ice boat to shore, set off down the frozen stream with Alice.
"I wouldn't like to be in his shoes," remarked Frank when the situation had been explained to him. "Alice will have it in for him, all right."
"Well, perhaps after her show of uncalled-for temper he'll not want to have anything more to do with her," said Mollie. "I wouldn't—if I were in his place."
Allen found that their ice boat had not been in the least damaged, and when the spilled-out possessions had been gathered up and replaced, they resumed their way with the hoisting of the sail.
"I hope the lunch isn't spoiled," remarked Grace. "I'm hungry."
"So am I," was the general admission.
A few miles farther on they came to a sheltered cove where they stopped and ate dinner. They made hot chocolate over a little fire of driftwood on shore.
Then they kept on up the river, the wind holding good, and about three o'clock reached the lumber camp. Allen sent the ice boat up to the little dock in proper style, and one after another the young people leaped out.
"Whoop!" yelled Will. "Here we are! Whoop!"
"Be still, you—Indian!" begged Grace.
"Indians always whoop," he said. "I want to let Franklin know we're here!"
From one of the cabins, clustered in the wood, a short distance back from the shore of the frozen river, came a grizzled but pleasant-faced man. In the doorway stood a short, stout woman, smiling a welcome.
"Well, you got here, I see," remarked Mr. Franklin, genially, as he took two suitcases. "Mother and I've been expecting you, and we've got a hot supper all ready but putting on the table."
"Oh, that was too much work, though it's lovely of you!" protested Grace.
"We expected to cook our own meal," added Mollie. "You will get us into bad habits."
"THEY MADE HOT CHOCOLATE OVER A LITTLE FIRE OF DRIFTWOOD.""THEY MADE HOT CHOCOLATE OVER A LITTLE FIRE OF DRIFTWOOD."—Page 78.
The Outdoor Girls in a Winter Camp.
"Eatin's the best habit I know of!" chuckled the care-taker. "I've been acquirin' it for a good many years and it hasn't hurt me yet. I expect to keep right on with it, too. I hope you didn't lose your appetites on the way."
"No danger," remarked Will. "Is everything all right?"
"Yes. All your stuff come; there's a lot of grub, plenty of wood, and all you've got to do is to enjoy yourself."
"Has that fellow—Jallow—or any of his men made trouble?" Will asked, when the girls had gone on ahead.
"Not much; no. I did catch one of 'em on our land the other day—on land there's no question but what your father owns. I ordered him off."
"Did he go?"
"Yep."
"Peaceably?"
"Well, no, not exactly. I had to sort of—shove him off, and I'm afraid he stumbled and bumped his nose," chuckled Mr. Franklin.
"That's the way!" cried Will, laughing.
The cabins to be occupied by the boys and girls were close together, and that used by Mr. Franklin and his wife was not far off. All three were near to the water, and back of them wasa forest of big trees, gaunt and bare now, their black limbs tossing restlessly in the wind.
Baggage was put away, a hasty survey was taken of the camp and the cabins, and then, as it got dark soon, Mrs. Franklin, with whom all the girls fell in love at first sight, suggested an early supper. And a most bountiful one it was, though the dining room was rather taxed. But that only made it the more merry.
"And now to get settled!" exclaimed Betty, as she and the girls went over to their cabin.
"You'll find the bunks all made up!" called Mrs. Franklin, "and if you haven't covers enough you'll find more in the big chest."
"That's good," agreed Grace. "I hate to be cold!"
"You want to get more flesh and you'll be warmer!" said Amy, who was rather plump.
"Ugh! Flesh! Never!" declared the willowy Grace.
They began unpacking their trunks and suitcases, each one appropriating part of the bureaus and wall space. From the cabin of the boys came shouts and laughter.
"Cutting up—as usual," observed Grace. "Oh, I wonder if I left out that big box of chocolates?" and frantically she began searching in her trunk.
"Girls, it's gone!"
Thus cried Grace, as a further search of her possessions did not reveal the box of candy.
"What is?" asked Mollie, who had not heard the first frantic cry.
"That lovely big box of chocolates father gave me! I'm sure I put it in the tray of my trunk when I was packing, but now——"
A perfect storm of things seemed to fly from the trunk, not only the "annex," as Mollie termed the tray, but the "main hotel"aswell.
"Grace, you'll have this room a perfect sight!" protested Betty.
"Can't help it!" returned the chocolate-lover. "I must find it. Amy, you were with me the day I packed; what did I do with that box with the pink ribbon?"
"Oh, that; why the last I saw of it was on your dresser. Don't you remember? You took it out for a moment, after putting it in, to seeif your ribbon box wouldn't go in that place better. Then you——"
"Yes, I know!" interrupted Grace. "I forgot to put it back. Then the telephone rang, and I went to answer it. Will was in talking to you when I came back again, and——"
"Perhaps he did not take it—you may have simply left it home," suggested Betty.
Grace nervously tossed her possessions back into her trunk. There came a knock at the cabin door.
"Come!" cried Mollie, who was in the outer apartment.
"I say, Grace!" cried Will's voice as he entered. "There are two buttons off my coat—must have torn loose when we upset. Sew 'em on, will you?"
"Not now, Will, I'm busy—I can't find something. I'll sew 'em on to-morrow."
"Yes, around noon. We fellows are going off early. There may be a bear or two up here, and we brought our guns, you know."
"I can't bother."
"Then Amy will," said the boy. "Say 'yes,' Amy, and I'll give you a lovely box of chocolates, with a pink ribbon on!"
"Will Ford!" cried Grace, striding up to him. "Give me my candy this instant!"
"Your candy?" Will pretended much surprise.
"Yes, certainly, my candy. The box of Walford's papa gave me!"
She pulled his hand from behind his back and there was revealed the missing box of confections.
"There it is!" Grace cried. "I knew he had my candy!"
"Your candy? Say, Sis, if it's yours, how in the world did it get in my suitcase, I'd like to know?"
"Was it there?"
"Honor bright!"
Grace looked puzzled for a moment, and then she exclaimed:
"I see now. I had it in my hand when I went in your room as you were packing. I wanted to get a piece of wrapping paper for it, and just then you cut your finger, and——"
"Yes, and you ran out like a scared cat, and dropped the candy in my suitcase," finished her brother. "I thought you meant to give it to me, so I kept it, and toted it up here. Now will you sew those buttons on for me?"
"Yes, Will," answered Grace, meekly, as she accepted the box.
"I thought that would fetch you around," hesaid with a cheerful grin. "Never mind, Amy, next time it will be you."
The unpacking was finished, bunks were prepared and for a little while, before turning in for the night, Will and his chums called on his sister and her friends. Mr. Franklin dropped in to see if the young folks needed anything. He had filled a number of lamps for them, so there was no lack of light, that winter evening.
The ice boat had been safely moored, plans had been made for breakfast, and the boys had evinced a determination to get up early and go hunting.
"Are there any bears up here, Mr. Franklin?" asked Amy, nervously, looking out of the window.
"Well, there has been known to be a few, especially in a hard winter. They come out once in a while to sort of feed-up on our stock, if they haven't eaten enough to sleep 'em through to Spring."
"Would you call this a hard winter?" Amy went on.
"Well, middlin' so," was the slow answer.
"What are you driving at, Amy?" Mollie wanted to know.
"It's a problem in geometry," said Will. "Things that are equal to the same thing areequal to each other. A bear comes out to feed in a hard winter—this is a hard winter, therefore a hungry bear is equal to a hard winter. Eh, Amy?"
"It wasn't that at all!" she declared, blushing. "I only was wondering if they would—would annoy us here."
"I won't let 'em bite you, Amy!" said Will, with a protecting, brotherly air—too brotherly, Grace said it was.
"I guess all the bears you'll get down here you can put in your trunk," laughed the old woodsman. "Well, I must be gettin' back. This is late for me. 'Most nine."
Indeed, they were all tired from the day's travel, and soon the boys had been "shooed" away and the girls let down their hair.
After a hysterical half-hour or so, which always seems to follow when one retires after a day spent in getting to a strange place, the girls were asleep.
Amy awoke with a start shortly after midnight. She knew this because a light left burning low in the living room shone on a small clock. And as the girl listened she heard a crunching sound out on the frozen snow.
"Some one is trying to get in the cabin!" was the fearsome conclusion to which shejumped. Then in her fright she called: "Betty—Mollie! Wake up!"
Mollie was the first to rouse.
"What is it?" she asked, sitting up in bed.
"Some one outside—they're walking around the cabin. I'm sure they're trying to get in. Oh, please call Mr. Franklin, or the boys! I'm so frightened!"
"Nonsense!" exclaimed Mollie. "Wait until I take a look. No use sounding a false alarm."
Grace and Betty wakened at the sound of the others' voices, and asked what was going on.
"I'll look out and see what it," volunteered Betty, her room being nearest the window. She slipped from bed and a moment later called:
"Sillies! It's nothing but Mr. Franklin's dog keeping guard around the house. He's walking like a sentinel. Go to sleep, all of you."
"Oh, I'm so relieved!" murmured Amy, but it was some time before she closed her eyes again for an uninterrupted slumber.
Morning came, with no further alarms having been reported, and, after some confusion, due to their new environment, the girls got their breakfast. They sent over some hot pancakes to the boys, for they could tell by the sounds coming from their cabin that the meal there was not progressing favorably.
In spite of the fact that Mr. Franklin was not very encouraging about the presence of bears, the boys determined to go off and see for themselves. They each had a gun.
"Then we girls will go for a walk," decided Betty. "The woods must be interesting at this time of year. And it isn't as cold as it was yesterday."
They set out, comfortably equipped for a walk, with short skirts and leggings, for the snow was rather deep. There were woodland trails and logging roads and the girls alternated on them; seeing much to wonder at and admire, for the woods in winter are more interesting than many suppose who have never seen them except in Summer or Fall.
The girls went on for perhaps three miles, and were thinking of turning back, for it was nearing noon, when a voice hailed them from a dense growth of hemlock trees.
"I say, you folks will have to git away from there. You're on private ground. Git off!" and there stepped into view a burly, roughly-dressed man, accompanied by a bulldog. Master and dog looked equally savage.
"Go on!" ordered the man, "before I——"
Grace clutched Mollie, and Amy made an equally effective seizure of Betty. The two girls whose nerves were under better control than those of their two chums stood their ground—if not sturdily, at least with the appearance of it. They stared at the man, for want of something better to do, as Mollie afterward admitted. And the man found their gaze a bit disconcerting, it was evident, for he shifted uneasily, first on one big-booted foot, and then on the other.
"Well, be you goin' t' git?" he finally asked. "I tell you this is private land, and Mr. Jallow don't allow nobody on it 'ceptin' them he hires."
This gave Mollie an opening.
"Oh, is this Mr. Jallow's land?" she asked, and her chums wondered at the sweetness of her tones.
"It be," the burly guard replied, "an' you'd better git off."
The dog growled, and looked up inquiringly at his master as though asking for orders.
"We—we know Mr. Jallow," went on Mollie. Then nudging Grace, she whispered: "Say something; can't you? This must be the piece your father is having trouble about. Say something."
"I—I don't know what to say," faltered Grace. "Oh, let's get away from here! That dog——"
The animal growled, as though resenting the tone in which Grace talked about him.
"Do come," urged Amy. "I'm all in a tremble. The woods are big enough without getting on this disputed land."
"I tell you you'd better go!" insisted the guardian of the forest. "I'm supposed to keep trespassers off, an' I'm goin' t' do it, too!" Evidently he did not like the looks of the girls whispering together. Perhaps he may have imagined that there was a conspiracy to kidnap him and take possession of the property in dispute. He moved nearer to the girls, the dog following him.
Grace uttered a little cry.
"Now I ain't a-goin' fer t' hurt ye!" exclaimed the man, "an' I don't want t' be no harsher than I have t' be, but you folks must move back, else I'll have t' make ye go. I'm onguard here, and——"
"Oh, we'll go," said Betty quickly, "but I don't see what harm we were doing. The woods seem all alike to me."
"Well, mebbe ye wasn't doin' no particular harm," admitted the man in surly tones, "but my orders is to keep trespassers off, an' I'm goin' t' do it!"
"It's hard to tell where Mr. Ford's land ends and Mr. Jallow's begins," said Mollie, looking for some sign of a boundary mark. The man started.
"Be you folks from Ford's camp?" he asked, quickly.
"Yes," said Grace, taking heart, perhaps, at the mention of her father's name. "I am Miss Ford."
"Well, I'm sorry, but now you'll have to go quicker than if you was some one else!" said the man firmly. "I thought you was jest ordinary folks, but I've got very strict orders not to let Mr. Ford nor nobody who represents him, set foot on this land. So that's your game; is it?" and he leered at them.
"Game! We don't know what you mean!" said Mollie with asperity. "We certainly are up to no game."
"Indeed not!" echoed Betty indignantly. Thegirls, even Amy and Grace, had recovered their "nerve" now. The opposition, when they knew they had done no real harm, was enough to make them assert themselves for their common rights.
"Well, you'll have to git right away from here. I won't stand for no nonsense!" cried the fellow. "Fer all I know you may be tryin' some law-dodge on me. Move on!"
He advanced threateningly, and the dog growled menacingly. Even Mollie and Betty were not brave enough to stand their ground now, and they were preparing for a precipitate retreat when the sound of a shot was heard close at hand.
The man uttered an exclamation of alarm, and the dog barked, ending in a howl.
"Ha! More trespassers!" ejaculated the man. "Are they with you? Are they friends of yours?" he asked cunningly.
"They might be," answered Mollie, thinking of the boys who had gone hunting.
"Well, if that's the case," began the man, "I'll have to——"
But he did not finish, for, at that instant, Will, Allen, and Frank came out from behind a clump of bushes. Will bore a gun that still had smoke coming from the muzzle. The boys started at the sight of the girls, and looked wonderingly atthe man who was so evidently threatening them.
"What's up, Sis?" demanded Will, striding forward.
"Has this—fellow—been annoying you?" asked Allen.
"I warned 'em away—they are trespassing on Mr. Jallow's land," said the man, but his manner was much softened. Evidently the sight of the three young huntsmen had had a good effect.
"Oh, so this is Mr. Jallow's land?" inquired Allen quickly. "Is this the part that is in dispute?"
"I don't know nothin' about no dispute," was the sullen response, "but I know what my orders are, and I'm going t' carry 'em out."
"Far be it from us to stand in the way of you doing your duty," remarked Will pleasantly. "But if you have been annoying these young ladies——" he paused significantly and looked at his two chums.
"Oh, he—he didn't annoy us!" said Grace quickly. She wanted no unpleasantness.
"I am glad of it," spoke Will.
"Perhaps you will be glad enough to point out just where the boundary marks are," said Allen quietly. "We may be walking in these woods often, and we would not like to trespass if we can avoid it. Where is the dividing line?"
The question evidently took the man by surprise. He seemed confused.
"It's somewhere about here," he muttered. "I seen one of the stone piles a while ago."
"Perhaps the young ladies were not trespassing at all," went on Allen. "In that case I have to point out that you have exceeded your authority. You may even be a trespasser yourself, on Mr. Ford's land. If you are, don't be alarmed. We shall take no extreme measures."
"Huh! Think you're smart; don't you? Maybe you're a lawyer?"
"I am!" was the quiet answer "And I know my rights, and those of my friends."
"So that's the game, is it? You're tryin' t' establish a right here. Well, you can't do it! I order you off."
"First show that you have the right," insisted Allen. "Where is the dividing line?"
The man looked up and down through the woods. He went a little way backward, and then forward. Then he uttered an exclamation.
"There it is—back of you!" he exclaimed. "You're all on Mr. Jallow's land now, and I order you off. Them stone piles are the points in the line. That big pine tree is another mark. The line runs right along here, and you're all trespassers."
"Well, if that is the correct line, perhaps we are," agreed the young lawyer. "And we are willing to go—for the time being. But it looks to me as though those stone piles had been very recently put up, and the blaze on that tree is certainly a fresh one."
"I don't know nothin' about that," growled the man. "All I was told was that this is the line, and to keep strangers off; so I'm going to do it!"
"And we don't blame you," went on Will, recognizing that it would be poor policy to quarrel with a mere guard. "If we question this at all it will be with those in authority."
"Huh! If you lock horns with Mr. Jallow you'll be sorry for it," said the guard. "Now you'd better go. My dog is getting uneasy."
"He'd better not gettoouneasy," remarked Frank significantly. "Come on, girls," and the girls, who had been getting more and more nervous as the talk proceeded, were glad enough to precede the boys off the disputed territory. The man stood sullenly watching them, while the dog growled deep in his throat.
"Well, you had quite an adventure; eh?" asked Will when they were out of earshot of the man.
"Yes, and I was so afraid something wouldhappen," said Grace. "He came upon us so suddenly!"
"Evidently Mr. Jallow means to contest this land business!" exclaimed Allen. "I should like to look into this matter myself. I don't like the looks of those stone piles."
"Father is sure there has been some unlawful change in the boundary line," spoke Grace. "But it is hard to prove. Oh, if we could only find that old lumberman, Paddy Malone."
"Perhaps we may come across him in our wanderings," suggested Mollie.
"Did you boys have any luck hunting?" inquired Betty, when the details of the encounter with the man had been given.
"Not a luck!" exclaimed Will. "We all fired at one poor little rabbit, and he ran home and told his mamma on us, I guess."
"Well, you won't go hungry," said Amy.
"Why, are you girls going to invite us over to lunch?" asked Will quickly. "That's great, fellows! For this unexpected pleasure—many thanks!" and he bowed low.
"I—I didn't exactly mean it that way!" stammered Amy, blushing, and looking at her friends in some alarm at thus being so quickly taken up. "I meant that you had plenty of food in your own cabin."
"Oh, no, Amy! You can't take it back that way!" cried Will, waltzing around with her in the snow. "You gave us an out-and-out invitation; didn't she, fellows?"
"Sure," chorused Frank and Allen.
"Oh, well, I guess we can stand you for one meal," said Grace. "Shall we, girls?"
The others were willing, and the hunters were soon with their friends, making merry at table.
The weather, which had been threatening, became more so toward night, and the next two days it snowed. It did not keep the outdoor girls in, but they did not go far from the cabins, as Mr. Franklin said they might easily become lost. The boys shoveled paths for them, and spent much time in hunting, but with poor luck. The girls managed to fill in the time, and they declared they would not have missed coming for anything.
Amy seemed to have recovered her spirits under the influence of her friends, and in the fresh, bracing air of the Winter woods. Letters from home came for all the girls and boys, but mails were not very frequent.
Going for food, cooking, doing the work of the cabin, taking walks filled up the days completely, and then there came a thaw, a rain and a freeze. The young folks spent much time onthe river then, skating and ice boating, and having good times generally.
Then ensued another mild spell, during which long walks were taken to distant parts of the big lumber camp. The place where the logs were cut and hauled to the river, and the saw mill, now deserted, where some of the big trees were made into beams, were inspected by the curious ones.
One afternoon, following a long tramp, while the boys and girls were on their way to camp they made a curious discovery. Since the encounter with the man (the story of it having been sent to Mr. Ford) no further trouble had been experienced. But Grace and her chums were careful to keep on their side of the boundary.
On this occasion, however, they approached it closely, and looking off through the trees of the land Mr. Jallow claimed, Mollie espied smoke coming from a log cabin.
"Why, someone's living over there!" she exclaimed. "I never noticed that before."
"Neither did I," agreed Betty. "I'm sure no one was in it when we passed here two days ago!"
As they paused to look several persons came from the cabin, which had evidently been built for camping purposes.
"Look!" exclaimed Grace in a low voice.
"It's Alice Jallow!" exclaimed Mollie.
"And Kittie Rossmore!" added Betty.
"Who are the two fellows with them?" Grace wanted to know.
"One is Jake Rossmore—Kittie's brother," spoke Will, "and the other is——"
"Sam Batty!" interrupted Frank. "Two cronies if ever there were any. I wonder what this means?"
"It looks as though they were camping out—just as we are," said Mollie. "And, look, there is Mrs. Jallow. Oh, they've seen us!"
It was indeed so. Mrs. Jallow, her daughter and Kittie looked up and saw our friends—their rivals. Then the three newcomers started for the boundary line, the two boys remaining at the cabin.
"Shall we—shall we wait?" asked Betty in a low voice.
"We're on my father's land—I don't see why we should run," said Grace calmly. "Especially from—them!"