There was a yell of joy from the boys, and the excited exclamations, questions and answers that followed showed that they agreed heartily with Will in his last prophecy that "they would have no end of fun."
"Oh, won't it be great!" cried Betty, her cheeksflushed with excitement. "I do believe this is the very best of all," then her face clouded as she turned to Allen, who had not been taking a very active part in the conversation.
"Do you think you can make it, Allen?" she asked, trying to keep the eagerness out of her voice. "You said something about a change in the management of the firm——" her voice was questioning.
"Why, I was just wondering if I couldn't fix things up some way," he answered seriously. "It looks as if some of our work might have to lay over for a time anyway, and if it does——"
"Of course you will have to manage it somehow, Allen," Frank broke in. "Why, having you there would be half the fun!"
"Oh, I guess I can," Allen began uncertainly. Then he continued: "But you can just better believe if there is a chance in the world, I'll be there."
"That's the way to talk," cried Mollie. "Now there is just one important thing we haven't decided yet, girls, and that is, whom are we going to have for a chaperon."
"I have been thinking of that, and I am sure I know just the one," said Amy quietly; and they turned to her in amazement. Amy was like that, she didn't talk much, but when she did, what shesaid was usually to the point. "You all know young Mrs. Irving whose husband travels?"
"And she seems sort of lonely sometimes," Grace added, taking a chocolate nut from a dish of candy that Mollie had placed, for Grace's special delectation, on the table.
"Amy, youarea wonder," said Mollie, regarding her chum with awe. "I would never have thought of her in a thousand years, and of course she's just the one."
"Well, now that the all-important question of chaperon is happily settled," said Roy, veering back to the point like a compass, "suppose we decide when to start."
After much discussion it was finally decided they were to start a week from that day, which was Tuesday.
It was late when Mollie's guests started for home, and even then they were all reluctant to go. As Allen stood on the porch of the Nelson home a few minutes later, Betty turned to him impulsively.
"Oh, I do hope you will be able to go, Allen," she said.
"Would you be sorry if I didn't?" he asked her, eagerly.
"Why, of course."
"Then, I'll be there," he said, with a smile.
"Grace, Grace, do wake up!" Betty looked at her sleeping chum in absolute amazement. How could anybody sleep so soundly on this, the day of days, when one should have been awake at six o'clock thinking over the delights in store!
Grace had come over the night before to talk over some minor details of the outing, bringing with her a new and, she declared, a specially delicious brand of chocolates. It had been so late when she had started to leave that she had been prevailed upon to spend the night with Betty. And so it was that on that eventful morning she lay slumbering peacefully in the Little Captain's bed, defying all that impatient young person's efforts to rouse her.
"Grace! Grace!" Betty cried again. "Won't you please wake up? Why, it's seven o'clock this minute! We have to be out of the house in an hour."
Grace groaned dismally. "Oh, Betty, I willhave to have some more sleep," she wailed, pitifully. "If I don't I won't be fit for a thing the rest of the day. Don't you suppose we could make it if we started by nine?" she added hopefully.
Betty paused in the act of putting on a shoe and held it poised in the air while she gazed at her friend incredulously.
"Grace Ford, of all the——" she almost stuttered. Then, as a thought flashed before her mind she laughed delightedly. "Can't you see them, Grace," she chuckled, putting on one shoe and picking up the other. "Can't you see the boys when I tell them they will have to walk around the block while Grace gets her beauty sleep. Oh! oh!" and even Grace had to laugh at the picture.
"They probably wouldn't wait anyway," Betty continued, with the tact of a diplomat. "They would go on to The Shadows and let you follow later at your leisure. It will be a nice, dusty, hot ride in the train, too," she added, examining the lace on her handkerchief with the air of a connoisseur.
Grace sat up on the edge of the bed and regarded her chum reproachfully. "Nobody has any heart at all, and you least of all, Betty Nelson," she complained. "Oh, where did I putmy slippers? I was so excited last night I don't remember what I did with them," and she began a listless search under the bed.
"They are over by that chair," said Betty patiently. Then went on: "Oh, Grace, dear, please wake up. You will give me the blues if you don't shake off that dead and alive air. Imagine Betty Nelson with the blues to-day."
"Itisrather impossible," remarked Grace, regarding Betty's flushed cheeks and dancing eyes with admiration. "I wish I didn't need any more sleep than you, Betty. Oh, well, the worst part of getting up is over now and I'll feel fine when I get some breakfast. You just watch me."
"That's something like," Betty said approvingly. "Oh, Grace, we are going to have one of the most glorious times we ever had in our lives to-day."
"Shouldn't wonder," Grace agreed. "What does that clock say, half-past seven? Oh, Betty, now Iwillhave to hurry!"
"If you glare at the clock like that it is apt to develop palpitation of the heart and stop altogether," laughed Betty. "It can't help the time, you know."
"Well, that is the very first time I have ever been accused of stopping a clock," said Grace with dignity. Then added plaintively: "And bymy best friend, too! Oh, well, I suppose you can get used to anything if you try hard enough."
"Oh, Grace, you're a dear when you look resigned like that," said Betty, dancing over to her friend and hugging her ecstatically. "If you weren't so pretty, I wouldn't dare talk about stopping clocks," she added, and peace was restored, and soon both hurried down to breakfast.
"Oh, there they are now," cried Betty, hastily swallowing the last of her cocoa. "I knew they would be here before we were half ready. Oh,Gracy, dear, hurry, will you!"
"I am all ready," Grace answered. "Suppose you go out and speak to them while I get the luggage. I'll bring down your hat and coat, too, if you want me to."
"Youarea dear," said Betty, for the second time this morning. "Goodness, they are making enough noise with their old horns. Anybody would think there were ten automobiles instead of two," and while she ran out to greet the newcomers, Grace hurried—yes, actuallyhurried—up the stairs to get the small bags they were to take with them for immediate use, in case the trunks, which had been sent on before, did not arrive in time.
Betty found the others all radiant. Roy wasat the wheel in Mollie's car—she had invited him to act as chauffeur and he had gleefully accepted—with Mollie herself beside him and Will and Amy in the tonneau.
The others—Mrs. Irving, their young and jolly chaperon, and the four girls and boys—were to make the journey in Frank's big car, with Frank, of course, at the wheel.
"Hello, Betty!" Will shouted. "You are looking as sweet and fresh as a daisy! Jump in! Where's that runaway sister of mine? I hope you succeeded in getting her up in time."
"I did—after considerable persuasion," laughed Betty. "I came out to tell you we just have to get our outside things on and we shall be ready. I can see Grace beckoning now—just a minute," and she ran toward the house.
"Can't we carry the luggage—and the chocolates?" said Frank and Allen together.
"If you insist," Betty flung the answer over her shoulder as she joined Grace.
The boys had tumbled out of the automobile and were racing up the drive as if their lives depended on their reaching the porch at the same second. The girls adjusted their pretty panamas before the wide mirror while the boys picked up the bags and waited.
"Is my hat on right, Allen, or should it betilted a little more over the left eye?" mimicked Frank, as they watched the girls. "Or, perhaps it should be made to cover my face entirely?"
"I think the latter—with places for the eyes and nose," said Allen in the same tone of voice.
"Anybody who invented such a hat would be a benefactor to the world at large, Frank," said Betty, as she swept past him—her nose in the air.
"Oof! That was an awful one," returned Frank, while Grace chuckled at his discomfiture. "A few more of those, Betty, and I am afraid I shall have to stay at home!"
"That sounds just like Percy," Betty remarked, as the boys deposited the luggage in the car and opened the door for the girls. "For goodness' sake, don't take him for a model, Frank."
"I wonder where the dear old chappie is, anyway," remarked Allen as he took his seat between Betty and Mrs. Irving in the tonneau. Grace was to sit with Frank. "I haven't seen him about town lately. I wonder if mother has taken her darling boy to the seashore," he added, as the car moved off.
"I hope so. If she would only take him to Kalamazoo it would suit me better," said Betty."It's a wonder he didn't invite himself to come along."
"Nothing doing!" laughed Frank. "I can just imagine darling Percy sleeping in a tent and cooking his own meals. Can't you, Allen? Oh, what a circus!"
"It is rather hard to imagine the immaculate Percy in those surroundings," drawled Grace. "He would be running down to the river to wash his hands every two minutes. How do we get over to the island from the mainland, Betty, do you remember?" she added. "I know Mollie said something about a steamer, but I didn't get a very good idea of it."
"Oh, we will have lots of fun on it," Betty answered, enjoying the prospect immensely. "Mollie says it is an old, rickety thing that looks as if it were going to pieces any minute. She thinks it must be at least two hundred years old, if what her aunt says is true. It will be awfully interesting."
"Yes, especially if it fulfills its promise and goes to pieces in the middle of the lake," Grace remarked dryly. "I wouldn't mind the dip in weather like this, but I would rather choose the time and place."
"Well, perhaps itwouldbe better if we put on our bathing suits first," Betty admitted."Then we would at least be prepared for the worst."
"I wouldn't call that the worst thing that could happen to us," said Allen; and when the girls looked to him for an explanation he added: "It would be no end of fun to be dumped in the river with a boatful of pretty girls. Think of the good time we could have rescuing you."
"Well, maybe you call that fun, but I should say it was pretty hard work," said Frank, ungallantly. "Especially if the girls should lose their heads and begin to choke you. All hail, for Davy Jones' locker!"
"You needn't worry," said Betty, with dignity. "In the first place we wouldn't have to be rescued. We can swim just as well as you boys can——"
"Now, now, Betty," Frank protested laughingly, "don't exaggerate."
"I'm not," she denied indignantly. "We haven't lived in the outdoors for nothing, you know."
"Well, we shall have a chance to settle all disputes when we get to Pine Island," said Allen. "To change the subject—has anybody noticed that the sun has gone under a cloud and that there is a stiff little breeze coming up? I shouldn't wonder if we were in for a storm."
"Yes, we may need our bathing suits even before we get to the island," said Betty, ruefully. "I hope you didn't forget to bring your suit, Mrs. Irving," she added, turning to the chaperon, who had been singularly silent during the ride. Perhaps she was realizing for the first time the great responsibility she had taken upon herself. However, she spoke now, accompanying her words with a bright smile.
"Indeed I did," she said. "There is nothing I enjoy quite so much as a good swim. From what you girls say of the island we ought to have as many as we want."
"I am very much afraid we won't leave to wait till we get there," said Frank, regarding the sky anxiously. "Unless I am a pretty poor prophet we are in for a considerable spell of bad weather. What do you say, Allen?"
"I say you are right and then some," Allen answered emphatically. "I think it would be a pretty good stunt to get the top up, Frank, before the girls are deluged."
Accordingly Frank slowed down and waited for Mollie's trim little machine to catch up with them.
"What do you make of the weather?" asked Will, as they came up alongside. "Looks pretty threatening, don't you think?"
"If you don't want to get wet, you had better do what we are going to," Frank advised them. "Put your top up."
"Oh, hurry, Frank, I felt a drop then!" exclaimed Grace. "And there's another! Oh, do hurry!"
The boys worked quickly and in a few moments had raised the tops and were ready to let down the waterproof sides that would make them comfortable in almost any weather.
"We are going to speed up some," Frank shouted to those in the other car. "When the roads get muddy it's going to be pretty hard going, so we want to make good time now."
"Aye, aye, Captain!" Roy answered. "Lead, and we follow."
For a short distance all went well. In fact, the girls rather liked riding in the rain. Then suddenly, without any warning, Frank stopped the car.
"What is it, Frank?" cried Grace in alarm. "Did you run over somebody?"
"No, it's worse than that," he answered gloomily. "Look, the road's closed for repairs!"
The girls and boys stared at each other, dismay written on their faces. The road closed and the rain pouring down in torrents—a nice predicament! It was Mrs. Irving's calm voice which first broke the silence.
"There must be some way around," she said. "It will take us a little longer, that's all."
"Oh, of course we shall be able to strike the main part of the road again if we go a couple of miles out of our way," Frank agreed, a worried frown on his forehead. "The only question is, how are we going to find our way? I didn't bring a chart with me—worse luck."
"Perhaps Roy has one," Betty suggested. "He usually carries a lot of junk like that around with him."
"Well, if he has this particular species of junk it will come in mighty handy just now," said Frank, hopefully. "I'll stick my head out and yell at him. Gee, it sure is raining some!" andhe craned his neck toward the other car, squinting his eyes to keep out the stinging drops. "Hey, Roy!" he shouted. "Do you happen to have anything like a map of the surrounding country in your inside vest pocket? If you have, throw it over. We are stuck good and plenty."
"I don't get you, old man," Roy shouted back. "Say the first part of that speech over again, will you?"
Frank drew in his head and mopped his face and hair with a huge silk handkerchief. "Two minutes before the next plunge," he announced to the amused occupants of his car. "Allen, if he doesn't get me this time you will have to change places with me. I'll be almost drowned," then he thrust his head out once more and shouted in the direction of Mollie's car.
"I said, have you a map of this here countryside?" he repeated. "Betty says you usually carry such things with you."
"Sorry I can't oblige," came his disappointing answer. "I left that home in my old coat this morning."
"Of course, just when you knew we would probably need it!" Frank retorted scathingly. "Now we'll have to hike along and trust to luck. Nobody knows where we will end up."
"Well, you needn't blame it on me," Royshouted wrathfully. "I couldn't be expected to see twenty miles down the road from Deepdale."
"Nobody accused you of it," Frank answered, in the same belligerent voice. "But as long as you had the chart you might have thought far enough——"
Grace seized Frank's arm and pulled him back into the machine. "For goodness' sake, what is the use of making such a fuss about that old map?" she said. "And in the rain, too!"
"Yes, if that were you and I, Grace," said Betty, "the boys would say something about 'isn't that just like a woman,' or, 'aren't girls the limit—always arguing about nothing?'"
"Votes for women!" Allen shouted. "Since when have you taken to stump oratory, Betty?"
"Oh, she is just naturally eloquent," said Grace languidly and they all laughed, even Frank—although his brow clouded anxiously a minute later.
"However, all this isn't getting us anywhere," he said. "We can't stay out here in the rain all night, you know."
"I don't believe any of us expect to," said Allen, dryly. "What do you say we take that side road we passed a little way back, Frank? We can at least see where it leads and we can inquire our way as we go along."
"I don't know whom we shall find to inquire of," said Frank, who, contrary to his usual custom, persisted in looking at the gloomy side of everything. "We didn't pass a soul on the way down."
"Please cheer up, Frank," laughed Betty. "You ask us to make a suggestion and then when we do you scout it. Suppose you tell us whatyouwould like to do."
"I know what I shouldliketo do," he added, readily. "I should like to break down that board that is in our way and go ahead whether they like it or not. Nothing would give me greater pleasure."
"However?" suggested Allen.
"However, I know we'd get pinched—pardon, ladies—I mean, pulled in. That doesn't sound just right, either, does it?" and he regarded them with laughing eyes.
"I imagine 'arrested' is the word you want," said Betty, demurely.
"That's it, thank you," he said, all irritability gone as suddenly as it had come. "So, as long as that is understood, perhaps we might do worse than follow Allen's suggestion, after all."
"Genius always triumphs in the end," said Allen, with a gravity that set them laughing.
"Perhaps it would be better if we hurried alittle," Mrs. Irving suggested, when they had had their laugh out. "With no delay it would take us almost till sundown to reach The Shadows and I don't want to be too late."
"All right, here goes to try to back the old bus out of this mud-hole and turn her around," Frank agreed. "I don't know how long it will take us, though."
"You had better tell Roy what you are going to do," Grace suggested. "We don't want any collisions."
Frank obediently thrust out his head, only to jerk it back quickly the next instant with a startled exclamation. "They are gone!" he said.
"Gone!" the others cried together.
"But they couldn't have gone far," Mrs. Irving added.
"Probably they have motored back to the crossroads to wait for us," Allen suggested. "When they saw the blockade they knew there was just one thing to do and they did it."
"Well, they might at least have told us where they were going," Frank grumbled. "They should have known Mrs. Irving would be worried."
"They probably thought they'd decamp before the mud got so bad," said Betty. "Just the same, they should have told us."
"You are right," Mrs. Irving agreed. "However, the only thing to do now is to follow them as quickly as possible."
For answer, Frank threw in the clutch, and the big machine very slowly and painfully plowed its way through the clinging mud of the road and turned its face toward the crossroads and, in all probability, Mollie's runaway car.
"No wonder they want to repair the road," said Frank when they were well under way. "If the rest of it is any worse than this I should think they would need a new one."
"There's Mollie's car, straight ahead," said Grace a moment later. "I wager they are just sitting there as large as life, laughing at us."
"Let them laugh," said Frank savagely. "It's good to see somebody happy."
"Well, if that's all you want," sang Betty, cheerily, "just look at Grace and Mrs. Irving and Allen and me. I, for my part, am having the time of my life. And look, everybody," she added, "it isn't raining nearly so hard as it was. We will be seeing the sun next!"
"There is just one thing that is better to have along than the sun," said Allen, softly. Mrs. Irving, hearing, smiled knowingly to herself.
When they overtook the car ahead, Roy explained that they had gotten out of the way tomake room for Frank's big car to turn around.
"You surely gave us plenty of it," Frank remarked dryly, upon hearing the explanation. "But we will have to hurry now if we expect to get anywhere before dark."
As they all heartily agreed to this, especially Mrs. Irving, there was no further discussion and the cars swung down the narrow side road at a very good pace—good, that is, considering the going.
They had been riding for half an hour when suddenly Betty's prediction came true. The rain stopped entirely and the sun peeped out from behind the clouds, touching the leaden sky with gold.
"I knew it, I knew it!" cried Betty in delight. "Now we can take down the top, can't we, Frank? Oh, let's do it!"
"Mighty good suggestion, Betty," Frank agreed, bringing the car to a stop once more. "The good old sun sure does change everything, doesn't it?"
Five minutes later the cars started on again, with the breeze fanning the faces of the occupants and the sun pouring down goldenly upon them. As Frank had said, "The world was a different place to live in."
A moment later those in Frank's car were surprised to see Roy stop his automobile and signal them to draw up alongside.
"Did you see that gypsy girl who just passed in front of us?" Mollie whispered when they had done as they were desired. Then, as the girls nodded assent, she continued excitedly: "Well, I am almost sure she had on that jet necklace that disappeared with mother's silver! Oh, if we could only follow the girl we might find that too! Oh, can't we—can't we?" she added, fairly dancing with excitement.
"Sure, come ahead, fellows!" cried Allen, who was always ready for adventure. "Did you see which way she went, Roy?"
"Over this way, I think," Roy answered. "We may be able to trace her to the gypsy camp. There must be one near here, and it is probably the same."
"We'll be back in a minute," called Will, and then the boys disappeared in the underbrush.
"Oh, I'm afraid to have them go," whispered Betty fearfully. "Suppose one of those murderous-looking gypsies should stab them in the back!"
"One gypsy couldn't do it all," said Grace with a little nervous laugh. "I guess they can take care of themselves, Betty. We needn't worry."
"What do you think, Mrs. Irving?" Amyasked quietly. "The boys went off in such a hurry they didn't give you a chance to say anything if you had wanted to."
"I imagine talking wouldn't have done much good anyway," answered Mrs. Irving with a smile. "Besides, there should not be any danger if they only keep their wits about them."
"Oh, mother will be the happiest woman in the world if they can only find her silver for her." Mollie was so agitated she was actually trembling. "Girls, do you think they will?"
"There, there, don't get so excited about it, Mollie, dear," cautioned the Little Captain. "You may be sure the boys will do the very best they can."
At the end of the hardest hour they had ever spent, for inaction was not easy for Outdoor Girls, they heard the welcome sound of masculine voices and the regular tramp-tramp of the boys' feet.
"Oh, oh," they cried together in whole-souled relief, while Mollie added eagerly: "Did you get it—did you?"
Allen, who was in the lead, shook his head regretfully. "We couldn't find a sign of anything," he said. "Not even the camp."
"But if you didn't find anything, what ever in the world kept you so long?" Betty demanded."We imagined all sorts of horrible things happening to you."
"Oh, you couldn't get rid of us," said Will, cheerily. "We hated to come back empty handed—that's all."
"Well, we are mighty glad to get you back," said Mollie, who, after the first disappointment, had become resigned to the inevitable.
"That's the way to make them appreciate us; eh, fellows?" said Frank, as he flung himself into the car. "They don't realize how good we really are till they think we are gone."
"Right you are, Frank," said Roy. "What do you say to full speed ahead?"
"Full speed ahead it is," Frank agreed, and they were off like a shot down the road.
The Outdoor Girls and their boy friends made good time for the rest of the journey and it was not quite sundown when they came in sight of the beautiful shores of Lake Tarracusio.
"We will have to leave the automobiles somewhere in town, won't we?" asked Amy, as the two machines drew up side by side for a final consultation.
"Of course," said Grace. "According to Mollie's description of the rickety old steamer I should think it would have all it could do to carry us—let alone the machines."
"There ought to be at least one big garage in town, Frank," Betty suggested. "Let's move along the main street until we find it."
"Nobody asks me for my advice," complained Mollie, in an injured tone. "And I am the most likely one to know about it."
Mollie gave the directions for finding the garage which her aunt had written. A minute laterthey drew up before the place and tumbled out, bag and baggage, in obedience to Frank's instructions.
While the boys were in the garage talking to the proprietor, the girls had a chance to look about them.
"Isn't it lovely?" cried Mollie delightedly. "It looks just like the little colored pictures of towns they have in the magazines sometimes. The same quaint little frame houses with green shutters and well-kept lawns in front——"
"And flower beds with borders of white shells," Amy finished for her. "I know just what you mean, Mollie; I've seen them myself."
"Girls," said Betty, jumping up from the overturned suitcase she was using for a seat, and speaking impressively, "I have a feeling——" here she paused for effect. "I have a feeling," she continued, "that we are going to have a good time."
"Humph," snorted Mollie. "Why don't you tell us something we don't know?"
"Get off the luggage, you girls!" Will commanded, good-naturedly. "The man in there says we have just exactly five minutes to catch that joke steamer for the island, and if he is right, we've got to hustle. Sling over that bag, Sis, will you?"
"With the greatest of pleasure," said Grace. "But will somebody kindly tell me how we are going to make that boat in five minutes?"
"By running like the very wind," Frank declared, and, picking up two suitcases in one hand, he propelled Grace down the street with the other. "Please hurry," he urged. "Never mind about your hats, girls. It will soon be so dark nobody will be able to see them."
"Shall we give them a race?" asked Allen of Betty, as they prepared to follow Roy, who had taken both Mollie and their gay little chaperon in tow.
"Let's," said Betty with dancing eyes. "Nobody knows us here and I wouldn't care if they did—better people than you and I have run for boats before, Allen."
"Oh, I don't know," he said, argumentatively. "Just as good, possibly, but never better."
"All right, have it your own way," she laughed. "Now do we begin? One—two—three—come on. We'll beat them even with the head start."
Off they raced, light and graceful and buoyantly alive. It was no task at all to overtake Roy, who was hampered by gasping little Mrs. Irving—who, although young, was not—soyoung. Next came Amy and Will, running easily, but Allen and Betty passed them as if they had been standing still.
"Oh, you will, will you?" Will shouted as they went by. "We'll see about that. What do you say, Amy, more speed?"
"Sure," said game little Amy. "I can go lots faster than this." So the two quickened their pace, but Betty and Allen were on wings, and, try as they might, they could not lessen the space between.
"Oh, well, we don't want to beat them anyway, do we?" said Will, when they had to give up.
"No, we wouldn't think of taking the fun from them," she panted, and they both laughed merrily.
Meanwhile the two champion runners had overtaken Grace and Frank and had started on the last lap to the wharf.
"There's the little steamer now, Allen!" gasped Betty. "Oh, do you think it will go without us?" As if for answer the whistle on the curious old ferry shrieked a warning to all would-be voyagers to Pine Island.
Allen's hand tightened its grasp of Betty's arm. "Are you game for one last spurt?" he asked her. "We may be able to make it."
Betty nodded her head, for just then breathwas precious and not to be wasted in idle words. Silently, the two called on their splendid reserve strength, while arm in arm they sped along the shore to the dock. They reached it just in the nick of time.
"Hold on there, will you?" shouted Allen, with what he had left of his breath. "The rest of the party will be up in a minute."
True to his prophecy, in a moment's time the entire company was assembled on the ancient dock, tired and out of breath, but happy to be there nevertheless.
"You two are some classy little speed merchants," remarked Frank, slangily, while he regarded the pair thus designated with profound admiration. "I never knew two people could run so fast before."
"So this is the steamer!" said Grace, as soon as she could find breath enough to speak at all. "It does justify your aunt's description, Mollie, although it doesn't look quite so rickety as I expected."
"Probably she will look lots worse in the daylight," Will prophesied cheerfully. "Say, folks, what do you say to our making ourselves comfortable? We have quite some ride before us; eh, Mollie?"
"About half an hour'ssail," corrected Mollie."Youridein an automobile, but yousailin a boat."
"I don't see why ride isn't just as appropriate as sail in this case," said Will, sitting on a suitcase beside Amy, with his back against the rail, prepared to argue the point. "Especially since this old tub has never known a sail."
"Betty," Frank said, turning to that young person who was gazing dreamily out over the water, "what did they put in that basket when we stopped at the hotel this afternoon?"
"What?" she said, bringing her mind down to every-day things with an effort. "Oh, the basket! I wouldn't dare tell you that," she added, with sudden animation. "Boys, boys, if you could only see inside—if you only could—oh, how your mouths would water!"
"Just think," said Grace, tragically. "Here we have everything that goes to make up a romantic sail——"
"What, for instance?" Roy demanded. "If you call a leaky old ferryboat with the weather so damp that you can't touch the rail without feeling as if you have had a dip in the briny—if that's what you call romantic, then give me a good open fire and plenty of chicken bones to gnaw."
"Oh," said Betty in sorrow, shaking her headat the depths to which the boys had fallen. "Frank, I would never have thought it of you. Just the same," she added, in a stage whisper, "I wouldn't mind having a couple of them myself."
"Betty, Betty," Allen reproved her. "I thought——"
"Oh, Mollie, look there," cried Betty, pulling her friend towards her and indicating an indistinct shadowy bulk looming eerily before them. "Mollie, dear, that's the island, isn't it? I can't wait until I put my two feet on it."
"Oh, I wish we could see an inch before our noses!" said Grace impatiently. "I can't make out a single blessed thing."
"Probably going to rain some more," said Frank consolingly. "Never mind, Grace, whenever your heart begins to fail you, just think of—what, fellows?"
"Chicken!" they shouted, with one voice.
"You don't know you are going to get any, yet," Betty declared. "If I remember rightly, Frank is the only one who said anything about it, and he doesn't know what he is talking about."
"Betty, don't be heartless," Allen implored. "Is there or is there not a fowl in that basket?"
"There is!" she answered in solemn tones.
"Hoorah!" shouted Will. "Three cheers for the good old bird!"
As he spoke the little steamer scraped against the dock that was almost invisible to those on deck, then came to a full stop. The shrill whistle which Roy contemptuously characterized as a joke, broke the misty stillness with a shriek, that echoed and re-echoed, thrown back upon itself by some distant cave or hillside on the island.
"Goodness! I wouldn't mind a nice fire myself," said Mollie, shivering with something a little more than cold. There was something mysterious about this island, shrouded as it was in the clinging mist—something that made the girls draw close together for companionship. "I hope it will be more cheerful in the daytime—the island, I mean, not the fire," she added.
"Girls," cried Betty, "this looks like a regular adventure island. Maybe we'll find the gypsies here."
"Oh, don't," shivered Amy. "Don't talk about gypsies—until daylight, at least."
"Here comes the rain!" Roy shouted. "We'll have to hurry some, if we want to beat it to the house. Here, Will, take hold of this bag. Quick, I can't carry more than three at a time."
"Give it to Allen," Will advised, as theytumbled out on the tiny wharf. "I have more than my share already."
"Oh, all right," said Allen, "I'll be the goat. How about it, Betty—shall we give them another race? It looks as if a little speed would come in handy."
"No, let Mollie lead this time. I hope she knows the way."
"Of course I do," said Mollie, coming up behind them. "There isn't any way to find. The house is at the end of the wharf. Follow us and——"
"You'll get something to eat," Roy finished for her. "We have the basket."
"Then you needn't worry about our following you," said Allen. "Only if you don't look out we will get there before you after all. Come on, Betty," and for the second time that day the young folks had a chance to test their skill in running. The main thing was that they got there before the rain.
The morning dawned clear and bright. Mollie woke first in the large, sunshiny room which the girls had chosen to occupy together during their stay on Pine Island.
It contained two large double beds—each in a little alcove of its own. The spotless grass mats, the flowers that bloomed on the wide-silled, latticed windows gave the room an air of cheerful hominess and comfort that was very pleasant.
All this Mollie took in subconsciously as her sleepy gaze wandered about the room. Then slowly full wakefulness banished the last vestige of sleep from her eyes and she sat up in bed.
"The sun!" she cried joyfully. "And I was sure it was going to be rainy this morning! Oh, now we shall see the island as it really is. Wake up, Amy, do! Oh, goodness, how the child sleeps!" and she shook her slumbering friend with no uncertain hand.
"There is no use, Mollie," said Betty's voice from the other end of the room. "You couldn't wake Amy or Grace without a good shaking."
"What's that?" cried Mollie, startled, as a loud knock sounded on the door. "I wonder who is coming to visit us so early?"
"Probably one of the boys," Betty suggested, "come to tell us it is nine o'clock and high time we were up and dressed."
"Nine o'clock!" Grace fairly stuttered, but just then Mollie called out an impatient:
"Who's there?" in response to a second and harder knock at the door.
"It's I, Will. Mrs. Irving sent me up to ask when in the name of common sense you girls are coming down to breakfast."
"What time is it?" Betty countered. "If you tell us that, we'll tell you what time we are coming down."
"It is half-past eight," Will answered. "We fellows have been up since six o'clock getting our summer quarters fixed up!"
"I won't believe it until I see it," said Mollie darkly. "Six o'clock, indeed!" and she sniffed disdainfully.
"Well, if you don't believe it," said Will, through the keyhole, "all you have to do is to come down and see for yourself. We've goteverything fixed up O. K. all right. But say! when are you fellows—I mean girls—going to get up?"
"Right away, Will," Betty promised, popping out of bed and into her slippers all at once. "We will be down in a jiffy."
It required a great deal of tact to coax Amy and Grace out of bed, but it took a still greater amount of merciless driving to get them downstairs and into the big airy dining room, where Mrs. Irving was impatiently awaiting them.
"Here you are," she said, laying down her book as the four girls tumbled into the room. "I thought you would be tired after last night's fun, so I let you sleep it out."
"Well, we surely did sleep," said the Little Captain brightly. "I for one feel as if I'll never sleep again."
"And I feel as if I could sleep forever," said Grace. "You never saw anything like Betty, Mrs. Irving," she complained. "Why, I do believe she could have made a fortune in the old days as an overseer down South."
Mrs. Irving laughed. "You don't look especially brow-beaten," she said. "And anyway, I should think you would be glad to get up—you must be nearly starved to death."
"I thought after last night, and the chicken, I could never eat again," said Mollie, her eyes sparkling at the memory. "But I find that I can, very easily. Oh, Mrs. Irving, what is there?"
"Well," their chaperon began, "there are the eggs we had put up with the other things yesterday and some fruit and honey and we can make some fluffy white biscuits in no time——"
"Oh, oh, say no more!" said Betty, clapping her hands joyfully and executing a little dance about the room. "Honey and biscuits—I could make a meal of them alone. Mrs. Irving, show me the stove—lead me to it—and I'll make the biscuits," she finished importantly.
"Mrs. Irving," Grace pleaded, turning to the chaperon, "you are the only one here who could possibly make Betty do anything that she didn't want to do or stop her doing anything she had set her heart on. Won't you please interfere for the sake of the community? It might really be dangerous," she added plaintively.
"Don't worry," Mollie put in. "I have eaten Betty's biscuits of old, and, believe me, they are good. All I ask is that you hustle, Betty—shoo——" And she hurried the willing Little Captain before her into the kitchen.
Mrs. Irving followed more slowly with Amy and Grace, and they were just in time to hearMollie's last sentence: "Where have the boys disappeared to?"
"They're out yonder in the woods," Mrs. Irving replied, indicating a spot beyond the cottage. "They were up very early this morning—couldn't wait to get the tents up. Allen left word that they would stop around in a couple of hours to say good-afternoon to you girls—if you happened to be up by that time," and the little chaperon's eyes twinkled as she saw the look of rising indignation in the girls' faces.
"If we happen to be up, indeed," sniffed Betty, bustling around the kitchen in a business-like fashion, sorting out pans and getting out the flour, which Mollie's aunt had very thoughtfully left in the larder. "If they talk like that much more, they won't get any of my biscuits. Just wait till they smell them, girls—they will go down on their knees."
"Yes, the only way to manage boys is to feed them well," sighed Amy, with a funny air of knowing all there was to be known about men.
"Oh, Amy! Amy!" gasped Mollie, "you will be the death of me yet. Anybody would actually think, to hear you talk, that you had really had some experience. Say, Betty," she added, regarding the doughy mixture—the result of Betty's skillful manipulation, "that looks mightyinteresting—I shouldn't mind learning how to make them myself."
"Oh, it's lots of fun," Betty affirmed, cutting out the biscuits with an improvised cutter—this last being the top of a baking powder can. "Only take my advice," she went on, standing with the cover poised in the air and speaking earnestly. "Don't try it on your family first—they never appreciate you. Why, the first time I made biscuits, do you know what dad said?"
"No, but I can imagine," said Grace, who had also been regarding the operation, "judging from what dad and Will would have remarked."
"Well, he said," Betty continued, patting the last biscuit into its appointed place and regarding her work with satisfaction, "he said the best thing I could do with them would be to pack them and send them to the old country to use in some of the new howitzers or something like that they are getting out. How is that for a slam?"
"Well, I shouldn't wonder," said Grace wickedly, "if he were justified."
Betty turned and shot a reproachful glance at her friend. "Just for that, Grace," she said, "I ought to say you can't have any of these—works of art," indicating the pan she was putting into the oven. "Why do you girls stand aroundstaring at me anyway?" she added, a sudden note of impatience in her voice. "Why don't you do something to earn your living? Set the table or get the water boiling for the eggs. I can't do everything—now scatter! If you were all as hungry as I am you wouldn't wait to be told."
Laughingly the girls did as the Little Captain bid—somehow it was impossible to do anything else.
"Where is the table cloth, Mollie?" called Amy from the other room. "We used paper napkins and doilies last night." Then she added, as Mollie came to help her, "Did you ever see anybody eat like those boys last night?"
"It was a wonderful and awesome sight," Mollie agreed, as she and Amy spread the cloth. "I wonder," she added as a sudden thought struck her, "if the boys have had their breakfast."
"What a question!" said Grace, appearing at the door carrying a plateful of the most deliciously golden honey the girls had ever seen—or so at least it seemed to them. "Do you imagine they could exist from six o'clock to ten without eating? Mollie, I gave you credit for more sense."
"Is that so?" retorted Mollie, cross becauseshe was hungry. "Well, I have a good deal more sense than some people I know. I mention no names, but see where I am looking," and she stared steadfastly at her unruffled chum, who was calmly setting the honey on the table.
"Here I am again," said Betty, "acting the part of peacemaker. Oh, girls, it is too wonderful a day for outdoor girls to quarrel. I am simply crazy to get out in the woods and just revel in the grass and the trees and the sunshine." And she glanced longingly out of the open door that led to the porch. "Oh, I wish," she said, "I wish the biscuits could be done and eaten all in five minutes. Amy, did you put the eggs in?" she demanded, and Amy, who had been gazing out of the window, scuttled out to the kitchen obediently.
The girls had nearly finished breakfast, when there was a sound of voices outside the door, and a moment later the boys burst in upon them.
"Hello!" said Allen, evidently surprised. "I didn't expect to see you for another hour."
"Say, those biscuits look good," said Roy. "I should say biscuit," he corrected himself. "Say, Betty, do you happen to have any more of those around?"
"No, and you don't get this one, either. Itbelongs to Amy," said Betty decidedly. "She has had only three and I made four apiece."
Frank was just about to protest when she added compromisingly: "I'll make some more for lunch."
"When is lunch?" inquired Will practically. "Twelve o'clock?"
"No, about one," Mollie answered. "We couldn't possibly eat before then."
Allen had been talking to Betty in an undertone, and now he broke into the conversation with: "Betty says she wants to see our camp. Who cares to go along?"
There was a clamorous assent followed by a faint little protest from Grace. "Don't you think we had better wash the dishes first?" she asked.
"Oh, hang the dishes!" said Frank, inelegantly. "Remember we are camping."
"We'll wash them up with the lunch dishes," Betty compromised, then added, with a sly little glance in Allen's direction: "We'll make the boys wipe them for us."
The girls and the boys, laughingly driving Mrs. Irving before them, fairly tumbled down the shallow steps in their eagerness to feel the soft grass under their feet. As Betty said, it was a glorious day, a typical day in early August, when a soft breeze tempers the heat of the scorching sun, and sets the trees to murmuring.
The spicy air, sweet with the intoxicating scent of damp, moist earth and blossoming flowers, went to their heads like wine and they danced down the path that led through the woods on feet that scarcely touched the ground.
Soon they emerged from the dense shadows of the wood into the small clearing which was thick and mossy under foot, and there, nestling among the trees, were the two tents the boys had so laboriously constructed.
"Oh, it is ideal!" cried Mollie, delightedly, as they stopped for a moment on the outskirts of the clearing to survey the scene.