[Illustration: Dolly was bound to a tree, a handkerchief over her mouth. ]

CAMP FIRE GIRLS SERIES, VOLUME III

The Camp Fire Girls at Long Lake

or

Bessie King in Summer Camp

by

JANE L. STEWART

THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY

Chicago AKRON, OHIO New York

MADE IN U. S. A. 

1914

The Saalfield Publishing Co. 

The Camp Fire Girls at Long Lake

CHAPTER I

A GROUNDLESS JEALOUSY

"I told you we were going to be happy here, didn't I, Zara?"

The speaker was Dolly Ransom, a black-haired, mischievous Wood Gathererof the Camp Fire Girls, a member of the Manasquan Camp Fire, theGuardian of which was Miss Eleanor Mercer, or Wanaka, as she was knownin the ceremonial camp fires that were held each month. The girls werestaying with her at her father's farm, and only a few days before Zara, who had enemies determined to keep her from her friends of the CampFire, had been restored to them, through the shrewd suspicions that afaithless friend had aroused in Bessie King, Zara's best chum. 

Zara and Dolly were on top of a big wagon, half filled with new-mownhay, the sweet smell of which delighted Dolly, although Zara, who hadlived in the country, knew it too well to become wildly enthusiasticover anything that was so commonplace to her. Below them, on the ground, two other Camp Fire Girls in the regular working costume of the CampFire--middy blouses and wide blue bloomers--were tossing up the hay, under the amused direction of Walter Stubbs, one of the boys who workedon the farm. 

"I'm awfully glad to be here with the girls again, Dolly, " said Zara. "No, that's not the way! Here, use your rake like this. The way you'redoing it the wagon won't hold half as much hay as it should. "

"Is Bessie acting as if she was your teacher, Margery?" Dolly calleddown laughingly to Margery Burton, who, because she was alwayslaughing, was called Minnehaha by the Camp Fire Girls. "Zara acts justas if we were in school, and she's as superior and tiresome as she canbe. "

"She's a regular farm girl, that Zara, " said Walt, with a grin. "Knowsas much about packin' hay as I do--'most. Bessie, thought you'd lived ona farm all yer life. Zara there can beat yer all hollow at this. You'reonly gettin' half a pickful every time you toss the hay up. Here--let meshow you!"

"I'd be a pretty good teacher if I tried to show Margery, Dolly, "laughed Bessie King. "You hear how Walter is scolding me!"

"He's quite right, too, " said Dolly, with a little pout. "You know toomuch, Bessie--I'm glad to find there's something you don't do right. Youmust she stupid about some things, just like the rest of us, if youlived on a farm and don't know how to pitch hay properly after all theseyears!"

Bessie laughed. Dolly's smile was ample proof that there was nothingill-natured about her little gibe. 

"Girls on farms in this country don't work in the fields--the menwouldn't let them, " said Bessie. "They'd rather have them stay in a hotkitchen all day, cooking and washing dishes. And when they want achange, the men let them chop wood, and fetch water, and run around tocollect the eggs, and milk the cows, and churn butter and fix the gardentruck! Oh, it's easy for girls and women on a farm--all they have to dois a few little things like that. The men do all the hard work. Youwouldn't let your wife do more than that, would you, Walter?"

The boy flushed. 

"When I get married, I'm aimin' to have a hired gal to do all themchores, " he said. "They's some farmers seem to think when they marrythey're just gettin' an extra lot of hired help they don't have to payfer, but we don't figger that way in these parts. No, ma'am. "

He looked shyly at Dolly as he spoke, and Dolly, who was anaccomplished little flirt, saw the look and understood it very well. Shetossed her pretty head. 

"You needn't look at me that way, Walt Stubbs, " she said. "I'm nevergoing to marry any farmer--so there! I'm going to marry a rich man, andlive in the city, and have my own automobile and all the servants Iwant, and never do anything at all unless I like. So you needn't wasteyour breath telling me what a good time your wife is going to have. "

Walter, already as brown as a berry from the hot sun under which heworked every day, turned redder than he had been before, if that waspossible. But, wisely, he made no attempt to answer Dolly. He hadalready been inveigled into two or three arguments with the sharp wittedgirl from the city, and he had no mind for any more of the cuttingsarcasm with which she had withered him up each time just as he thoughthe had got the best of her. 

Still, in spite of her sharp tongue and her fondness for teasing him, Walt liked Dolly better than any of the girls from the city who werestaying on the farm, and he was always glad to welcome her when sheappeared where he was working, even though she interrupted his work, andmade it necessary for him to stick to his job after the others werethrough in order to make up for lost time. But Dolly had little use forhim, in spite of his obvious devotion, which all the other girls hadnoticed. And this time his silence didn't save him from another sharpthrust. 

"Goin' to that ice-cream festival over to the Methodist Church at DeerCrossin' to-night?" she asked him, trying to imitate his peculiarcountry accent. 

"I'm aimin' to, " he said uncomfortably. "You said you was goin' to letme take you. Isn't that so?"

"Oh, yes--I suppose so, " she said, tossing her head again. "But I neversaid I'd let you bring me home, did I? Maybe I'll find some one overthere I like better to come home with. "

Walter didn't answer, which proved that, young as he was, andinexperienced in the ways of city girls like Dolly, he was learningfast. But just then a bell sounded from the farm, and the girls droppedtheir pitchforks quickly. 

"Dinner time!" cried Margery Burton, happily. "Come on down, you two, and we'll go over to that big tree and eat our dinner in the shade. Walter, if you'll go and fetch us a pail of water from the spring, we'llhave dinner ready when you get back. And I bet you'll be surprised whenyou see what we've got, too--something awfully good. We got Mrs. Farnhamto let us put up the best lunch you ever saw!"

"Yes you did!" gibed Walter. He wasn't half as much afraid of Margeryand the other girls who never teased him, as he was of Dolly Ransom, andhe didn't like them as well, either. Perhaps it was just because Dollymade a point of teasing him that he was so fond of her. But he pickedup the pail, obediently enough, and went off. When he was out of hearingBessie shook her finger reproachfully at Dolly. 

"I thought you were going to be good and not tease Walter any more!" shesaid, half smiling. 

"Oh, he's so stupid--it's just fun to tease him, and he's so easy that Ijust can't help it, " said Dolly. 

"I don't think he's stupid--I think he's a very nice boy, " said Bessie. "Don't you, Margery!"

"I certainly do, Bessie--much too nice for a little flirt like Dolly totorment him the way she does. "

"Well, if you two like him so much you can have him, and welcome!" criedDolly, tossing her head. "I'm sure I don't want him tagging around afterme all the time the way he does. "

"Better be careful, Dolly, " advised Margery, who knew her of old. "Theysay pride goes before a fall, and if you're not nice to him you mayhave to come home from the festival tonight without a beau--and you knowyou wouldn't like that. "

"I'd just as soon not have a beau at all as have some of these boysaround here, " declared Dolly, pugnaciously. "I like the country, but Idon't see why the people have to be so stupid. They're not half asbright as the ones we know in the city. "

"I don't know about that, Dolly. Bessie's from the country, but I thinkshe's as bright as most of the people in the city. They haven't beenable to fool her very much since she left Hedgeville, you know. "

"Oh, I didn't mean Bessie!" cried Dolly, throwing her arms aroundBessie's neck affectionately. "You know I didn't, don't you, dear? AndI'm only joking about half the time anyhow, when I say things likethat. "

"Here comes Walter now--we'll see whether he doesn't admit that this isthe best dinner he ever ate in the fields!" said Margery. 

It was, too. There was no doubt at all about that. There were coldchicken, and rolls, and plenty of fresh butter, and new milk, and hardboiled eggs, that the girls had stuffed, and a luscious blueberry piethat Bessie herself had been allowed to bake in the big farm kitchen. They made a great dinner of it, and Walter was loud in his praises. 

"That certainly beats what we have out here most days!" he said. "Wehave plenty--but it's just bread and cold meat and water, as a rule, andno dessert. It's better than they get at most farms, though, at that. "

When the meal was finished the girls quickly made neat parcels of thedishes that were to be taken back, and all the litter that remainedunder the tree was gathered up into a neat heap and burned. 

"My, but you're neat!" exclaimed Walter, as he watched them. 

"It's one of our Camp Fire rules, " explained Margery. "We're used tocamping out and eating in the open air, you know, and it isn't fair toleave a place so that the next people who camp out there have to do alot of work to clean up after you before they can begin having a goodtime themselves. We wouldn't like it if we had to do it after others, sowe try always to leave things just as we'd like to find them ourselves. And it wouldn't be good for the Camp Fire Girls if people thought wewere careless and untidy. "

Then they got back to work again, and the long summer afternoon passedhappily, with all four of the girls doing their share of the work. Thesun was still high when they had finished their work, and Walter gavethe word to stop happily, since he wanted time to put on his bestclothes for the trip to Deer Crossing, where the ice-cream festival wasto be held. Such festivities were rare enough in the country to be mademightily welcome when they came, especially when the date chosen was aSaturday, since on Sunday those who worked in the fields every otherday of the week could take things easily and lie abed late. 

"Well, I'll see all you girls again to-night, " he said. "I'll be alongafter supper, Dolly--don't forget. We're goin' to ride over together inthe first wagon. "

"All right, " said Dolly, smiling at him, and winking shamelessly atBessie. "Don't forget to put on that new blue necktie and to wear thosepink socks, Walter. "

"I sure won't, " he said, not having seen her wink, and, as he turnedaway, Dolly looked at Bessie with a gesture of comic despair. 

"I think it's very mean to laugh at Walter's clothes, Dolly, " saidBessie. "They're not a bit sillier than some of the things the boys inthe city wear, are they, Margery?"

"I should say not--not half as foolish. I've seen some of your pet boyswearing the sort of clothes one would expect men at the racetrack towear, and nobody else, Dolly. You want to get over thinking you're somuch better than everyone else--if you don't, it's going to make; youunhappy. "

Once they were at the ice-cream festival, where all the girls and youngfellows from miles around seemed to have gathered, Dolly seemed preparedto have a very good time, however. She entered into the spirit of theoccasion, and, though she, like Bessie and most of the Camp Fire Girls, would not take part in the kissing games that were popular, she wasn't abit stiff or superior. 

"I wonder where that nice boy that thrashed Jake Hoover is?" she askedBessie, after they had been there for a while. 

"Oh, that's whom you're looking for!" exclaimed Bessie, with a laugh. "Will Burns, you mean? That's so, Dolly--he said he was coming here, didn't he?"

"He certainly did. I'd like to see him again, Bessie. He wasn't asstupid as most of country boys. "

"He was splendid, " said Bessie, warmly. "If it hadn't been for him, Imight not be here now, Dolly. Jake would have got me back into theother state--he was strong enough to make me go where he wanted. And ifI'd been caught there, they'd have made me stay. "

"There he is now!" exclaimed Dolly, as a tall, sunburned boy appeared inthe doorway. "I was beginning to be afraid he wasn't coming at all. "

Will Burns, who was a cousin of Walter Stubbs, seemed to be well knownto the young people of the neighborhood, though his home was nearJericho, some twenty miles away. He was greeted on all sides as he madehis way through the Sunday School room, where the festival was beingheld, and it was some minutes before the girls from the farm saw that hewas nearing them. 

"Well--well, so you got home all right?" he said, smiling at Bessie. "Ithought you wouldn't have any more trouble, once you got on the train. I'm glad to see you again. "

And then Dolly's vanity got a rude shock. For Will Burns began todevote himself at once, after he had greeted Dolly and been introducedto Zara and some of the other girls, to Bessie. Everyone in the roomsoon noticed this, and since most of the girls there had tried to makehim pay attention to them, at one time or another, his evident fondnessfor Bessie caused a little sensation. Dolly, so surprised to find a boyshe fancied willing to talk to anyone else that she didn't know what todo, stood it as long as she could, and then went in search of WalterStubbs, whom she had snubbed unmercifully all evening. 

But Walter had at last plucked up courage enough to resent the way shetreated him, and she found that he had bought two plates of ice-creamfor Margery Burton and himself, and that they were sitting in a corner, eating their ice-cream, and talking away as merrily as if they had knownone another all their lives!

Eleanor Mercer, who had come over to have an eye on the girls, saw thelittle comedy. She was sorry for Dolly, who was sensitive, but she knewthat the lesson would be a wholesome one for the little flirt, who hadbeen flattered so much by the boys in the city that she had come tobelieve that she could make any boy do just what she desired. So shesaid nothing, even when Dolly, without a single boy to keep her incountenance, was reduced to sitting with one or two other girls who werein the same predicament, since there were more girls there than boys. 

Walter did not even come to get her to ride home with him. Instead, hefound a place with Margery Burton, and Dolly had to climb into her wagonalone. There she found Bessie. 

"You're a mean old thing, Bessie King!" she said, half crying. 

CHAPTER II

GOOD-BYE TO THE FARM

Dolly had spoken in a low tone, her sobs seeming to strangle her speech, and only Bessie, who was amazed by this outburst, heard her. Grieved andastonished, she put her arm about Dolly, but the other girl threw itoff, roughly. 

"Don't you pretend you love me--I know the mean sort of a cat you arenow!" she said bitterly. 

"Why, Dolly! Whatever _is_ the matter with, you? What have I done tomake you angry?"

"If you were so mad at me the other day getting you into that automobileride with Mr. Holmes you might have said so--instead of tending thatyou'd forgiven me, and then turning around and making everyone laugh atme to-night! You're prettier than I--and clever--but I think it'spretty mean to make that Burns boy spend the whole evening with you!"

Gradually, and very faintly, Bessie began to have a glimmering of whatwas wrong with her friend. She found it hard work not to smile, or evento laugh outright, but she resisted the temptation nobly, for she knewonly too well that to Dolly, sensitive and nervous, laughter would bejust the one thing needed to make it harder than ever to patch up thissenseless and silly quarrel, which, so far, was only one sided. 

To Bessie, who thought little of boys, and to whom jealousy was alien, the idea that Dolly was really jealous of her seemed absurd, since sheknew how little cause there was for such a feeling. But, very wisely, she determined to proceed slowly, and not to do anything that couldpossibly give Dolly any fresh cause of offence. 

"Dolly, " she said, "you mustn't feel that way. Really, dear, I didn't dothat at all. I talked to him when he came to sit down by me, but thatwas all. I couldn't very well tell him to go away, or not answer himwhen he spoke to me, could I?"

"Oh, I know what you're going to say--that it was all his fault. But ifyou hadn't tried to make him come he wouldn't have done it. "

"I didn't try to make him come. Did you?"

Dolly stared at her a moment. The question seemed to force her to giveattention to a new idea, to something she had not thought of before. Butwhen she spoke her voice was still defiant. 

"Suppose I did!" she said angrily. "I wanted to have a good time--and hewas the nicest boy there--"

"Maybe he saw that you were waiting for him too plainly, Dolly. Maybe hewanted to pick out someone for himself--and if you'd pretended that youdidn't care whether he talked to you or not he would have been moreanxious to be with you. "

Dolly blushed slightly at that, though it was too dark for Bessie to seethe color in her cheeks. She knew very well that Bessie was right, butshe wondered how Bessie knew it. That feigned indifference had broughther the attentions of more than one boy who had boasted that he was notgoing to pay any attention to her just because everyone else did. 

But the gradually dawning suspicion that she might, after all, have onlyherself to blame for the spoiling of her evening's fun, and that she hadacted in rather a silly fashion, didn't soften Dolly particularly. Veryfew people are able to recover a lost temper just because they find out, at the height of their anger, that they are themselves to blame for whatmade them angry, and Dolly was not yet one of them. 

"I suppose you'll tell all the other girls about this, " she said. Shewasn't crying any more, but her voice was as hard as ever. "I thinkyou're horrid--and I thought I was going to like you so much. I thinkI'll ask Miss Eleanor to let me share a room with someone else. "

Bessie didn't answer, though Dolly waited while the wagon drove on forquite a hundred yards. Bessie was thinking hard. She liked Dolly; shewas sure that this was only a show of Dolly's temper, which, despitethe restrictions that surrounded her in her home, and had a good deal todo with her mischievous ways, had never been properly curbed. 

But, though Bessie was not angry in her turn, she understood thoroughlythat if she and Dolly were to continue the friendship that had begun sopromisingly, this trouble between them must be settled, and settled inthe proper fashion. If Dolly were allowed to sleep on her anger, itwould be infinitely harder to restore their relations to a friendlybasis. 

"I suppose you don't care!" said Dolly, finally, when she decided thatBessie was not going to answer her. 

And now Bessie decided on a change of tactics. She had tried arguingwith Dolly, and it had seemed to do no good at all. It was time to seeif a little ridicule would not be more useful. 

"I didn't say so, Dolly, " she answered, very quietly. And she smiled ather friend. "What's the use of my saying anything? I told you the truthabout what happened this evening, and you didn't believe me. So there'snot much use talking, is there?"

"You know I'm right, or you'd have plenty to talk about, " said Dolly, unhappily. "Oh, I wish we'd never seen Will Burns!"

"I wish we hadn't seen him until to-night, Dolly, " said Bessie, gravely. "You know, that trip in the automobile with Mr. Holmes the other daywasn't very nice for me, Dolly. If they had caught me, as Mr. Holmes hadplanned to do, I'd have been taken back to Hedgeville, and bound over toFarmer Weeks--and he's a miser, who hates me, and would have been asmean to me as he could possibly be. That's how we met Will Burns, youknow--because you insisted on going with Mr. Holmes in his car to get anice-cream soda. "

"That's just what I said--you pretended to forgive me for that, and youhaven't at all--you're still angry, and you humiliated me before allthose people just to get even! I didn't think you were like that, Bessie--I thought you were nicer than I. But--"

"Dolly, stop talking a little, and just think it over. You say youdidn't have a good time, and you mean that you didn't have a boy waitingaround to do what you told him all evening. Isn't that so?"

"All the other girls had boys around them all the time--"

"You went with Walter Stubbs, didn't you? And you told him that maybeyou'd come home with him and maybe you wouldn't--and that if anyone youliked better came along you were going to stay with them. You didn'tknow Will Burns was coming, did you?"

"No, but--I thought if he did come--"

"That's just it. You didn't think about Walter at all, did you. Youwanted to have a good time yourself--and you didn't care what sort of atime he had! You just thought that if Will Burns did come he was sure towant to be with you, and so, as soon as you saw him come in you sentWalter off. Oh, you were silly, Dolly--and it was all your own fault. Don't you think it's rather mean to blame me? We were together when WillBurns was coming toward us, and I wanted to go away and let you staythere--but you said I must stay. Don't you remember that?"

Dolly, as a matter of fact, had quite forgotten it. But she rememberedwell enough, now that Bessie had reminded her of it. And, though she hada hot temper, and was fond of mischief, Dolly was not sly. She admittedit at once. 

"I do remember it now, Bessie. "

"Well, don't you see how absurd it is to say that I took Will away fromyou? We were both there together--I couldn't tell when we saw him comingthat he was going to talk to me, could I? And listen, Dolly--he asked meto go home with him in his buggy, and I said I wouldn't. "

With some girls that would have made the chance of mending things veryremote. But Dolly, although her jealousy had been so quickly aroused, was not the sort to get still angrier at this fresh proof that she hadbeen mistaken in thinking that Will Burns had liked her better thanBessie. 

"Why, Bessie--why did you do that?"

Bessie laughed. 

"We're not going to be here very much longer, are we, Dolly?" she said. "Well--if we're not going to be here, we're not going to see much ofWill Burns. You're not the only girl who--was--who thought that he oughtto be paying more attention to her than to me. There was a pretty girlfrom Jericho, and he's known her a long time. Walter told me about them. 

"And I could see that she wanted him to drive her home, so I asked himwhy he didn't do it. And he got very much confused, but he went over toher, finally, and she looked just as happy as she could be when hehanded her up into his buggy, and they all went off along the roadtogether, Will and she and two or three other fellows who had drivenover together from Jericho. "

Dolly's expression had changed two or three times, very swiftly, as shelistened. Now she sighed, and her hand crept out to find Bessie's. 

"Oh, Bessie, " she said, softly, "won't you forgive me, dear? I've made afool of myself again--I'm always doing that, it seems to me. And everytime I promise myself or you or someone not to do it again. But thetrouble is there are so many different ways of being foolish. I seem tofind new ones all the time, and every one is so different from theothers that I never know about it until it's too late. "

"It's never too late to find out one's been in the wrong, Dolly, if oneadmits it. There aren't many girls like you, who are ready to saythey've been wrong, no matter how well they know it. I haven't anythingto forgive you for--so don't let's talk any more about that. Everyonemakes mistakes. If I thought anyone had treated me as you thought I hadtreated you to-night I'd have been angry, too. "

Poor Dolly sighed disconsolately. 

"You're the best friend I ever had, Bessie, " she said. "I make everyoneangry with me, and when I say I'm sorry, they pretend that they'veforgiven me, but they haven't, really, at all. That's why I said thatabout your still being angry with me. I thought you must be. I really amgoing to try to be more sensible. "

And so the little misunderstanding, which might easily, had Bessie beenless patient and tactful, have grown into a quarrel that would haveended their friendship before it was well begun, was smoothed over, andDolly and Bessie, tired but happy, went upstairs to their room together, and were asleep so quickly that they didn't even take the time to talkmatters over. 

Eleanor Mercer, standing in the big hall of the farm house as the girlswent upstairs, smiled after Dolly and Bessie. 

"I think you thought I was foolish to put those two in a room together, "she said to Mrs. Farnham, the motherly housekeeper, whom Eleanor hadknown since, as a little girl, she had played about the farm. 

"I wouldn't say that, Miss Eleanor, " said Mrs. Farnham. "I didn't seehow they were going to get along together, because they were sodifferent. But it's not for me to say that you're foolish, no matterwhat you do. "

"Oh, yes, it is, " laughed Eleanor. "You used to have to tell me I wasfoolish in the old days, when I wanted to eat green apples, and allsorts of other things that would have made me sick, and just because I'mgrown up doesn't keep me from wanting to do lots of things that are justas foolish now. But I do think I was right in that"

"They do seem to get on well, " agreed Mrs. Farnham. 

"It's just because they are so different, " said Eleanor. "Dolly doeseverything on impulse--she doesn't stop to think. With Bessie it's justthe opposite. She's almost too old--she isn't impulsive enough. And Ithink each of them will work a little on the other, so that they'll bothbenefit by being together. Bessie likes looking after people, and shemay make Dolly think a little more. 

"There isn't a nicer, sweeter girl in the whole Camp Fire than Dolly, but lots of people don't like her, because they don't understand her. Oh, I'm sure it's going to be splendid for both of them. Dolly wasawfully angry at Bessie before they started from the church--but you sawhow they were when they got here to-night?"

"I did, indeed, Miss Eleanor. And I'd say; Dolly has a high temper, too, just to look at her. "

"Oh, she has--and Bessie never seems to get; angry. I don't understandthat--it's my worst fault, I think. Losing my temper, I mean. Though I'mbetter than I used to be. Well--good-night. "

The next day was Sunday, and, of course, there was none of the workabout the farm that the girls of the Camp Fire enjoyed so much. Theywent to church in the morning, and when they returned Bessie wassurprised to see Charlie Jamieson, the lawyer, Eleanor Mercer's cousin, sitting on the front piazza. Eleanor took Bessie with her when she wentto greet him. 

"No bad news, Charlie?" she said, anxiously. He was looking after theinterests of Bessie and of Zara, whose father, unjustly accused asCharlie and the girls believed, of counterfeiting, was in prison in thecity from which the Camp Fire Girls came. Charlie Jamieson had aboutdecided that his imprisonment was the result of a conspiracy in whichFarmer Weeks, from Bessie's home town, Hedgeville, was mixed up with aMr. Holmes, a rich merchant of the city. The reason for the persecutionof the two girls and of Zara's father was a mystery, but Jamieson hadmade up his mind to solve it. 

"No--not bad news, exactly, " he said. "But I've had a talk with Holmes, and I'm worried, Eleanor. You know, that was a pretty bold thing he didthe other day, when he trapped Bessie into going with him for anautomobile ride and tried to kidnap her. That's a serious offense, and aman in Holmes's position in the city wouldn't be mixed up in it unlessthere was a very important reason. And from the way he talked to me I'mmore convinced than ever that he will just be waiting for a chance totry it again. "

"What did he say to you, Charlie?"

"Oh, nothing very definite. He advised me to drop this case. He remindedme that he had a good deal of influence--and that he could bring me alot of business, or keep it away. And he said that if I didn't quitmeddling with this business I'd have reason to feel sorry. "

"What did you tell him?"

"To get out of my office before I kicked him out! He didn't like that, Ican tell you. But I noticed that he got out. But here's the point. Areyou still planning that camping trip to Lake?"

"Yes--I think it would be splendid there. "

"Well, why don't you start pretty soon?" Holmes knows this country verywell, and he's got so much money that, if he spends it, he can probablyfind people to do what he wants. Up there it's lonely country, andpretty wild, and you could keep an eye on Bessie and Zara even betterthan you can here. I don't know why he wants to have them in his power, but it's quite evident that their plans depend on that for success, andour best plan, as long as we're in the dark this way, and don't know theanswer to all these puzzling things, is to keep things as they are. I'mconvinced that they can't do anything that need worry us much as long aswe have Bessie and Zara safe and sound. "

"We can start to-morrow, " said Eleanor. "Bessie--will you tell the girlsto get ready? I'll go and make arrangements, Charlie. "

And so, the next day, after lunch, the Camp Fire Girls, waving theirhands to kindly Mrs. Farnham, and making a great fuss over Walter, whodrove them to the station, said good-bye for the time, at least, to thefarm. And Dolly Ransom, Bessie noticed, took pains to be particularlynice to Walter Stubbs. 

CHAPTER III

LONG LAKE

"I love traveling, " said Dolly, when they were settled in their placesin the train that was to take them up into the hills and on the firststage of the journey to Long Lake. "I like to see new places and newpeople. "

"Dolly's never content for very long in one place, " said Eleanor Mercer, who overheard her remark, smiling. "If she had her way she'd be flyingall over the country all the time. Wouldn't you, Dolly?"

"I don't like to know what's going to happen next all the time, " saidDolly. 

"I know just how you feel, " Bessie surprised her by saying. "I used tothink, sometimes, when I was on Paw Hoover's farm in Hedgeville, that ifonly I could go to sleep some night without knowing just what was goingto happen the next day I'd be happy. It was always the same, too--justthe same things to do, and the same places to see--"

"I should think Jake Hoover would have kept you guessing what he wasgoing to do next, " said Dolly, spitefully. "The great big bully! Oh, howglad I was when Will Burns knocked him down the other day!"

"Yes, " admitted Bessie. "I didn't know just what Jake was going to tellMaw Hoover about me next--but then, you see, I always knew it wassomething that would get me into trouble, and that I'd either get beatenor get a scolding and have to do without my supper. So even about thatit wasn't very difficult to know what was going to happen. "

"Heavens--I'd have run away long before you did, " said Dolly, with ashudder. "I don't see how you ever stood it as long as you did, Bessie. It must have been awful. "

"It was, Dolly, " said Eleanor, gravely. "I was there, and I made a pointof looking into things, so that if anyone ever blamed me for helpingBessie and Zara to get away, I could explain that I hadn't just takenBessie's word for things. But running away was a pretty hard thing todo. It's easy to talk about--but where was Bessie to go? She isn't likeyou--or she wasn't. 

"She didn't have a lot of friends, who would have thought it was just afine joke for her to have to run off that way. If you did it, you'd havea good time, and when you got tired of it, you'd go back to your AuntMabel, and she'd scold you a little, and that would be the end of it. You must have thought of trying to get away, Bessie, didn't you?"

"Oh, I did, Miss Eleanor, often and often. When Jake was very bad, orMaw Hoover was meaner than usual. But it's just as you say. I was afraidthat wherever I went it would be, worse than it was there. I didn't knowwhere to go or what to do. "

"Well--that's so, " said Dolly. "It has been awfully hard. But then, howdid you ever get the nerve to do it at all, Bessie? That's what I don'tunderstand. The way you act now, it seems as if you always wanted to dojust as you are told. "

"I thought you'd heard all about that, Dolly. You see, when we reallydid run away, we couldn't help it, Zara and I. And I don't believe wereally meant to go quite away, the way we did--not at first. Youremember when we saw you girls first--when you were in camp in thewoods?"

"Oh, yes; I remember seeing you, with your head just poking out Of thedoor of that funny old hut by the lake. I thought it was awfully funny, but I didn't know you then, of course. "

"I expect you'd have thought it was funny whether you knew us or not, Dolly. Well, you see, Zara had come over to see me the day it allhappened, and Jake caught her talking with me, and locked her in thewoodshed. Maw Hoover didn't like Zara, because she was a foreigner, andMaw thought she stole eggs and chickens--but never did such a thing inher life. So Jake locked her in the woodshed, and said that he was goingto keep her there till Maw Hoover came home. She'd gone to town. "

"Why did he want to do that?"

"Because Maw had said that if she ever caught Zara around, their placeagain she was going to take a stick to her and beat her until she wasblack and blue--and I guess she meant it, too. She liked to give peoplebeatings--me, I mean. She never touched Jake, though, and she neverbelieved he did anything wrong. "

Dolly whistled. 

"If she knew him the way I do, she would, " she said. "And I've only seenhim twice--but that's two times too many!"

"Well, after he'd locked her in, Jake went off, and I tried to let herout. I couldn't find the key, and I was trying to break the lock on thedoor with a stone. I'd nearly got it done, when Jake came along andfound me doing it. So he stood off and threw bits of burning wood fromthe fire near me, to frighten me. That was an old trick of his. 

"But that time the woodshed caught fire, and he was scared. He got thekey, and we let Zara out, and then he said he was going to tell MawHoover that we'd set the place on fire on purpose. I knew she'd believehim, and we were frightened, and ran off. "

"Well, I should say so! Who wouldn't? Why, he's worse than I thought hewas, even, and I knew he was pretty bad. "

"We were going to Zara's place first, but that was the day they arrestedZara's father. They said he'd been making bad money, but I don't believeit. But anyhow, we heard them talking in their place--Zara's and herfather's--and they said that I'd set the barn on fire, and they weregoing to have me arrested, and that Zara would have to go and live withold Farmer Weeks, who's the meanest man in that state. And so we kept onrunning away, because we knew that it couldn't be any worse for us if wewent than if we stayed. So that's how we finally came away. "

"Oh, how exciting! I wish I ever had adventures like that!"

"Don't be silly, Dolly, " said Eleanor, severely. "Bessie and Zara werevery lucky--they might have had a very hard time. And you had all theadventure you need the other day when you made Bessie go off looking forice-cream sodas with you. You be content to go along the way you oughtto and you'll have plenty of fun without the danger of adventures. Theysound very nice, after they're all over, but when they're happeningthey're not very pleasant. "

"That's so, " admitted Dolly, becoming grave. 

It was late in the afternoon before they reached the station at whichthey had to change from the main line. There they waited for a timebefore the little two-car train on the branch line was ready to startShort and light as it was, that train had to be drawn by two puffing, snorting engines, for the rest of the trip was a climb, and a stiffone, since Long Lake was fairly high, up, though the train, after itpassed the station nearest to the lake, would climb a good deal higher. 

Even after they left the train finally, they were still some distancefrom their destination. 

"You needn't look at that buckboard as if you were going to ride in it, girls, " said Eleanor, laughing, as they surveyed the single vehicle thatwas waiting near the track. "That's just for the baggage. Now you cansee, maybe, why you were told you couldn't bring many things with you. And if that isn't enough, wait until you see the trail!"

Soon all the baggage was stowed away on the back of the buckboard andsecurely tied up, and then the driver whipped up the stocky horses, anddrove off, while the girls gave him the Wohelo cheer. 

"But how are we going to get to Long Lake?" asked Dolly, apprehensively. 

"We're going to walk!" laughed Eleanor. "Come on now or we won't getthere in time for supper--and I'll bet we'll all have a fine appetitefor supper to-night!"

Then she took the van, and led the way across a field and into the woodsthat grew thickly near the track. 

"This isn't the way the buckboard went!" said Dolly. 

"No--We'll strike the road pretty soon, though, " said Eleanor. "We savea little time by taking this trail. In the old days there wasn't any wayto get to the lake, or to carry anything there, except by walking. Andwhen they built the corduroy road they couldn't make it as short as thetrail, although, wherever they could they followed the old trail. Sothis is a sort of short cut. "

"What's a corduroy road?" asked Dolly. 

"Don't you know that? I thought you knew something about the woods, Dolly. My, what a lot you've got to learn. It's made of logs and they'rebuilt in woods and places where it's hard to make a regular road, orwould cost too much. All that's needed, you see, is to chop down treesenough to make a clear path, and then to put down the logs, closetogether. It's rough going, and no wagon with springs can be driven overit, but it's all right for a buckboard. "

"Ugh!" said Dolly. "I should think it would shake you to pieces. "

"It does, pretty nearly, " said Eleanor, with a smile. "One usually onlyrides over one once--after that one walks, and is glad of the chance. "

When, after a three-mile tramp, Eleanor, who was in front, stoppedsuddenly at a point where the trees thinned out, on top of a ridge, andcalled out, "Here's the lake, girls!" there was a wild rush to reach herside. And the view, when they got the first glimpse of it, was certainlyworth all the trouble it had caused them. 

Before them stretched a long body of water, sapphire blue in thetwilight, with pink shadows where the setting sun was reflected. Perhapstwo miles long, the lake was, at its widest point, not more than aquarter of a mile across, whence, of course, came its name. About itthe land sloped down on all sides, into a cup-like depression thatformed the lake, so that there was, on all four sides, a tree crownedridge. From a point about half way to the far end of the lake smoke rosein the calm evening air. 

"Oh, how beautiful!" cried Bessie. "It's the loveliest place I ever saw. And how wonderful the smell is. "

"That's from the pine trees, " said Eleanor. She sighed, as if overcomeby the calm beauty of the scene, as, indeed, she was. "It's alwaysbeautiful here--but Sometimes I think it's most beautiful in winter, when the lake is covered with ice, and the trees are all weighed downwith snow. Then, of course, you can walk or skate all over thelake--it's frozen four and five feet deep, as a rule, by January. "

Dolly shivered. 

"But isn't it awfully cold here?" she inquired "Oh, yes; but it's so drythat one doesn't mind the cold half as much as we do at home when it'sreally ten or fifteen degrees warmer, Dolly. One dresses for it, too, you see, in thick, woolen things, and furs, and there's such glorioussport. You can break holes through the ice and fish, and then there areice boats, and skating races, and all sorts of things. Oh, it'sglorious. I've been up here in winter a lot, and I really do thinkthat's best of all. "

Then she looked at the rising smoke. 

"Well, we mustn't stay here and talk any more, " she said. "Come along, girls, it's getting near to supper time. "

"Have we got to cook supper?" asked Dolly, anxiously. 

"No, not to-night, " said Eleanor, with a laugh. "The guides have done itfor us, because I knew we'd all be tired and ready for a good rest, without any work to do. But with breakfast tomorrow we'll start in anddo all our own work, just as we've done when we've been in camp before. "

Half an hour's brisk walk took them to the site of the camp. There therewas a little sandy beach, and the tents had been pitched on ground wasslightly higher. Behind each tent a trench had been dug, so that, incase of rain, the water flowing down from the high ground in the rearwould be diverted and carried down into the lake. 

Before the tents a great fire was burning, and the girls cried outhappily at the sight of plates, with knives and forks and tin pannikinsset by them, all spread out in a great circle near the fire. At the fireitself two or three men were busy with frying pans and great coffeepots, and the savory smell of frying bacon, that never tastes half asgood as when it is eaten in the woods, rose and mingled with the sweet, spicy smell of the balsams and the firs, the pines and the spruces. 

"Oh, but I'm glad we're here!" cried Dolly, with a huge sigh of content. "And I'm glad to see supper--and smell it!"

And what a supper that was! For many the girls, like Bessie, and Zara, and Dolly, it the first woods meal. How good the bacon was, and theraised biscuit, as light and flaky as snowflakes, cooked as only woodsguides know how to cook them! And then, afterward, the great platesheaped high with flapjacks, that were to be eaten with butter and maplesyrup that came from the trees all about them. Not the adulterated, wishy-washy maple syrup that is sold, as a rule, even in the bestgrocery stores of the cities, but the real, luscious maple syrup that istaken from the running sap in the first warm days of February, andrefined in great kettles, right under the trees that yielded the sap. 

And then, when it was time to turn in, how they did sleep! The airseemed to have some mysterious qualities of making one want to sleep. And the peace of the great out-of-doors brooded over the camp thatnight. 

CHAPTER IV

A RECKLESS EXCURSION

In the morning, when the girls awoke, there was no sign of the guideswho had cooked that tempting and delicious supper the night before. 

"Well, we're on our own resources now, girls, " said the Guardian. "Thismay be a sort of Eden--I hope we'll find it so. But it's going to be amanless one. There'll be no men here until we get ready to go away, if Ican help it--except as visitors. "

"Well, I guess we can get along without them all right, for a change, "said Dolly, blushing a little. 

"Some of the men I know who are interested in the Boy Scouts think theCamp Fire Girls are a good deal of a joke, " said Eleanore, with a lightin her eyes that might have made some of the scoffers she referred toanxious to eat their words. "They say we get along all right because wealways have some man ready to help us out if we get into any trouble. SoI planned this camp just to show them that we can do just as well as anytroop of Boy Scouts ever did. "

"I bet we can, too, " said Dolly, eagerly. "Why, with such a lot of us todo the work, it won't be very hard for any one of us. "

"Not if we all do our share, Dolly, " said Eleanor, looking at her ratherpointedly. "But if some of us are always managing to disappear just whenthere's work to be done, someone will have to do double duty--and that'snot fair. "

"I won't--really I won't, Miss Eleanor, " said Dolly. "I know I'veshirked sometimes, but I'm not going to this time. I'm going to workhard now to be a Fire Maker. I think I've been a Wood Gatherer longenough, don't, you?"

"You've served more time than is needed for promotion, Dolly. It's allup to you, as the boys say. As soon as you win the honors you need youcan be a Fire Maker. You can have your new rank just as soon as you earnit. "

"Bessie and I are going to be made Fire Makers together, if we can, MissEleanor. We talked that over the other day, at the farm, and I thinkwell be ready at the first camp fire we have after we get home. "

"Well, you'll please me very much if you do. It's time the other girlswere getting up now--we've got to cook breakfast now. I'll call themwhile you two build a fire--there's plenty of wood for to-day, piled upover there. "

AS Dolly had said, with each girl doing her share, the work of the campwas light. While some of the girls did the cooking, others prepared the"dining table"--a smooth place on the ground--and others pinned up thebottom flaps of; the tents, after turning out the bedding, so that thefloors of the tents might be well aired. And then they all sat down, happily and hungrily, to a breakfast that tasted just as good as hadsupper the night before. 

"Can we swim in the lake, Miss Eleanor?" asked Margery Burton. 

"If you want to, " said Eleanor, with a smile. "It's pretty cold water, though; a good deal colder than it was at the sea shore last year. Yousee, this lake is fed by springs, and in the spring the ice melts, andthe water in April and May is just like ice water. But you'll get usedto it, if you only stay in a couple of minutes at first, and getaccustomed to the chill gradually. But remember the rule: no one is everto go unless I'm right at hand, and there must always be someone in aboat, ready to help if a girl gets a cramp or any other sort oftrouble. "

"Oh, are there boats?" cried Dolly. "That's fine! Where are they, MissEleanor?"

"You shall see them after we've cleared away the breakfast things andwashed up. But there's a rule about the boats, too: no one is to go outin them except in bathing suits. And remember this, when you're out onthe lake. It's very narrow, and it looks very calm and safe, now. 

"But at this time of the year there are often severe squalls up here, and they come over the hills so quickly that it's easy to get caughtunless you're very careful. I think there had better always be two girlsin each boat. We don't want any accidents. "

"Can we go for walks through the woods, Miss Eleanor?"

"Oh, yes; that's the most beautiful part of being up here. But it's easyto get lost. When you start on a trail always stick to it. Don't betempted to go off exploring. I'm going to give you all some lessons infinding your way in the woods. You know, the moss is always on the southside of a tree, and there are other ways of telling direction, by theleaves. I expect you all to be regular woodsmen when we go away fromhere, and I'm sure you'll learn things about the woods that will giveyou a good many pleasant times in the future"

"Isn't there anyone else at all up here, Miss Eleanor? I should thinkthere'd be a hotel or something like that here. "

"No, not yet; not right near here. This lake is part of a big preservethat is owned by a lot of men in the city. My father is one of them, andthey have tried to keep all this part of the woods just as nature leftit. There are a lot of deer here, and in the fall, when hunters comeinto the woods, they have to keep out of this part of them. A few deerare shot here, because if only a few are taken each year, it's allright. But there will be no hotels in this tract. Hotels mean the end ofthe real woods life. There are half a dozen lakes in the preserve, andeach of the families that owns a share in it has a camp at one of thelakes. I mean a regular camp, with wooden buildings, where one can stayin the winter, even. But this lake was set apart for trips like this, where people can get right back to nature, and sleep in tents. "

"Then we can go over and see some of the other lakes?"

"Yes; I don't know whether we'll find anyone at home in any of the campsor not, but they'll be glad to see us if they are there. A lot of peoplewait until later in the year to come up here--until the hunting seasonbegins. But we can do some hunting even now, though it's against the lawto do any shooting. "

"Oh, I know what you mean, Miss Eleanor--with a camera?"

It was Margery Burton who thought of that. 

"Yes. And that's really the best sort of hunting, I think. If you'veever seen a deer, and had it look at you with its big, soft eyes, Idon't see how you can kill it. It's almost as hard to get a good pictureof e deer as it is to kill it--in fact, I think it's harder, because youhave to get so much closer to it And it's awfully good fun at night. 

"You go to one of their runways, and settle down with your camera and aflashlight powder, and then when the deer comes, if you're very quick, you can get a really beautiful picture. The deer may be a littlefrightened, but he isn't hurt, and you have a picture that you can keepfor years and show to people. And an experienced hunter will tell youthat any time you can get close enough to a deer to get a goodflashlight picture of him you could easily have killed him. "

"Why is it so very hard to do that?"

"Well, for lots of reasons. You have to figure on the wind--because ifthe wind is blowing away from you and toward the deer he can smell youlong before he's in sight, and off he goes, afraid to come any nearer. "

"But how can you tell where a deer will be?"

"They have regular runways--just as we have trails. And at night theycome down to the lake to drink. So you can station yourself on one ofthose runways, and be pretty sure that sooner or later a deer will comealong. "

The morning passed quickly and happily. To the girls who had neverbefore been in that country, there seemed to be an unending number ofnew discoveries. Timid as the deer might be, there was nothing nervousabout the squirrels and chipmunks which abounded in the woods near thelake, and as soon as they saw the girls they came running about, so thatthere were often half a dozen or more begging noisily for dainties toafford them a change from their diet of nuts, sitting up, and chatteringprettily as they got the morsels that were tossed to them. 

"I never saw them so tame, even at home, " said Bessie, surprised. "Wehad plenty of them there, but I suppose they were wilder because theboys used to shoot them. They don't do that here, I suppose?"

"No; the people who hunt around here go in for bigger game. They wouldthink they were wasting their time if they bothered to shoot chipmunksand squirrels. "

"I've seen them tame before, but that was in the park, at home, and itisn't the same thing at all, " said Dolly. 

"No; though they're very cute, and I'm glad there are so many of themthere. But here, of course, they're in their real home, and it'sdifferent, and much nicer, I think. "

Then, after luncheon, Miss Eleanor divided the girls into watches. 

"I think we'll have more fun if a certain number stay home everyafternoon to prepare dinner and cook it, " she said. "Then the rest ofyou can go for walks, or do anything you like, so long as you are backin time for dinner. In that way, some of you will be free everyafternoon, and those who have to work won't mind, because they will knowthat the next day they will be free, and so on. "

Zara was one of those who drew a piece of paper marked "work" from thebig hat in which Miss Eleanor put a slip of paper for every girl, whileBessie and Dolly each drew a slip marked "play. "

"To-morrow the girls who work to-day will play, " said Miss Eleanor, "andthose who play to-day will draw again. Four of them will play againto-morrow, and the other four will work, and then, on the third day, those who play tomorrow will work, and on the fourth day to-day's fourwill work again. That will give everyone two days off and one day towork while we're in camp. And I think that's fair. "

So did everyone else, and Dolly, always willing to put off work as longas she could, was delighted. 

"Let's take a long walk this afternoon, Bessie, " she said. "The air uphere makes me feel more like walking than I ever do when I'm at home. There I usually take a car whenever I can, though I've been trying towalk more lately, so as to get an honor bead. "

"I'll be glad to take a walk, Dolly, " said Bessie, laughing. "I thinkyou ought to be encouraged any time you really want to do somethingthat's good for you. "

"Oh, if I stay with you long enough I'll be too good to keep on living, "said Dolly. "Don't you see the difference between us, Bessie? You'regood because you like to do the things you ought to do. And when anyonetells me something's good for me, I always get so that I don't want todo it. We'll start right after lunch, shall we?"

"All right, " said Bessie. 

But before it was time to make a start she sought out Miss Eleanor. 

"I'm not really afraid, Wanaka, " she said, using the Indian name, since, here in the woods, it seemed natural to do it. "But I thought I ought toask you if you think it's all right for me to go off with Dolly? Isuppose none of those people who were trying to get hold of me would doanything up here, would they?"

"Oh, I don't think so, Bessie. No, I think you're just as safe anywherein these woods as you would be right here in the camp. There are a fewguides around--they have to be kept here to warn people who make campand don't put out their fires properly. You see, my father and the restof the people don't mind letting nice people come here into theirpreserve to camp, but they've got to be careful about fire. 

"You can imagine what would happen here if the woods caught fire; itwould be dreadful. Further on, the woods are only just beginning to growup again. They were all burned out a year or so ago, and they lookhorrid. This preserve is so beautiful that we all want to keep itlooking just as nice as possible. But the guides would look after you;there's nothing to be afraid of with them. 

"And I don't believe that you'd be at all likely to meet anyone else. Suppose you take the trail that starts at the far end of the lake, andfollow it straight over until you come to Little Bear Lake. That's avery pretty walk. But don't go off the preserve. There's a trail thatleads over to Loon Pond, but you'd better not try that until we all goas a party. "

So, when the midday meal had been eaten, Bessie and Dolly started off, skirting the edge of the lake until they came to the beginning of thetrail Miss Mercer had spoken of, which was marked by a birch bark signon a tree. There they left the lake, and plunged so quickly into thickwoods that the water was soon out of sight. 

"Isn't this lovely? Oh, I could walk miles and miles here and never gettired at all, I believe!" said Dolly. "But I do sort of wish there was ahotel somewhere around. They have dances, and parties, and all sorts offun at those hotels. And, Bessie, do you know I heard there was one nearhere, at a place called Loon Pond?"

"Is there?"

"Yes; I think it would be fun to go there some time. "

"Well, maybe we can, some time, Dolly. When Miss Eleanor is along. Butwe'd better not do it today. You know she said we were to stick to thepreserve. "

"Oh, bother; as if we could get into any mischief up here! But I supposethere wouldn't be any use in trying to persuade you; you always do justas you're told. "

"Oh, I'd like to see the hotel, too, Dolly, but not today. The woodsare enough for me now. And we can go there some other time, I'm sure. "

Dolly said nothing more just then, and for a time they walked alongquietly. 

"We're about half way to Little Bear Lake now, " announced Dolly, after aspell of silence. 

"Why, how do you know?"

"Because I saw a map, and this ridge we've just come to is half waybetween the two lakes. "

"Oh, " said Bessie. 

"Yes. We've been coming up hill so far now, the rest of the way is downhill, so it will be easier walking. "

"That's good; it means that when we're going home we'll be going downfor the last half of the trip, when we're tired. That's much easier thanif it was the other way, I think. "

"You look tired, Bessie; why don't you sit down and rest!"

"Well, that's not a bad idea, Dolly. I'm not used to so much walkinglately. "

"All right, sit down. I'm thirsty. I think I'll just run ahead and seeif I can find a spring while you rest. "

So Dolly ran ahead, and disappeared after a moment. Presently, whenBessie was rested, she started again, and soon overtook Dolly. 

"We turn here, " said Dolly. "See, here's another trail, and the signsshow which one we're to take. "

"That's funny, " said Bessie, puzzled. "I thought we went to Little Bearin a perfectly straight line. Miss Eleanor didn't say anything aboutchanging direction. "

"Well, there's the sign, Bessie. If we keep straight on it says thatwe'll come to Loon Pond. We turn off to the right here to get to LittleBear. "

"Well, I guess the sign must be right. But it certainly seems funny. Ihope there isn't any mistake. "

"Mistake! How can there be? Don't be silly, Bessie. There wouldn't beany chance of that. Come on. "

So they turned off, and, as they followed the new trail, the trees beganto grow thinner, presently. The whole character of the woods seemed tochange, too. They passed numerous places where picnic parties hadevidently eaten their meals, and had left blackened spots, and theremnants of their feasts. 

"It seems to me some of the people who've been here have been verycareless, Dolly, " said Bessie, "Look, there's a place where a firestarted. It didn't get very far, but it burnt over quite a little bit ofground before it was put out. "

The trail began to dip sharply, too, and before long they were walkingin what was almost open country. Stumps of trees were all about, andevidently wood-cutters had been at work. 

"This isn't half as pretty as Long Lake, " said Bessie. "Oh, Dolly, look!What's that?"

Dolly laughed in a peculiar fashion. For they had come in sight of asheet of water, and, in plain view, not far from them, by the shore ofthe lake, they saw a place that could not be mistaken. It proclaimed itsnature at once--a regular summer hotel, with wide piazzas, full ofpeople. And on the water there were a score of boats and canoes, and oneor two launches. 

"This isn't Little Bear Lake!" said Bessie. 

"Of course it isn't, silly; it's Loon Pond. I changed the signs whileyou rested, because I meant to come here, and I knew you wouldn't, ifyou knew what you were doing!"

CHAPTER V

THE GYPSY CAMP

Bessie grew red with indignation for a moment, but before she spoke shewas calm again. 

"Don't you think that's a pretty mean trick, Dolly?" she said, gently. "It seems to me it's a good deal like lying. "

"Why, Bessie King! Can't you ever take a joke? I didn't say a single, solitary thing that wasn't so. I said the signs said this was the way toLittle Bear Lake, and you never asked me if I'd changed them, did you?"

Bessie laughed helplessly. 

"Oh, Dolly!" she said. "Of course I didn't; why should I? Who would everthink of doing such a thing, except you? You don't expect people toguess what you're going to do next, do you?"

"I suppose not, " said Dolly, impenitently, her eyes still twinkling. "Ido manage to surprise people pretty often. My aunt Mabel says that if Ispent half as much time studying as I do thinking up new sorts ofmischief I'd be at the top of every class I'm in at school. "

"She's perfectly right. I thought at first you had a hard time with youraunt, Dolly, but I'm through being sorry for you. She needs all thesympathy anyone has got for having to try to look after you!"

"Oh, what's the harm? We're here now, and It isn't so very dreadful, isit? Come on, let's go over to the hotel. "

"Indeed we shan't do anything of the sort, Dolly Ransom! We'll turnaround and go right straight back to Long Lake, that's what we'll do. "

"I guess not. You don't think I've come this far and that I'm going toturn around without seeing what the place is like, do you?"

"Why, Dolly, you know we weren't supposed to come here alone. I don'tthink much of it; it isn't half as pretty as Long Lake. What's the useof wasting our time here, anyhow?"

"Why--why--because there are people here! I just love seeing people, Bessie, they're so interesting, because they're all so different, andyou never know what they're going to say or do. And there may be someonewe know here, too. "

"There can't be anyone I know, Dolly. "

"Oh, bother! Well, there may be someone I know, and that's the samething, isn't it? Come on, be a sport, Bessie. "

"That's what you said about going in the car with Mr. Holmes the otherday, too. "

"Oh, but this isn't a bit like that, Bessie. "

"It might get us into just as much mischief, Dolly. No, I'm not goingover there. It's silly, and it's wrong. "

And this time Bessie stood firm. Despite Dolly's pleading, which turned, presently, to angry threats, she refused absolutely to go any nearer thehotel, and Dolly was afraid to venture there alone, though there wasvery little she _was_ afraid to _do_. In her inmost heart, of course, Dolly knew that Bessie was right, and that she had had no business totrick her chum into seeming to break her promise to Miss Eleanor. 

"Oh, well, " she said, "I might have known that I couldn't always makeyou do what you don't want to do, Bessie. You're not mad at me, areyou?"

Bessie, pleased by this sign of surrender, returned the smile. 

"I ought to be, but I'm not, Dolly, " she answered. "I think that is oneof the reasons you keep on doing these things--but no one ever reallydoes get angry with you, as they should. If someone you really cared forgot properly angry at you just once for one of your little tricks, Ithink it would teach you not to do anything of the sort for a longtime. "

"Oh, I don't mean any harm, Bessie, and you know it, and when peoplereally like you they don't get angry unless they think you're reallytrying to be mean. I say, Bessie, if you won't go over to the hotel, will you walk just a little way over to the other side, and see whatthat funny looking place is where those big wagons are all spread out?"

Bessie followed Dolly's pointing finger, and saw, on the side of LoonPond opposite the hotel, several wagons, among which smoke was rising. 

"It looks like a circus, " said Dolly. 

"It isn't, though. I know what they are, " said Bessie, promptly. "It's agypsy encampment. Do you mean you've never seen one, Dolly?"

"No; and oh dear, Bessie, I've always wanted to. Surely we could go alittle nearer, couldn't we? As long as we're here?"

Bessie thought it over for a moment, and, as a matter of fact, reallycould see no harm in spending ten minutes or so in walking over towardthe gypsy camp. She herself had seen a few gypsies near Hedgeville inher time, but in that part of the country those strange wanderers werenot popular. 

"All right, " she said. "But if I do that will you promise to start forhome as soon as we've had a look at them, and never to play such a trickon me again?"

"I certainly will. Bessie, you're a darling. And I'll tell you somethingelse; too; you were so nice about the way I changed those signs that I'mreally sorry I did it. And I just thought it would be a good joke. Usually I'm glad when people get angry at my jokes, it shows they weregood ones. "

Bessie smiled wisely to herself. Gradually she was learning that the wayto rob Dolly's jokes and teasing tricks of their sting, and the bestway, at the same time, to cure Dolly herself of her fondness for them, was never to let the joker know that they had had the effect sheplanned. 

Dolly, considerably relieved, as a matter of fact, when she found thatBessie was really not angry at her for the trick she had played with thesign post, chatted volubly as they turned to walk over toward the gypsycamp. 

"I don't see why they call this a pond and the one we're on a lake, "she said. "This is ever so much bigger than Long Lake. Why, it must; befour or five miles long, don't you think, Bessie?"

"Yes. I guess they call it a pond because it looks just like a big, overgrown ice pond. See, it's round. I think Long Lake is ever so muchprettier, don't you, even though it's smaller?"

"I certainly do. This place isn't like the woods at all, it's more like, regular country, that you can find by just taking a trolley car andriding a few miles out from the city. "

"It used to be just as it is now around Long Lake, I suppose, " saidBessie. "But they've cut the trees down, and made room for tennis courtsand all sorts of things like that, and then, I suppose, they needed woodto build the hotel, too. It's quite a big place, isn't it, Dolly?"

"Yes, and I've heard of it before, too, " Dolly. "A friend of mine stayedup here for a month two or three years ago. She says they advertisethat it's wild and just like living right in the woods, but it isn't atall. I guess it's for people who like to think they're roughing it whenthey're really just as comfortable as they would be if they stayed athome. Comfortable the same way, I mean. "

"Yes, that's better, Dolly. Because I think we're comfortable, thoughit's very different from the way we would live in the city, or even fromthe way we lived at the farm. But we're really roughing it, I guess. "

"Yes, and it's fine, too! Tell me, Bessie, did you ever see any gypsieslike these when you lived in the country!"

"There were gypsies around Hedgeville two or three times, but thefarmers all hated them, and used to try to drive them away, and MawHoover told me not to go near them when they were around. She usuallygave me so many things to do that I couldn't, anyhow. You know, thefarmers say that they'll steal anything, but I think one reason for thatis that the farmers drove them into doing it, in the beginning, I mean. They wouldn't let them act like other people, and they didn't like tosell them things. So I think the poor gypsies wanted to get even, andthat's how they began to steal. "

"What do you suppose they're doing up here, Bessie?"

"They always go around to the summer places, and in the winter they gosouth, to where the people from the north go to get warm when it'swinter at home. They tell fortunes, and they make all sorts of queerthings that people like to buy; lace, and bead things. And I suppose uphere they sell all sorts of souvenirs, too; baskets, and things likethat. "

"Don't they have any real homes, Bessie?"

"No; except in their wagons. They live in them all the time, and theyalways manage to be where it's warm in the winter. They don't care wherethey go, you see. One place is just like another to them. They neverhave settled in towns. They've been wanderers for ages and ages, andthey have their own language. They know all sorts of things about theweather, and they can find their way anywhere. "

"How do you know so much about them, Bessie, if you never saw anythingof them when you were in Hedgeville?"

"I read a book about them once. It's called 'Lavengro, ' and it's by aman who's been dead a long time now; his name was Borrow. "

"What a funny name! I never heard of that book, but I'll get it and readit when I get home. It tells about the gypsies, you say?"

"Yes. But I guess not about the gypsies as they are now, but more asthey used to be. We're getting close, now. See all the babies! Aren'tthey cute and brown?"

Two or three parties, evidently from the hotel, were looking about thecamp, but they paid little attention to the two Camp Fire Girls, evidently recognizing that they did not come from the hotel. Thegypsies, however, always on the alert when they see a chance to makemoney by selling their wares or by telling fortunes, flocked aboutthem, particularly the women. Bessie, fair haired and blond, they seemeddisposed to neglect, but Bessie noticed that several of the men lookedadmiringly at Dolly, whose dark hair and eyes, though she was, ofcourse, much fairer than their own women, seemed to appeal to them. 

"I'd like to have my fortune told!" Dolly whispered. 

"I think we'd better not do that, Dolly, really; and you remember yousaid you'd stay just for a minute. "

"I don't see what harm it would do, " Dolly pouted. But she gave in, nevertheless. They passed the door of the strangely decorated tentinside of which the secrets of the future were supposed to be revealed, and, followed by a curious pack of children, walked on to a wagon wherea pretty girl, who seemed no older than themselves; but was probably, because the gypsy women grow old so much more quickly than Americangirls, actually younger, was sitting. She was sewing beads to a jacket, and she looked up with a bright smile as they approached. 

"You come from the hotel?" she said. "You live there?"

"No, " said Dolly. "We come from a long way off. Are you going to wearthat jacket?"

The gypsy girl laughed. 

"No. I'm making that for my man, him over there by the tree, smoking, see? He's my man; he's goin' marry me when I get it done. "

Bessie laughed. 

"Marry you? Why, you're only a girl like me!" she exclaimed. 

"No, no; me woman, " protested the gypsy, eagerly. "See, I'm so tallalready!"

And she sprang up to show them how tall she was. But Bessie and Dollyonly laughed the more, until Bessie saw that something like anger wascoming into her black eyes, and checked Dolly's laugh. 

"I hope you'll be very happy, " she said. "Come on, Dolly, we really mustbe going. "

Dolly was inclined to resist once more. She hadn't seen half as much asshe wanted to of the strange, exotic life of the gypsy caravan, sodifferent from the things she was used to, but Bessie was firm, and theybegan to make their way back toward the trail. And, as they neared thespot from which they had had their first view of Loon Pond and the gypsycamp, Bessie was startled and frightened by the sudden appearance intheir path of the good looking young gypsy for whom the girl they hadbeen talking to was decorating the jacket. 

His keen eyes devoured Dolly as he stood before her, and he put out hishand, gently enough, to bar their way. 

"Will you marry me?" he said, in English much better than that of mostof his tribe. 

Dolly laughed, although Bessie looked serious. 

"Oh, yes, of course, " said Dolly. "I always marry the first man who asksme, every day; especially if he's a gypsy and I've never seen himbefore. "

"You're too young now; you think you are, I suppose, " said the gypsy, showing his white teeth. "You come back with me and wait; by and by wewill get married. "

"Nonsense, " said Bessie, decisively. "He means it, Dolly, he's notjoking. Come, we must hurry. "

"Wait, stay, " said the gypsy, eagerly. And he put out his hand as if tohold Dolly. But she screamed before he could touch her, and darted pasthim. And in a moment both girls, running hard, were out of sight. 

CHAPTER VI

A SERIOUS JOKE

Bessie, seriously alarmed, led the race through the woods and they hadgone for nearly a quarter of a mile before she would even stop tolisten. When she felt that if the gypsy were going to overtake them hewould have done it, she stopped, and, breathing hard, listened eagerlyfor some sign that he was still behind them. But only the noises of theforest came to their ears, the rustling of the leaves in the trees, thecall of a bird, the sudden sharp chattering of a squirrel or a chipmunk, and, of course, their own breathing. 

"I guess we got away from him all right, " she said. "Oh, Dolly, I wasfrightened!"

"What?" cried Dolly, amazed. "Do you mean to say that you let that sillygypsy frighten you? I thought you were braver than that, Bessie!"

"You don't know anything about it, Dolly, " said Bessie, a littleirritated. "It really wasn't your fault, but those people aren't likeour men. He probably meant just what he said, and if he thought you werelaughing at him, it would have made him furious. When you said youwould marry him, of course I knew you were joking, and so would anyonelike us, but I think he took you seriously. He thought you meant it!"

"Bessie! How absurd! He couldn't! Why, I won't marry anyone for ever solong, and he surely doesn't think an American girl would ever marry oneof his nasty tribe! You're joking, aren't you! He couldn't ever havereally thought anything so perfectly absurd?"

"I only hope we won't find out that he was serious, Dolly. You couldn'tbe expected to understand, but people like that are very different fromourselves. They haven't got a lot of civilized ideas to hold them incheck, the way we have, and when they want something they come right outand say so, and if they can't get what they want by asking for it, they're apt to take it. "

"But I didn't think anyone ever acted like that! And he is going tomarry that pretty gypsy girl who is putting the beads and buttons on ajacket for him, anyhow. She said so; she said they were engaged. "

"Men have changed their minds about the women they were going to marry, Dolly, even American men. And that's another thing that bothers me. Ithink that girl's very much in love with him, and if she thought he wasfond of you, she'd be furious. There's no telling what a gypsy girlmight do if she was jealous. You see, she'd blame you, instead of him. She'd say you had turned his head. "

"Oh, Bessie, what a dreadful mess. Oh, dear! I seem to be getting intotrouble all the time! I think I'm just going to have a little harmlessfun, and then I find that I've started all sorts of trouble that Icouldn't foresee at all. "

"Never mind, Dolly. You didn't mean to do it, and, of course, I may beexaggerating it anyhow. I'll admit I'm frightened, but it's of what Iknow about the gypsies. They're strange people and they carry a grudge along time. If they think anyone has hurt them, or offended them, they'renever satisfied until they have had their revenge. But, after all, hemay not do anything at all. He may have been joking. Perhaps he justwanted to frighten you. "

"Oh, I really do think that must have been it, Bessie. Don't youremember that he was different from the others! He spoke just as well aswe do, as if he'd been to school, and he must know more about ourcustoms. "

Bessie shook her head. 

"That doesn't mean that he isn't just as wild and untamed as the othersdown at bottom, Dolly. I've heard the same thing about Indians; thatsome of those who make the most trouble are the very ones who've been toCarlisle. It isn't because they're educated, because they would havebeen wild and wicked anyhow, but the very fact that they are educatedseems to make them more dangerous. I hope it isn't the same with thisgypsy; but we've got to be careful. "

"Oh, I'll be careful, Bessie, " said Dolly, with a shudder. "I'll dowhatever I'm told. You needn't worry about that. "

"That's good, Dolly. The first thing, of course, is never to get faraway from the camp alone. We mustn't come over this way at all, or goanywhere near Loon Pond as long as those gypsies are still there. "

"Oh, Bessie, do you think we'll have to tell Miss Eleanor about this?"

"I'm afraid so, Dolly. But there's no reason why you should mind doingthat. She won't blame you, it really wasn't your fault. "

"Yes, it was, Bessie. Don't you remember the way I changed the signs! IfI hadn't done that we wouldn't have gone to Loon Pond, and if we hadn'tgone there--"

"We wouldn't have seen the gypsies? Yes I know, Dolly. But Miss Eleanoris fair, you know that. And she may scold you for playing trick withthe signs, but that's all. She won't blame you for having misunderstoodthat gypsy. "

Then they came to the crossing of the trails, and Dolly replaced thesigns as they had been before she had played her thoughtless prank. 

"We must hurry along, Dolly, " said Bessie. "It's getting dark, and wedon't want to be out here when it's too dark. I think it's safe enough, but--"

"Oh, suppose that horrid gypsy followed us through the woods, Bessie?That's what you mean, isn't it! Let's get back to the camp just as fastas ever we can. "

"Bessie, I'm an awful coward, I'm afraid, " Dolly said, as the camp wasapproached. "Will you tell Miss Eleanor what happened; everything! I'mafraid that if I told her myself I wouldn't put in what I did with thesigns. "

"You wouldn't tell her a story, Dolly?"

"No, but I might just not tell her that. You see, I wouldn't have reallyto tell her a story, and, oh, Bessie, I want her to know all about it. Then if she scolds me, all right. Can't you understand?"

"I'll do it if you like, Dolly, but I'm quite sure you'd tell hereverything yourself. You're not a bit of a coward, Dolly, because whenyou've done something wrong you never try to pretend that it was thefault of someone else, or an accident. "

"Do you think I ought to tell Miss Eleanor myself?" said Dolly, wistfully. "I will if you say so, Bessie, but I'd much rather not. "

"No, I'll tell her, " Bessie decided. "I think you're mistaken aboutyourself, Dolly, and the reason I'm going to tell her is because I thinkyou'd make her think you were worse than you were, instead of nottelling her the whole thing. Do you see?"

"You're ever so good, Bessie. Really, I'm going to try to stop worryingyou so much after this. It seems to me that you're always having thingsto bother you on account of me. "

Miss Eleanor, at first, like Dolly, was inclined to laugh at whatBessie told her of the gypsy and his absurd suggestion that Dolly shouldstay with his tribe until she was old enough to be married to him. 

"Why, he must have been joking, Bessie, " she said. "You say he talkedwell; as if he were educated? Then he surely knows that no American girlwould take such an idea seriously for a moment. "

"But American girls do live with the gypsies and marry them, MissEleanor. Often, I've heard of that. And if you'd seen him when he got inour way on the trail you'd know why he frightened me. His face wasperfectly black, he was so angry. And when Dolly laughed at him helooked as if he would like to beat her. "

"I can understand that, " laughed Miss Eleanor. "I've wanted to beatDolly myself sometimes when she laughed when she was being scolded forsomething!"

"Oh, but this was different, " said Bessie, earnestly. "Really, MissEleanor, you'd have been frightened too, if you'd seen him. And I dothink Dolly ought to be very careful until they've gone away from LoonPond. "

Bessie was so serious that Miss Eleanor was impressed, almost despiteherself. 

"Well, yes, she must be careful, of course. I don't want the girls goingover to Loon Pond, anyway. I want them to have this time in the woods, and live in a natural way, and the Loon Pond people at the hotel justspoil the woods for me. But I don't believe there's any reason for beingreally frightened, Bessie. "

"Suppose that man tried to carry her off?"

"Oh, he wouldn't dare to try anything like that, Bessie. I don't believethe gypsies are half as bad as they are painted, anyhow, but, even if hewould be willing to do it, he'd be afraid. The guides would soon run himout of the preserve if they found him here; no one is supposed to be onit, without permission. And a gypsy couldn't get that, I know. "

"But it's a pretty big place, and there aren't so very many guides. Wedidn't see one today, and we really took quite a long walk. "

"But, Bessie, what would he do with her if he did carry her off? Thosepeople travel along the roads, and they travel slowly. He must know thatif anything happened to Dolly, or if she disappeared, he'd be suspectedright away, and he'd be chased everywhere he went. "

"I think it would be easy to hide someone in their caravans, though, Miss Eleanor. And those people stick together, so that no one wouldbetray him if he did anything like that. We might be perfectly sure thathe had done it, but we wouldn't be able to prove it. "

"I'll speak to the guides and have them keep a good watch in thedirection of Loon Pond, Bessie. There, will that make you feel anybetter? And those gypsies won't stay over there very long. They neverdo. "

"Have they been here before, Miss Eleanor?"

"Oh, yes; every year when I've been here. "

"Well, I'll feel better when they've gone, Miss Eleanor. "

"So will I. You've made me quite nervous, Bessie. I think you'd bettertell Dolly, and be careful yourself, not to tell the other girlsanything about this. There's no use in scaring them, and making themfeel nervous, too. "

"No. I thought of that, too. Some of them would be frightened, I'm sure. I think Zara would be. She's been very nervous, anyhow, ever since wegot her away from that awful house where Mr. Holmes had hidden her awayfrom us. "

"I don't blame her a bit; I would be, too. It was really a dreadfulexperience, Bessie, and particularly because she knew it was, in a way, her own fault. "

"You mean because she believed what they said about being her friends, and that she would get you and me into trouble unless she went with themthat night when they came for her?"

"Yes. Poor Zara! I'm afraid she guessed, somehow, that I had been angrywith her, at first. She's terribly sensitive, and she seems to be ableto guess what's in your mind when you've really scarcely thought thethings yourself. "

"Well, I think it will be a good thing if she doesn't know about thisgypsy trouble, Miss Eleanor. So I'll go and find Dolly, and tell her notto say anything. "

"Do, Bessie. And get Dolly to come to me before dinner. She was wrong toplay that trick with the signs, but I don't mean to scold her. I want tocomfort her, instead. I think she's been punished enough already, ifshe's really frightened about that gypsy. "

Dolly seemed to be a good deal chastened after her talk with Eleanor, and Bessie felt glad that the Guardian, though she evidently did nottake the episode of the gypsy as seriously as did Bessie, had stillthought it worth while to let Dolly think she did. 

"I'm going to stay close to the camp after this, Bessie, " she said. "And, oh, Miss Eleanor said that there were footprints this morningnear the water that a deer must have made. I've got my camera here;suppose we try to get a picture of one tonight? We could go to sleepearly, and then get up. Miss Eleanor said it would be all right, justfor the two of us. She said if any more sat up it would frighten thedeer. "

"All right, " agreed Bessie. "That would be lots of fun. "

So they slept for an hour or so, and then, about midnight, got up andwent down to the shore of the lake, to a spot where a narrow trail cameout of the woods. There they hid themselves behind some brush and placedDolly's camera and a flashlight powder, to be ready in case the deerappeared. 

They waited a long time. But at last there was a rustling in the trees, and they could hear the branches being pushed aside as some creaturemade its way slowly toward the water. 

"All ready, Bessie?" whispered Dolly. "When I give you a squeeze pressthat button; that will set the flashlight off, and I'll take thepicture as you do it. "

They waited tensely, and Bessie was as excited as Dolly herself. Shefelt as if she could scarcely wait for the signal. Dolly held her lefthand loosely, and two or three times she thought the grip wastightening. But the signal came at last, and there was a blinding flash. But it was not a deer which stood out in the glare; it was the gypsy whohad pursued Dolly!

CHAPTER VII

A THIEF IN THE NIGHT

The glare of the explosion lasted for only a moment. Dolly's eyes werefixed on the camera, as she bent her head down, and Bessie realized, thankfully, that she had not seen the evil face of the gypsy. As for theman, he cried out once, but the sound of his voice was drowned by thenoise of the explosion. And then, as soon as the flashlight powder hadburned out, the light was succeeded by a darkness so black that no onecould have seen anything, so great was the contrast between it and thepreceding illumination. 

"Come, Dolly! Quick! Don't stop to argue! Run!" urged Bessie. 

She seized Dolly's hand in hers, and made off, running down by the lake, and, for a few steps, actually through the water. Her one object was toget back to the camp as quickly as possible. She thought, and the eventproved that she was right, the gypsy, if he saw them nearing the campfire, which was still burning brightly, would not dare to follow themvery closely. 

He had no means of knowing that there were no men in the camp, and, while he might not have been afraid to follow them right into camp hadhe known that, Bessie judged correctly that he would take no morechances than were necessary. 

"Bessie, are you crazy?" gasped Dolly, as they came into the circle oflight from the fire. "My feet are all wet! Whatever is the matter withyou? You nearly made me smash my camera!"

"I don't care, " said Bessie, panting, but immensely relieved. "Sit downhere by the fire and take off your shoes and stockings; they'll soon getdry. I'm going to do it. "

She was as good as her word, and not until they had dried their feet andset the shoes and stockings to dry would she explain what had caused herwild dash from the scene of the trap they had laid for the deer, andwhich had so nearly proved to be a trap for them, instead. 

"If you'd looked up when that powder went off you'd have run yourself, Dolly, without being made to do it, " she said, then. "That wasn't a deerwe heard, Dolly. "

"What was it, a bear or some sort of a wild animal?"

"No, it was a man. "

Dolly's face was pale, even in the ruddy glow of the fire. 

"You don't mean--it wasn't--"

"The gypsy? Yes, that's just who it was, Dolly. He's found out somehowwhere we are, you see. It's just what I was afraid of, that he wouldmanage to follow us over here. But I'm not afraid now, as long as weknow he's around. I don't see how he can possibly do you any harm. "

"Oh, Bessie, what a lucky, lucky thing that we saw him! If we hadn'tjust happened to try to get that picture we would never have done it. The nasty brute! The idea of his daring to follow us over here. Do youthink he would have really tried to carry me back to his tribe, Bessie?"

"I don't know, Dolly. His face looked awful when I saw it in the glare. But then, of course, he was terribly surprised. He probably thought hewas the only soul awake for miles and miles, and to have that thing gooff in one's face would startle anybody, and make them look prettyscary. "

"I should say so! You have to pucker up your face and shut your eyes. Doyou think he saw us, Bessie?"

"I shouldn't think it was very likely, Dolly. You see, it's just as yousay. The glare of a flashlight is blinding, when it goes off suddenlylike that, right in front of you. I don't think you're likely to seemuch of anything except the glare. And, of course, he hadn't theslightest reason to be expecting to see us. I expect he's more puzzledand frightened than we are; he's certainly a good deal more puzzled. "

"Then maybe he'll be so frightened that he'll go back to his people andlet me alone, Bessie. "

"I certainly hope so, Dolly. It really doesn't seem possible that he'ddare to carry you off, even if he could get hold of you. He'd know thatwe'd be sure to suspect that he was the one who had done it, and even agypsy ought to know what happens to people who do things like that. Idon't see how he could hope to escape. "

"But, Bessie, I was thinking: suppose he didn't carry me to the placewhere the other gypsies are? Suppose he took me right off into the woodssomewhere, and hid?"

"You'd both have to have food, Dolly. And as he couldn't get that veryeasily, he'd be taking a big chance of getting caught. No, what I reallythink is that he wants to see you, and try to persuade you to go withhim willingly. Then he wouldn't be in any danger, you see. "

"Ugh! He must be an awful fool to think he could do that!"

"Well, he's not bad looking, Dolly. And he's probably vain. The chancesare that all the gypsy girls set their caps at him, because, if youremember, he was about the only good looking young man there in theircamp. Most of the men were married. So, if he's always been popular withthe girls of his own people, he may have got the idea that he's quiteirresistible. That all he's got to do is to tell a girl he wants tomarry her to have her fall right into his arms, like a ripe applefalling from a tree. "

"The horrid brute! If he ever comes near me again, I'll slap his facefor him. "

"You'd better not do anything of the sort. The best thing for you to doif you ever see him anywhere near you again is to run, just as hard asyou can. Dolly, you've no idea of the rage a man like that can fly into. If you struck him you can't tell what he might try to do. But I hopeyou'll never see him again. "

Dolly shivered a little. 

"Are you sleepy, Bessie?" she asked. 

"No, I think I'm too excited to be sleepy. It was so startling to beexpecting to see a deer, and then to see his face in the light. No, I'mnot sleepy. "

"Oh, Bessie! Isn't it possible that you were mistaken? You know, youcouldn't have seen his face for more than a moment, if you did see it. Weren't you thinking so much of that gypsy that you just fancied you sawhim, when you really didn't at all?"

"No, no, I'm quite sure, Dolly. I was perfectly certain it was a deer, and that was all I was thinking about. And I heard him cry out, too. That would be enough to make me certain that I was right. A deerwouldn't have cried out, and it wouldn't have stood perfectly still, either. It would have turned around and run as soon as it saw the light;any animal would have. It would have been too terrified to do anythingelse. "

"But don't you suppose he was frightened? Why didn't he run?"

"Were you ever so frightened that you couldn't do a thing but just standstill? I have been; so frightened that I couldn't even have cried outfor help, and couldn't have moved for a minute or so, for anything inthe world. 

"I think he may have been frightened that way. Men aren't like animals, they're more likely to be too frightened to move than to run awaybecause they're afraid. And the fear that makes a man run away is adifferent sort, anyhow. "

"It's getting cold, isn't it?"

"Yes, the fire's burning low. We'd better get to bed, Dolly. "

"Oh, no; I couldn't. I don't want to be there in the dark. I'm sure Icouldn't sleep if I went to bed. I'd much rather sit out here by thefire and talk, if you're not sleepy. And you said you weren't. "

"I suppose we could get some more wood and throw it on the fire. Itwould be warm enough then, if we got a couple of blankets to wrap aroundus. "

"I think it's a good idea to stay awake and keep watch, anyhow, in casehe should come back. Then, if he saw someone sitting up by the fire hewould be scared off, I should think. "

"All right. Slip in as quietly as you can, Dolly, and get our blanketsfrom the tent, while I put on some more wood. There's lots of it, that'sa good thing. There's no reason why we shouldn't use it. "

So, while Dolly crept into their tent to get the; blankets, Bessie piledwood high on the embers of the camp fire, until the sparks began to fly, and the wood began to burn with a high, clear flame. And when Dollyreturned she had with her a box of marshmallows;

"Now we'll have a treat, " she said. "I forgot all about these. I didn'tremember I'd brought them with me. Give me a pointed stick and I'lltoast you one. "

Bessie looked on curiously. The joys of toasted marshmallows were new toher, but when she tasted her first one she was prepared to agree withDolly that they were just the things to eat in such a spot. 

"I never liked them much before, " said Bessie. "They're ever so muchbetter when they're toasted this way. "

"They're good for you, too, " said Dolly, her mouth full of the softconfection. "At least, that's what everyone says, and I know they'venever hurt me. Sometimes I eat so much candy that I don't feel wellafterwards, but it's never been that way with toasted marshmallows. My, but I'm glad I found that box!"

"So'm I, " admitted Bessie. "It seems to make the time pass to have themto eat. Here, let me toast some of them, now. You're doing all thework. "

"I will not, you'd spoil them. It takes a lot of skill to toastmarshmallows properly, " Dolly boasted. "Heavens, Bessie, when there issomething I can do well, let me do it. Aunt Mabel says she thinks I'd bea good cook if I would put my mind to it, but that's only because shelikes the fudge I make. "

"How do you make fudge?"

"Why, Bessie King! Do you mean to say you don't know? I thought youwere such a good cook!"

"I never said so, Dolly. I had to do a lot of cooking at the farm whenMaw Hoover wasn't well, but she never let me do anything but cook plainfood. That's the only sort we ever had, anyhow. So I never got a chanceto learn to make fudge or anything like that. "

"Well, I'll teach you, when we get a good chance, Bessie, " promisedDolly, seriously. 

"I'll be glad to take lessons from you, Dolly, " she said. "I think itwould be fine to know how to make all sorts of candy. Then, if you didknow, and could do it really well, you could make lots of it, and sellit. People always like candy, and in the city a lot of the shops havesigns saying that they sell Home Made Candy and Fudge. So people mustlike it better than the sort they make in factories. "

"I should say so, Bessie. But most of those stores are just cheatingyou, because the stuff they sell isn't home made at all. Everyone saysmine is much better. "

Bessie grew serious. 

"Why, Dolly, " she said, "I think it would be a fine idea to make candyto sell! I really believe I'd like to do that--"

"I bet you would make just lots and lots of money if you did, " saidDolly, taking hold of a new idea, as she always did, with enthusiasm. "And we could get one of the stores to sell it for us and keep some ofthe money for their trouble. Suppose we sold it for fifty cents a pound, the store would get twenty or twenty-five cents and we'd get the rest. And--"

Bessie laughed. 

"You're not forgetting that it costs something to make, are you!" sheasked. "You have to allow for what it costs before you begin to think ofhow you're going to spend your profits. But I really do think it wouldwork, Dolly. When we get back to town we'll figure it all out, and seehow much it would cost for butter and sugar and nuts and chocolate andall the things we'd need. "

"Yes, and if we used lots of things we'd get them cheaper, too, Bessie, "said Dolly, surprising Bessie by this exhibition of her businessknowledge. "Oh, I think that would be fine. I'd just love to have moneythat I'd earned myself. Some of the other girls have been winning honorbeads by earning money, but I never could think of any way that I coulddo it. "

Dolly was beginning to yawn, and Bessie herself felt sleepy. But whenshe proposed that they should go into the tent now Dolly protested. 

"Oh, let's stay outside, Bessie, " she said. "If we went in now we'd justwake ourselves up. We can sleep out here just as well as not. What'sthe difference!"

And Bessie was so sleepy that she was glad to agree to that. In a fewmoments they were sound asleep, with no thought of the exciting episodesof the day and night to disturb them. 

The fire was low when Bessie awoke with a start. At first everythingseemed all right; she could hear nothing. But then, suddenly, she lookedover to where Dolly had been lying. There was no sign of her chum! And, just as Bessie herself was about to cry out, she heard a muffled call, in Dolly's tones, and then a loud crashing through the undergrowth nearthe camp, as someone or something made off swiftly through the woods!The gypsy had come back!

CHAPTER VIII

THE PURSUIT

For a moment Bessie was too paralyzed with fear even to cry but. It wasplain that the gypsy had carried poor Dolly away with him, and that, moreover, he had muffled her one cry for help. For a moment Bessie stoodwondering what to do. To alarm the camp would be almost useless, shefelt; the girls, waking up out of a sound sleep, could do nothing untilthey understood what had happened, and even then the chances wereagainst their being able to help in any practical manner. 

And so Bessie fought down that blind instinct to scream out her terror, and, in a moment, throwing off her blanket, she began to creep out intothe black woods, dark now as pitch, and as impenetrable, it seemed, asone of the tropical jungles she had read of. 

One thing Bessie felt to be, above everything, necessary. She must findout what the gypsy meant to do, and where he was taking Dolly. If, bysome lucky chance, she could track him, there would be a far betteropportunity to rescue Dolly in the morning, when the guides would becalled to help, and, if necessary, men from the hotel at Loon Pond andother places in the woods. To such a call for help, Bessie knew wellthere would be an instant response. 

"He'll never go back to the camp, " Bessie told herself, trying to arguethe problem out, so that she might overlook none of the points that wereinvolved, and that might make so much difference to poor Dolly, who waspaying so dear a price for her prank. "If he did, he'd be sure thatthere would be people there, looking for him, as soon as the word gotaround that Dolly was missing. "

She stopped for a moment, to listen attentively, but though the woodswere full of slight noises, she heard nothing that she could decidepositively was the gypsy. Still, burdened as he was with Dolly, itseemed to Bessie that he must make some noise, no matter how skilled awoodsman he might be, and how much training he had had in silenttraveling in his activities as a poacher and hunter of game in woodswhere keepers were on guard. 

"He'll find out some place where they're not likely to look for him, andstay there until the people around here have given up the idea offinding him, " said Bessie to herself. "That's why I've got to follow himnow. And I'm sure he's on one of the trails; he couldn't carry Dollythrough the thick woods, no one could. Oh, I wish I could hearsomething!"

That wish, for the time, at least, was to be denied, but it was not longbefore Bessie, still tramping through thick undergrowth in the directionshe was sure her quarry had taken, came to a break in the woods, whereit was a little lighter, and she could see her way. 

She saw at once that she had come to a trail, and, though she had neverseen it before, she guessed that it was the one that led to DeerMountain, from what Miss Eleanor had told her about the trails aboutthe camp. And, moreover, as she started to follow it, convinced that thegypsy, on finding it, would have abandoned the rougher traveling of theuncut woods, she saw something that almost wrung a cry of startled joyfrom her. 

It was not much that she saw, only a fragment of white cloth, caught inthe branches of a bush that had pushed itself out onto the trail. But itwas as good as a long letter, for the cloth was from Dolly's dress, andit was plain and unmistakable evidence that her chum had been carriedalong this trail. 

She walked on more quickly now, pausing about once in a hundred yards tolisten for sounds of those who were, as she was convinced, ahead of her, and, about half a mile beyond the spot where she had found that whitepointer, she saw another piece of mute but convincing evidence, ofexactly the same sort, and caught in the same way. 

As Bessie kept on, the ground continued to rise, and she realized thatshe must be on the crest of Deer Mountain, one of the heights thatlifted itself above the level of the surrounding woods. Although a highmountain, the climb from Long Lake was not a particularly severe one, for all the ground was so high that even the highest peaks in the rangethat was covered by these woods did not seem, unless one were looking atthem from a distance of many miles, in the plain below, to be as high asthey really were. 

The trail that Bessie followed, as she knew, was leading her directlyaway from Loon Pond and the gypsy camp, but that did not disturb her, since she had expected the gypsy to bear away from his companions. Hermind was working quickly now, and she wondered just how far the gypsieswere likely to go in support of their reckless companion. 

She knew that the bonds among these nomads were very strong, but therewas another element in this particular case that might, she thought, complicate matters. The man who had carried Dolly off was engaged to bemarried to the dark-eyed girl they had talked with, and it was possiblethat that fact might make trouble for him, and prevent him fromreceiving the aid of his tribe, as he would surely have done in anyordinary struggle with the laws of the people whom the gypsies seemed todespise and dislike. 

Undoubtedly the girl's parents, if she had any, would resent the slighthe was casting upon their daughter, and if they were powerful orinfluential in the tribe, they would probably try to get him cast out, and cause the other gypsies to refuse him the aid he was probablycounting upon. 

The most important thing, Bessie still felt, was to find out where Dollywas to be hidden. And, as she pressed on, tired, but determined not togive up what seemed to her to be the best chance of rescuing her chum, Bessie looked about constantly for some fresh evidence of Dolly'spresence. 

But luck was not to favor her again. Sharp as was her watch, there wereno more torn pieces of Dolly's dress to guide her, and, even had Bessiebeen an expert in woodcraft, and so able to follow their tracks, it wastoo dark to use that means of tracing them. 

Bessie did, indeed, think of that, and of waiting until some guideshould come, who might be able to read the message of the trail. But shereflected that it was more than possible that none of the men in theneighborhood might be able to do so, and it seemed to her that it wasbetter to take the slim chance she had than abandon it in favor ofsomething that might, after all, turn out to be no chance at all. 

The darkness was beginning to yield now to the first forerunners of theday. In the east there was a faint radiance that told of the coming ofthe sun, and Bessie hurried on, since she felt sure that the gypsy wouldnot venture to travel in daylight, and must mean to hide Dolly beforethe coming of the sun lightened the task of his pursuers, since he mustfeel certain that he would be pursued, although he might have no inklingthat anyone was already on his trail. 

But now Bessie had to face a new problem that did, indeed, force her torest. For suddenly the well defined, broad trail ended, and broke upinto a series of smaller paths. Evidently this was a spot at which thosewho wished to reach the summit of the mountain took diverging paths, according to the particular spot they wanted to reach, and whether theywere bound on a picnic or merely wanted to get to a spot whence theymight see the splendid view for which Deer Mountain was famed. 

In the darkness there was absolutely no way of telling which of thesemany diverging trails the gypsy had followed, and Bessie, ready to crywith disappointment and anxiety for Dolly, was forced to sit down on astump and wait for daylight. Even that might not help her. 

Her best chance, however, was to wait until the light came, and then, despite her lack of acquaintance with the art of reading footprints, totry to distinguish those of the gypsy. All that she needed was some clueto enable her to guess which path her quarry had taken; beyond that themessage of the footprints was not necessary. 

As she sat there, watching the slow, slow lightening in the east, Bessiewondered if the day was ever coming. She had seen the sun rise before, but never had it seemed so lazy, so inclined to linger in its couch ofnight. 

But every wait comes to an end at last, and finally Bessie was able togo back a little way, before the other trails began to branch off, andbending over, to try to pick out the footprints of the man who hadcarried Dolly off. It was easy to do, fortunately, or Bessie couldscarcely have hoped to accomplish it. 

There had been a light rain the previous morning, enough to soften theground and wipe out the traces of the numerous parties that had madeDeer Mountain the objective point of a tramp in the woods, and, mingledwith her own small footsteps, Bessie soon found the marks of hobnailedfeet, that must, she was sure, have been made by the gypsy. 

Step by step she followed them, and she was just about at the first ofthe diverging trails when a sound behind her made her turn, terrified, to see who was approaching. 

But it was not the man who had so frightened her whom she saw as sheturned. It was a girl--a gypsy, to be sure--but a girl, and Bessie hadno fear of her, even when she saw that it was the same girl the scampshe was pursuing was to marry. Moreover, the girl seemed as surprisedand frightened at the sight of Bessie, crouching there? as Bessieherself had been at the other's coming. 

"Where is he; that wicked man you are to marry?" cried Bessie, fiercely, springing to her feet, and advancing upon the trembling gypsy girl. "Youshall tell me, or I will--"

She seized the gypsy girls shoulders, and shook her, before she realizedthat the girl, whose eyes were filled with tears, probably knew aslittle as she herself. Then, repentant, she released her shoulders, butrepeated her question. 

"You mean John, my man?" said the girl, a quiver in her tones. "I donot know, he was not at the camp last night. I was afraid. I think hedoes not love me any more. "

Something about the way she spoke made Bessie pity her. 

"What is your name?" she asked. 

"Lolla, " said the gypsy. 

"I believe you do not know, Lolla, " said Bessie, kindly. "And you do notwant him to be sent to prison, perhaps for years and years, do you? Youlove this John?"

"Prison? They would send him there? What for? No, no--yes, I love him. Do you know where he is; where he was last night?"

"I know where he was last night, Lolla, yes. He came to our camp andcarried my friend away. You remember, the one who was with me yesterday, when we looked at your camp? That is why I am looking for him. He sayshe will make her marry him later on; that he will keep her with yourtribe until she is ready. "

Lolla's tears ceased suddenly, and there was a gleam of passionateanger in her eyes. 

"He will do that?" she said, angrily. "My brothers, they will kill himif he does that. He is to marry me, we are betrothed. You do not knowwhere he is? You would like to find your friend?"

"I must, Lolla. "

"Then I will help you, if you will help me. Will you?"

Lolla looked intently at Bessie, as if she were trying to tell from hereyes whether she really meant what she said. 

"Oh, I wish I knew whether you are good; whether you speak the truth, "cried the gypsy girl, passionately. "That other girl, your friend. Shewants my John. So--"

Bessie, serious as the situation was, could not help laughing. 

"Listen, Lolla, " she said. "You mustn't think that. Dolly--that's myfriend--thinks John is good looking, perhaps, but she hasn't eventhought of marrying anyone yet, oh, for years. She's too young. We don't get married as early as you. So you may be sure that if Johnhas her, all she wants is to get away and get back to her friends. "

Lolla's eyes lighted with relief. 

"That is good, " she said. "Then I will help, for that is what I want, too. I do not want her to live in the tribe, and to be with us. You aresure John has taken her?"

Then Bessie told her of the face they had seen in the flashlight, and ofhow Dolly had been spirited away from the camp fire afterward. And asshe spoke, she was surprised to see that Lolla's eyes shone, as if shewere delighted by the recital. 

"Why, Lolla, you look pleased!" said Bessie. "As if you were glad it hadhappened. How can that be; how can you seem as if you were happy aboutit?"

Lolla blushed slightly. 

"He is my man, " she said, simply. "He is strong and brave, do you notsee? If he were not brave he would not dare to act so. He is a fineman. If I were bad, he would beat me. And he will beat anyone who is notgood to me. Of course, I am glad that he was brave enough to act so, though I did not want him to do it. "

Bessie laughed. The primitive, elemental idea that was expressed inLolla's words was beyond her comprehension, and, in fact, a good manypeople older and wiser than Bessie do not understand it. 

But Lolla did not mind the laugh. She did not understand what was inBessie's mind; what she had said seemed so simple to her that itrequired no explanation. And now her mind was bent entirely upon theproblem of getting Dolly back to her friends, in order that John mightturn back to her and forget the American girl whose appeal to him hadlain chiefly in the fact that she was so different from the women of hisown race. 

"He will not take her back to camp, " said Lolla, thoughtfully. "He knowsthey would look there first. "

"But will the others--your people--help him?"

"He may tell them that he has stolen her to get a ransom; to keep heruntil her friends pay well for her to be returned. Our old men do notlike that, they say it is too dangerous. But if he were to say that hehad done so, they might help him, because our people stand and falltogether. But, " and her eyes shone, "I will tell my brothers the truth. They will believe me, and--Quick! Hide in those bushes; someone iscoming!"

Bessie obeyed instantly. But, once she had hidden herself, she heardnothing. It was not for a minute or more after she had slipped into thebushes that she heard the sound that had disturbed Lolla. But then, looking out, she saw John coming down one of the paths, peering abouthim cautiously. 

CHAPTER IX

AN UNEXPECTED ALLY

Bessie's heart leaped at the sight of the man who had given her her wildtramp through the night, and it was all she could do to resist herimpulse to rush out, accuse him of the crime she knew he had committed, and demand that he give Dolly up to her at once. It was hard to believethat he was really dangerous. 

Here, in the early morning light, his clothes soaked by the wet woods, as were Bessie's for that matter, he looked very cheap and tawdry, andnot at all like a man to be feared. But a moment's reflection convincedBessie that, for the time at least, it would be far wiser to leavematters in the hands of Lolla, the gypsy girl, who understood this man, and, if she feared him, and with cause, did so from reasons verydifferent from Bessie's. 

For a moment after he came in sight John did not see Lolla. Bessiewatched the pair, so different from any people she had ever seen atclose range before, narrowly. She was intensely interested in Lolla, andwondered mightily what the gypsy girl intended to do. But she did nothave long to wait. 

Lolla, with a little cry, rushed forward, and, casting herself on theground at her lover's feet, seized his hand and kissed it. At first shesaid not a word; only looked up at him with her black, brilliant eyes, in which Bessie could see that a tear was glistening. 

"Lolla! What are you doing here?"

At the sight of the girl John had started, nervously. It was plain thathe did not feel secure; that he thought his pursuers might, even thusearly, have tracked him down, and, in the moment before he hadrecognized Lolla, Bessie saw him quail, while his face whitened, so thatBessie knew he was afraid. 

That knowledge, somehow, comforted her vastly. It removed at once someof the formidable quality which John had acquired in her eyes when hestole Dolly after the fright that he must have had when the flashlightpowder exploded, almost in his face. But Bessie remembered that he hadplucked up his courage after that scare; the chances were that he woulddo so again now. 

But, if Bessie was afraid of the kidnapper, Lolla was not. She rose, andfaced him defiantly. Bessie thought there was something splendid aboutthe gypsy girl, and she wondered why John, with such a girl ready andanxious to marry him, had been diverted from her by Dolly, charmingthough she was. 

"I have come to save you, John, " said Lolla. "Where is the American girlyou stole from her friends!"

John started, evidently surprised by Lolla's knowledge of what he haddone, and said something, sharply, in the gypsy tongue, which Bessie, ofcourse, could not understand. Her question, it was plain, hadfrightened, as well as startled him; but it had also made him veryangry. Lolla, however, did not seem to mind his anger. She faced himboldly, without giving ground, although he had moved toward her with athreatening gesture of his uplifted hand. 

"Hit me, if you will, " she said. "I am not your wife yet, but when I amit will be your right to strike me if you wish. But I know what you havedone. I know, too, that the Americans know it. Do you think you canescape from these woods without being caught?"

John stared at her angrily. 

"I am going now to the camp, " he said. "If. They come looking for newsof the girl, they will find me there, and plenty to swear that I havebeen there all this night, and so could not have done what they charge. My tribe will help me; it is my right to call upon it for help. "

"You forget me, " said Lolla, dangerously. "I will swear that I saw youhere, where I came to look for you because you had stayed away from thecamp all the night. And when I tell my brothers, what will they swear?"

Again the man muttered something in the gypsy-tongue, but under hisbreath. When he spoke aloud to Lolla it was in English. 

"They are Barlomengri; they will support me. They will never let thepolicemen take me away. They are my brothers--"

"Do you think you can jilt their sister, the girl you asked for as yourwife before all the tribe, and escape their vengeance? Do you think theywill not punish you, even by seeing that you die in a prison, in acell?"

And now John, beside himself with anger, fulfilled the threat of hisuplifted hand, and struck Lolla sharply. 

"Strike me again!" cried Lolla, furiously. "I have done no wrong! I amtrying only to save you from your own folly. Tell me, at least, whereyou have hidden the girl? Would you have her starve? You will bewatched, so that you may not bring her food. Had you thought of that?"

"Will you betray me? If you do not I shall not be watched! They willknow as soon as they look for me that I was in the camp all through thenight. Lolla, you fool, I love you, only you. I want her to win aransom. They will pay to have her back, those Americans. "

Lolla had guessed right when she had said that this would be his plea. But Bessie was surprised, and thought Lolla must also wonder at histelling her such a story. Lolla looked scornfully at John. 

"I am no baby that I should believe such a tale as that, " she saidwitheringly. "I give you your chance, John, your last chance. Will youtake this girl back to her people, or set her free and show her theroad? Or must I bear witness against you, and tell the tribe that youwould shame me by forsaking me even before I am your wife?"

"Let me go, " said John furiously. "We shall see if a woman's talk is tobe taken before mine. You fool! Even your brothers will laugh at yourJealousy, and rejoice with me over the money this girl will bring us. Let me pass--"

"Tell me, at least, where you have hidden her! She will starve, I tellyou--"

"She will not starve. Think you I know no more than that of doing such apiece of work! It is not the first time we have made anxious fathers payto win their children back! Ha-ha! Peter, my friend, comes to take mywatch. He will see to it that she does not suffer for food. And he willkeep her safe for me. Out of my way!"

He brushed Lolla aside roughly, and strode off down the trail thatBessie had followed. For a moment, while she could hear the sound of hisretreating footsteps, Lolla did not move. But then she raised herself, asmile in her eyes, and beckoned to Bessie. 

"Go up that path, quickly, " she whispered. "Somewhere up there, hidden, you will find your friend. Comfort her, but do not let her move. If sheis tied up, leave her so. Tell her that help is near. I will free her. "

"But why--why not come with me, and free her now!" protested Bessie, eagerly. "We can find her, for he came down that path, so he must haveleft her somewhere up there. Oh, come, Lolla, you will never regret it!"

"Did you not hear him say that Peter was coming? Peter is his bestfriend; they are closer together, and are more to one another, thanbrothers. If we tried to escape with her now, Peter would find us, andhis hand is heavy. We should do your friend no good, and be punishedourselves. We must wait. But hurry, before he comes. Tell her to behappy, and not to fear. I will save her, and you. We will work togetherto save her. "

And with that Bessie, much as she would have liked to get Dolly out ofthe clutches of her captor at once, had to be content. She realizedfully that in Lolla she had gained an utterly unexpected ally, in whomlay the best possible chance for the immediate release of her chum, andthe mere knowledge of where Dolly was hidden would be extremelyvaluable. 

After all, it was all, and, possibly, more, than she had expected toaccomplish when she had plunged into the woods after the gypsy and hisprisoner, and she felt that she ought to be satisfied. So she hurried atonce up the path that Lolla pointed out, leaving the gypsy girl below asa guard. 

The path was rough and steep, rising sharply, but Bessie paid littleheed to its difficulties, since she felt that it was taking her toDolly. She kept her eyes and ears open for any sight or sound that mightmake it easier to find Dolly, but she did not call out, since she feltthat it was practically certain the gypsy had managed, in some manner, to make it impossible for poor Dolly to cry out, lest, in his absence, she alarm some passerby and so obtain her freedom. 

Bessie was sure that Dolly would not be left in some place that couldbe seen from the path, but she was also sure that she could not be farfrom it, since there had not been time for the gypsy to make anyextended trip through the woods off the trail. Bessie had traveled fastthrough the night, and she was sure that John, with the weight of Dollyto carry, had not been able to move as fast as she, and could not, therefore, have been more than twenty minutes or half an hour ahead ofher in reaching the trail she was now following. 

So she watched carefully for some break in the thick undergrowth thatlined the trail, for some opening through which John might have gonewith his burden. There might even, she thought, be another of thoseprecious sign posts that, back on the other trail, had been made by thetorn pieces from Dolly's skirt. 

But, careful as was her search, she reached the end of the trail withoutfinding anything that looked like a promising place, or seeing anythingthat made her think Dolly was within a short distance of her. The trailled to an exposed peak, a ragged outcrop of rock, bare of trees, andcovered only with a slight undergrowth. 

Once there Bessie understood why the trail had been made through thewoods. The view was wonderful. Below her were the waving tops ofcountless trees, and beyond them she could look down and over thecultivated valleys, full of farms, whose fields, marked off by stonefences, looked small and insignificant from her high perch. 

Bessie, however, was in no mood to enjoy a view. She wasted no time inadmiring it, but only peered over the edge of the peak on which shestood, to satisfy herself that Dolly was not hidden just below her. Onelook was enough to do that. There was a way, she soon saw, ofdescending, and reaching the woods again, but no man, carrying any sortof a burden, could have accomplished that descent. 

It was a task that called for the use of feet and hands and Bessieturned desperately, convinced that she must, in some manner, haveoverlooked the place at which John had turned off the main trail withhis burden. 

Now, as she went downward, she searched the woods at each side withredoubled care, and at last she found what she had been looking for, orwhat, it seemed to her, must be the place, since she had seen no otherthat offered even a chance for a successful passage through the thickgrowth of trees and underbrush. 

Without hesitation she turned off the trail, and, though the going wasrough, and her hands and face were scratched, while her clothes weretorn, she was rewarded at last by finding that the ground below her grewsmooth, showing that human feet had passed that way often enough to wearthe faintest sort of a path. 

Once she became aware of the path her heart grew light, for she was surenow that she was going in the right direction at last. And, indeed, itwas not more than five minutes before she almost stumbled over Dollyherself, bound to a tree, and with a handkerchief stuffed in her mouthso that she could not cry out. 

"Oh, Dolly! I'm so glad, so glad! Listen, dear; I can't stay. You'llhave to be here a little while longer, but we will soon have you back atthe camp, as safe and well as ever. Are you hurt? Does it give you pain?If it doesn't shake your head sideways. "

Dolly managed to shake her head, and in her eyes Bessie saw that nowthat she knew help was near Dolly's courage would sustain her. 

"That gypsy girl we saw is near, but the man who carried you off isgoing to send another man to watch, and if I let you go now we'd onlymeet him, and be in more trouble than ever. But be brave, dear! it won'tbe long now. "

Poor Dolly could not answer, for Bessie, remembering that Lolla hadseemed to fear the man Peter more than she did John, dared not evenloosen the gag. She saw, however, that while it must be making Dollyterribly uncomfortable, she could breathe, and that it was probablyworse in appearance than in fact. So she leaned down and kissed herchum, and whispered in her ear. 

"I'm going back to Lolla now, dear, but I'll soon be back with enoughhelp so that we needn't care how many of the gypsies there are near us. If I stay now I'm afraid they'll catch me, too, and then no one wouldknow where you were. They can't get you away from here, so you're sureto be safe soon. "

Dolly nodded to show that she understood, and Bessie moved silentlyaway. But, as she turned down the trail that would take her back to thespot where she had left Lolla, she had a new cause for fright. She heardLolla's voice, raised loudly, arguing with a man who answered in low, guttural tones. What they were saying she could not distinguish, butsomehow she understood that Peter had come even sooner than Lolla hadfeared, and the gypsy girl, at the risk of angering him, was trying towarn her, so that she might not descend the trail and so stumble rightinto his arms. 

So, although the prospect frightened her, she turned and made her wayswiftly up to the peak again, determined that if the man should go pastthe opening that led to the place where Dolly lay, she would risk thedanger and the difficulty of the rocky descent from the peak itself. 

As she hastened along silence fell behind her, and she knew that Petermust have started. He was whistling a queer gypsy tune and Bessie heardhim pass the partly masked opening that she had herself found with somuch difficulty. 

After that she hesitated no longer, but rushed to the rocky top of thepeak, and in a moment she was making her way down, with as much cautionas possible, swinging from one ledge to the next, hanging on to a bushhere, and a projecting piece of rock there. 

Even an expert climber, equipped with rope and sharp pointed stick, would have found the descent difficult. And all that enabled Bessie tosucceed was her knowledge that she must. 

CHAPTER X

A TERRIBLE SURPRISE

Bessie, though she had to pause more than once in her wild descent ofthe rocks, dared not look back to see if the gypsy, Peter, was pursuingher, or even whether he was looking down after her. She had two reasons. For one thing, the task was difficult and terrifying enough as it was, and to know that there was danger from behind, as well as the perilinvolved in the descent itself, would, she feared, unnerve her. 

And, moreover, even if Peter saw her, he might not, if she paid noattention to him, suspect that she had anything to do with Dolly, orthat he and his companion had anything to dread from her. Bessie did notknow whether he would recognize her as having been at the gypsy campwith Dolly, but she felt that it would be as well not to take thechance. Things were bad enough without running the risk of complicatingthem still further. 

The descent was a long and hard one, but when she was about half waydown to the comparatively level ground at the foot of the peak, all realdanger of a crippling fall was over, since there a path began. Evidentlysome trampers who were fond of climbing had worn it through the roughsurface to a point where a good view was to be had, and had stoppedthere, content with the distance they had gone, and not disposed to trythe further ascent. And as soon as Bessie reached that point she wasable to stop and get her breath. 

Meanwhile she wondered what had become of Lolla. The gypsy girl, asBessie understood thoroughly, was running severe risks. If the two menknew that she was in league with Dolly's friends they would certainlytake some steps to silence her. But John, Bessie felt sure, did notbelieve that Lolla, no matter how jealous she might be, would actuallybetray her own people to the hated Americans. He had smiled in aconfident manner while Lolla had made her threats, and Bessie thought heregarded the girl as a child in a temper, but sure to come to her sensesbefore she actually put him in danger. 

What to do next was a problem. Bessie, when she had followed the roughpath until it led to a trail, was completely lost. She knew, roughly, and in a general way, the direction of Camp Manasquan, as the camp atLong Lake was called, but that was about all. 

"If I go straight ahead I may be going just as straight as I can awayfrom anyone who can help Dolly, " she reflected. "Or I may get overtoward Loon Pond, and run into that awful gypsy, and then I'd be worseoff than ever! Oh, I do wish I knew where I was, or how I can findLolla. She must know these woods, and she'd be able to help me, I'msure. "

Finally, however, Bessie determined to move slowly along the trail in adirection that would, she thought, take her around the bottom of DeerMountain. She remembered that just a little while before she had cometo the place where she had first seen Lolla, a side path had crossed thetrail on which she had followed Dolly and her captor, and it seemedlikely to her that that path would also cross the trail she was now on. 

If it did she could work back to a spot she knew, and so find herbearings, at least. Then, if there was nothing else to be done, shewould certainly be able to get back to Long Lake. For her to stay in thewoods, lost and hungry, would not help Dolly. 

So she set out bravely, walking as fast as she could. The sun was highin the heavens now, and it was long after breakfast time, so that Bessiewas hungry, but she thought little of that. 

As she had hoped, and half expected, she came, presently, and at whatseemed to her the proper place, upon a trail that crossed the one shewas following, and she turned to the left without hesitation. She might, she felt, be going in the wrong direction altogether, but she could notvery well be more hopelessly lost she was already; and, if she had tobe out in the woods without a clue to the proper way to turn, she feltit made very, little difference whether she was in one place or inanother. 

The new trail was one evidently little used, and when Bessie had been onit for perhaps ten minutes, and was beginning to think that it was timeshe came in sight of the larger trail from Long Lake to Deer Mountain, she heard someone coming toward her, and, rounding a bend, came intosight of Lolla. 

The gypsy girl seemed overwhelmed with joy at the sight of Bessie. 

"Oh, how glad I am!" she exclaimed. "I was afraid that Peter had caughtyou and tied you up with your friend, and that you would think I hadsent you up there so that he would trap you! How did you escape?"

"I climbed down the rocks, " said Bessie simply, and smiled at Lolla'sgasp of astonishment. 

"_You_ climbed down the rocks!" cried the gypsy. "However did you dothat? There ain't many men--not even many of our men--would try that, Ican tell you. I thought perhaps you would try to do that, and I wascoming around this way to get to the foot of the rocks and see if Icould find out what had become of you. "

"You know where we are and how to get back, then?" asked Bessie. 

"Of course I do. I know all these woods. " Lolla laughed. "I have settraps for partridges and rabbits here many and many a time, but theguides never saw me. You knew where you were going, didn't you? If you'dkept on as you were going when you met me you would have come to themain trail in a minute or two, and then, if you'd turned to the right, and kept straight on, you'd have come to Long Lake, where you startedfrom. "

"I thought that was what would happen, Lolla, but I wasn't quite sure. "

"Did you hear me shouting when Peter came along? I hoped you wouldunderstand and bide yourself some way, so that he wouldn't find you. What I was most afraid of was that you would be in the woods with yourfriend, and that you wouldn't hear us. "

"Yes, I heard you, and I knew what you were doing, Lolla; that you meantto warn me that Peter had come sooner than you thought he would. I wasgrateful, too, but I was afraid just to hide myself and let him go by, because the woods were so thick on each side of the trail that I wasafraid he would see where I had broken through and catch me. "

Lolla nodded her head. 

"You are wise. You would be a good gypsy, Bessie. You would soon learnall the things we know ourselves. Peter has very quick eyes, and he isvery suspicious, too. He saw you at the camp, you know, and he wouldhave guessed right away, if he had seen you there, that you were lookingfor Dolly. "

"That was just what I was afraid of, Lolla. He would have tied me upwith her if he had found me, wouldn't he?"

"Yes. He's a bad man, that Peter. I think if John and he were not sofriendly John would not have done this. He is kind, and brave, and healways tried to stop anyone who wanted to steal children. He would steala horse, or a deer, but never a child; that was cowardly, he said. "

"He didn't hurt you, did he, Lolla?"

The gypsy girl laughed. 

"Oh, no. He tried to hit me, but I got away from him too quickly. Iwould not let him touch me. With John it is different. He is my man; hemay beat me if he likes. But not Peter; I hate him. If he beat me Iwould put this into him. "

Bessie, surprised by the look of hate in Lolla's eyes, drew back in fearas Lolla produced a long, sharp knife from the folds of her dress, andflourished it for a moment. 

"Oh, Lolla, please put that away!" she exclaimed. "There's no one hereto be afraid of. " Lolla laughed. 

"No, but I have it if I need it, " she said meaningly. 

"What are we going to do now, Lolla? We can't leave Dolly up there muchlonger. They've got her tied up, and gagged, so that she can't call out, and she's terribly uncomfortable, though I don't think she's sufferingmuch. "

"We will get her soon, " said Lolla, confidently. 

"You stay near where she is, so that they can't get her away, " saidBessie, "and I'll go and get help. Then we shan't have any trouble. "

But Lolla frowned at the suggestion. 

"You would get those guides, and they would catch my man and put him inprison, oh, for years, perhaps! No, no; I will get her away, with you tohelp me. Leave that to me. Peter is stupid. Come with me now; I knowwhat we must do. "

"Where are you going? This isn't the way back to where Dolly is, "protested Bessie, as Lolla pressed on in the direction from whichBessie had come. "We can never get up those rocks, Lolla; it was hardenough to come down. "

"We are not going there, not yet, " said Lolla. "I must go to the campand find out what John is doing. If he comes back to watch her himselfit will be harder. But if he has to stay, and Peter looks after her, then we shall have no trouble. You shall see; only trust me. I managedso that you saw her, didn't I? Doesn't that show you that I can do whatI say?"

"I suppose so, " sighed Bessie. "I should think you wouldn't care if thatman does go to prison, though, Lolla. He isn't nice to you, and you sayhe'll beat you when you're married. American men don't beat their wives. If they did they would be sent to prison. I should think you'd give himup--"

Lolla's dark eyes flamed for a moment, but then she smiled, as if shehad remembered that Bessie, not being a gypsy, could not be expected tounderstand the gypsy ways. 

"He is a good man, " she said. "He will always see that I have enough toeat, and pretty things to wear. And if he beats me, it will be because Ihave been wicked, and deserve to be beaten. When I am his wife he willbe like my father; if I am bad he will punish me. Is it not so amongyour people?"

Bessie struggled with a laugh at the thought of the only married coupleshe had ever known at all well: Paw and Maw Hoover. The idea that PawHoover, the mildest and most inoffensive of men, might ever beat hiswife would have made anyone who knew that couple laugh. 

Instead of turning when they reached the trail which Bessie had followedafter her descent from the rocks, Lolla led the way straight on. 

"Are you sure you know where you are going, Lolla!" asked Bessie. 

Lolla smiled at her scornfully. 

"Yes, but it is not the way you would go, " she said. "The trail to thecamp will be full of people. They will be out all over the campparticularly. We must come to it from another direction. That is why weare going this way. "

It was not long before Bessie was as thoroughly lost as if she had beenin a maze. Lolla, however, seemed to know just where she was going. Sheleft one trail to turn into another without ever showing the slightestdoubt of her direction, and, at times, when the woods were thin, shewould take short cuts, leading the way through entirely pathlessportions of the forest with as much assurance as if she had been walkingthrough the streets of a city where she had lived all her life. EvenBessie, used to long walks around Hedgeville, in which she had learnedthe country thoroughly, was surprised. 

"I don't believe I'd ever get to know these woods as well as you do, "she said admiringly. "Why, you never seem even to hesitate. "

"I've been here every summer since I was born, " said Lolla, in alaughing tone. "I ought to know these woods pretty well, I think. "

"I hope no one sees us now, " said Bessie, nervously. "I really do feelas if it were wrong for me to keep away. Miss Mercer must be as anxiousabout me as she is about Dolly. "

"Is she the lady who is with you girls?"

"Yes. You see, she probably thinks that was carried off, as well asDolly. "

"She will stop being anxious all the sooner for not knowing where youare. I think it will not be long now before we get your friend away fromthat place where she is hidden. "

"Well, I certainly hope so. Listen! I think I can hear voices in frontof us. "

"I heard them two or three minutes ago, " said Lolla, with a smile. "Stayhere, now; hide behind that clump of bushes. I will go ahead and seewhat I can find. Even if it is some of your friends they would notsuspect me; they would think I was just out for a walk. "

So Bessie waited for perhaps ten minutes, while Lolla crept forwardalone. But the gypsy was back soon, smiling. 

"All is safe now, " she said. "Come quickly, though, so we shall getbehind them and be able to get near the camp. There is a place therewhere you may hide while I find out what is going on. "

They reached the spot Lolla meant in a few minutes more, and againBessie had to play the inactive part and wait while Lolla went on togain the information she needed. When she came back she was smilinghappily. 

"That John is stupid, though he is so brave, " she said to Bessie. "Hewent back there to the camp, and he is sitting in front of his wagon. There is a guide with a gun sitting near him, and my sister tells methat the guide says he will follow him and shoot him if he tries to getaway. 

"There are many people there, and the whole camp is angry andfrightened. The king says he will punish John, but John will not admitthat he knows where your friend is. We are safe from him. They will notlet him get away for a long time. "

Bessie was comforted by the news. With her captor under guard, Dollyhad nothing to fear from him, and, though Peter might be a sullen anddangerous man, Bessie felt that Lolla was right, and that he was toothick witted to be greatly feared. 

They made the return trip with hearts far lighter than they had been asthey made their way to the gypsy camp. Bessie had seen that Lolla wasafraid of John, though now that he, had been over-reached she was readyenough to laugh at him. 

"What are you going to do! How are you going to get her away, Lolla?"asked Bessie, as they neared the point where she had first seen herally. "

"I don't know yet, " said Lolla, frankly. "If Peter is on the trail itwill be harder. I hope he will be inside, so that we can slip by withouthis seeing us. If he is, and we get by, then you are to wait until youhear me sing. So. "

She sang a bar or two of a gypsy melody, and repeated it until Bessie, too, could hum it, to prove that she had it right, and would not fail torecognize it. 

"When you hear me sing that, remember that you must run down and go toyour friend. Here is nay knife. Use it to cut the cords that tie her. Then you and she must go back toward the rocks where you went down. Andwhen you hear me sing again you are to go down, as quickly as you can, but quietly, and, as soon as you are past the place where she washidden, you must start running. I will try to catch up with you and gowith you, but do not wait for me. "

"I don't quite understand, " Bessie began. 

But now Lolla was the general, brooking no defiance. She stamped herfoot. 

"It does not matter whether you understand or not, " she said sharply. "If you want me to save your friend and get back to the others you mustdo as you are told, and quickly. Now, come. "

They went on up the trail, and, at the bend just below the spot whereshe had broken through to reach Dolly before, Bessie waited while Lolla, who had recognized the place from Bessie's description of it, creptforward to make sure that the way was clear. 

"All right, " she whispered. "Come on. "

Silently, but as swiftly as they could, they crept past the place, and, when they were out of sight stopped. 

"Now, you will know my song when you hear it?"

"Yes, indeed, Lolla. Why, what have you got there?"

"What I need to make Peter come with me, " laughed Lolla. "See, a finemeal, is it not? I got it at the camp. Let him smell that stew and hewould follow me out of the woods. "

Bessie began to understand Lolla's plan at last. She was going to temptPeter to betray his orders from his friend by appealing to his stomach. And Bessie wondered again, as she had many times since she had metLolla, at the cunning of the gypsy girl. 

Her confidence in Lolla was complete by now, and she did not at all mindwaiting as she saw the little brightly clad figure disappear amidst thegreen of the trail. 

It was some time, however, before she heard any signs that indicatedthat Lolla had obtained any results. And then it was not the song sheheard, but Lolla's clear laugh, rising above the heavy tones of Peter. 

"Oh, oh! You would give me orders when I bring you breakfast? No, no, Peter; that won't do. Come, she is safe there; come and eat with me, where she cannot put a spell on your food to make it choke you. "

"Do you think she would do that?"

That was Peter's voice, stupid and filled with doubt. Bessie laughed atLolla's cleverness. Peter, she thought, would be just the sort of man toyield to the fears of superstition. 

"I know she would; she hates us. Come, Peter; does it not look good?"

"Give it to me. There, I'll catch you--"

Then there was a sound of scuffling and running, but Bessie, noticingthat it drew further and further away, laughed. Lolla was a realstrategist. She understood how to handle the big gypsy, evidently. And amoment later Bessie, her nerves quivering, all alert as she waited forthe signal, heard the notes of Lolla's song. At once she rushed down, broke through the tangled growth, and was at Dolly's side, cutting awayat the cords that bound Dolly, and, first of all, tearing thehandkerchief from her mouth. 

"It's all right now, we're safe, Dolly. Only you'll have to comequickly, dear, when I get you free. There, that's it. Are you stiff? Canyou Stand up?"

"I guess so, " gasped Dolly. "Oh, I'd do anything to get away from here. Bessie, look!"

Bessie turned, to face Peter and Lolla, their faces twisted intomalignant grins. Lolla had betrayed her!

CHAPTER XI

THE MYSTERIOUS VOICE

For a moment Bessie stared at the two gypsies, their eyes glowing withmalicious triumph, and delight at her shocked face, in such dazedastonishment that she could not speak at all. She had been completelyoutwitted and hoodwinked. She had trusted Lolla utterly; had made up hermind that the girl's jealousy was not feigned. 

Even now, for a wild moment, the thought flashed through her mind thatperhaps Lolla had been unable to help herself; that Peter might haveinsisted on coming back, and that Lolla was forced, in order to be ofhelp later on, to seem to fall in with his plans. 

But Lolla herself soon robbed her of the comfort that lay in such athought. 

"You thought I would betray my people!" she cried, shrilly. "We do notdo that; no, no! Ah, but it was easy to deceive you! When I saw you Iknew you would be dangerous. I could not hold you by force until Johncame, I had to trick you. I thought we would catch you when you went upthere. I did not think you would be brave enough to go down the rocks. "

Bessie said not a word, but only clung to Dolly's hand and stared at thetreacherous gypsy. 

"So then, when you had gone, I had to find you again, and send word toPeter to do as I said, so that we could catch you, and stop you fromgoing to your friends and telling them where we had hidden your friendwho is there with you now. Now we have two, instead of one. Oh, I havedone well, have I not, Peter?"

Peter grinned, and grunted something in his own tongue that made Lollasmile. 

"Tie them up again, Peter, " said Lolla, looking viciously at Bessie, andobviously gloating over the way in which she had tricked the Americangirl. And Peter, nothing loath, advanced to do so. But Bessie had stoodall she could. 

Dolly, terribly cast down by this sudden upsetting of all the hopes ofrescue that the coming of Bessie and her release from the cords thatbound her had raised, was close beside her, shivering with fright anddespair. 

And Bessie, with a sudden cry of anger, seized the knife Lolla had givenher, which had been lying at her feet. Furiously she brandished it. 

"If either of you come a step nearer I'll use it!" she said, scarcelyable to recognize her own voice, so changed was it by the anger thatLolla's treachery had aroused in her. "You'd better not think I'mjoking. I mean it!"

Peter hesitated, but Lolla, her eyes flashing, urged him on. 

"Go on! Do you want me to tell all the women that you were frightened bya little girl; a girl you could crush with one hand?" she cried, angrily. "You coward! Tie them up, I tell you! Oh, if my man John werehere he'd show you! Here--"

Peter, stung by her taunts, made a quick rush forward. For a momentBessie did not know what to do. She wondered if, when it came to thetest, she would really be able to use the knife; to try to cut or stabthis man. He was getting nearer each moment, and, just as she was almostwithin his grasp she darted back and aimed a blow at him with the knife. 

There was no danger that it would strike him; Bessie thought that, ifshe could only convince him that she had meant what she said, he wouldhesitate. And she was right. He gave a cry of alarm as he saw the steelflash toward him and drew back. 

"She would stab me!" he exclaimed furiously, to Lolla. "I was not to bestruck with a knife. John said nothing about that. He told me only toguard this girl--"

"She wouldn't really touch you with it, " screamed Lolla, so furious thatshe forgot the need of keeping her voice low. "John wouldn't let herfrighten him that way, he is too brave. Oh, how the women will laughwhen they hear how the brave Peter was frighted by a girl with a littleknife!"

But Bessie, in spite of her own indecision, had managed, somehow, toconvince the man that she was serious, and Lolla's taunts no longeraffected him. He drew back still farther, and stood looking stupidly atthe two girls. 

"You're wiser than she, " said Bessie approvingly. "I meant just what Isaid. Keep as far as that from me, and you'll be safe. I'm not afraid ofyou any more. "

Nor was she. Her victory, brief though it might be, had encouraged her, and revived her drooping spirits. Dolly, too, seemed to have gained newlife from the sight of the big gypsy quailing before her chum. She hadstopped trembling, and stood up bravely now, ready to face whatevermight come. 

"Good for you, Bessie!" she exclaimed. She darted a vicious look atLolla. "I wish that treacherous little gypsy would come somewhere nearme, " she went on, angrily. "I'd pull her hair and make her sorry sheever tried to help those villains to keep us. When they put her inprison I'm going to see her, and jeer at her!"

Lolla, looking helpless now in her anger, said nothing, but she glaredat the two girls. 

"I think these people are very superstitious, " whispered Dolly toBessie, when it became plain that, for the moment, the two gypsiesintended only to watch them, without making any further attempt to tiethem up. 

"I think so too, " returned Bessie, in the same tone. "But I don't seewhat good that is going to do us, Dolly. "

"Neither do I, just yet, Bessie. But I can't help thinking that theremust be some way that we could frighten them, if we could only think ofit; so that they would be frightened and run away. "

"We might tell them--Oh, I've got an idea, Dolly. "

She looked at Peter and Lolla. They were at the very edge of the littleclearing in which Dolly had been imprisoned. 

"Listen, Lolla, " said Bessie, calmly. "I believe that you are a goodgirl, though you have lied to me, and tried to make me think you were myfriend, when all the time you were planning, you could betray me. Thisplace is dangerous. "

Lolla looked at her scornfully and tossed head. 

"Don't think you can frighten me with your stories, " she said, with alaugh. "It is dangerous--for you. When my man comes you will find thathe is not a coward, like Peter, to be frightened with your knife. Hewill take it away from you and beat you, too, for trying to frightenPeter with it. "

"Yes, he is brave, Lolla. We saw that when he ran away from the firethat he saw last night near the lake. "

Bessie was taking a chance when she said that. She did not know whetherLolla had heard of the mysterious flashlight explosion or not, but shethought it more than probable that John had told her of it. And she wasreasonably sure that he was still wondering what had caused the lightthat had so suddenly blinded him. Her swift look at Lolla showed herthat her blow had struck home. 

"He is a brave man, indeed, to keep on with his wicked plan to steal myfriend after such a warning, " Bessie went on sternly. "But his braverywill do him no good. There is a spirit looking after us. It made thefire that frightened him, and the next time he will not only see thefire; he will feel it, too. "

Now she looked not only at Lolla, who seemed shaken, but at Peter, whowas staring at her as if fascinated. Evidently he, too, had heard of thestrange fire. Bessie had reckoned on the probability, that seemed almosta certainty, that John would not have been able to explain, even tohimself, the nature of the flashlight explosion. And evidently she wasright. Then she took another chance, guessing at what she thought Johnwould probably have said to explain the fire. 

"I know what he told you, " she said slowly. "He said that the fire camefrom a spirit that was guiding him, and was trying to help him. But heonly said that because he did not understand. It meant just theopposite; that it would be better for him to go home, and forget thewicked plot he had thought of. "

Peter seemed to be weakening, but Lolla tossed her head again. 

"Are you a baby? Do you think that is true?" she said to him. "Don't yousee that she is only trying to frighten you, as she did with the knife?"

"Indeed I am not, " said Bessie, earnestly. "I am not angry with you, anymore than I am afraid of you now. If you stay here something dreadfulwill happen to you both. You would not like to go to prison, would you, and stay there all through this summer, and the next winter, and thesummer of next year, when you might be traveling the road with yourbrothers?"

"Make them keep quiet, Peter, " cried Lolla, furiously. "She is quiteright There is danger here, but it comes from her friends. She thinksthat if she can fool us into letting her talk, they may pass by and hearher voice. "

"You keep quiet, " said Peter, doggedly, evidently deciding that, thistime, he could safely obey Lolla's orders, and quite ready to do so. "Ifyou make any more noise I will--"

He left the sentence uncompleted, but a savage gesture showed what hemeant. He had a stout stick, and this he now swung with a threateningair. 

Bessie had hoped to work on the superstitious nature of the gypsy man, and to frighten him, perhaps, if she had good luck, into letting her gooff with Dolly. But Lolla's interference had put that out of thequestion. She turned sadly to Dolly, to see her companion's eyestwinkling. 

"Never you mind, Bessie, " she said. "They're stupid, anyhow. And as longas they don't tie us up we're all right. I'd just as soon be here asanywhere. Someone will go along that trail presently looking for us, andwhen they do we can shout. They'll probably make a noise themselves, soas to let us know they are near. And I'm not frightened any more; reallyI'm not. "

But Bessie, tired and disappointed, was nearer to giving in than she hadbeen since the moment when she had awakened and found that Dolly wasmissing. She felt that she ought to have distrusted Lolla; that she hadmade a great mistake in thinking, even for a moment, that the gypsy girlmeant to betray her own people. 

Then suddenly a strange thing happened. A new voice, that belonged tonone of the four who were in the clearing, suddenly broke the silence. It seemed to come from a tree directly over the heads of Lolla andPeter, and, as it spoke, they stared upward with one accord, listeningintently to what it said. 

"Will you make me come down and punish you?" said the voice. It was thatof an old, old man, feeble with age, but still clear. 

Bessie stared too, as surprised as the gypsy, and the voice went on:

"I gave your companion a sign last night that should have warned him. Ispeak to you now, to warn you again. The next time I shall not give awarning; I shall act, and your punishment will be swift and terrible. Take heed; go, while there is time. "

For a moment the two gypsies were speechless, looking at one another inwonder, and Bessie was not disposed to blame them. Her own head was in awhirl. 

"Quick; it is in that tree!" said Lolla, easily the braver of the two ofthem. "Climb up there, and see who it is that is trying to frighten us, Peter. "

But Peter was not prepared to do anything of the sort. He was trembling, and casting nervous glances behind him, as if he were more minded tomake a break and run down the trail. 

"Climb yourself! I shall stay here, " he retorted. 

And Lolla, without further hesitation, sprang into the branches of thetree and began to climb. 

As she did so the mysterious voice sounded again. 

"You cannot see me, yet, " it said. "You can only hear me. See, my voiceis in your ears, but you cannot see as much as my little finger. Beware;go before you _do_ see me. For when you do, you will regret it; regretit as long as you live!"

When Lolla, a moment later, reached firm ground again, she wastrembling, and Bessie saw that her courage was beginning to fail. Shelooked about her nervously, as Peter was doing. And suddenly the voicespoke again, but this time it shouted, and it was in a stronger, morevigorous tone, and one of great anger. 

"Must I show myself! Must I punish you?" it said, furiously. "Fear me;you will do well! Go--GO!"

With a yell of terror Peter turned suddenly, and ran through the thickbushes toward the trail, crying out as he went, and stumbling. 

"Come; it is the devil! I saw his horns and his tail then, " hescreamed. "Come, Lolla, this is an accursed place. I told John it waswrong to try to do this; that he would get into trouble. "

"He is wise; he is safe!" said the mysterious voice. "Go too, Lolla; Iam growing impatient. Go, if you want to see John, your lover, and thebrothers that you love, again. The time is growing short. I come; Icome; and when I come--"

And then at last Lolla's nerves, too, gave way, and she followed Peter, screaming, as he had done, while she ran. Bessie, as astonished andalmost as frightened as the two gypsies had been, turned then to see howDolly was bearing this extraordinary affair, to see her chum rollingabout on the ground, with tears in her eyes. 

"Oh, that was funny!" Dolly exclaimed. "They were easy, after all, Bessie. "

"They've gone! It's all right now, " said Bessie. "But who was it, Dolly?Who could it have been?"

"It was me!" exclaimed Dolly, weakly, between gasps of laughter, forgetting her grammar altogether. "I learned that trick last summer. They call it ventriloquism. It just means throwing your voice out sothat it doesn't seem to come from you at all, and changing it, so thatpeople won't recognize it. "

Bessie stared at her, in wonder and admiration. "Why, Dolly Ransom!" shesaid. "However do you do it? I never heard of such a thing!"

"I don't know how I do it, " said Dolly, recovering her breath. "No onewho can does, I guess. It's just something you happen to be able to do. "

"You certainly frightened them, " said Bessie. "And you saved us withyour trick, Dolly. I think they've run clear away. We can follow themdown the trail; they won't stick to it, and I think we can go right backto Long Lake, now, without being afraid any more. Come on, we'd betterstart. I don't want to stay here. "

CHAPTER XII

OUT OF THE FRYING PAN

"Stay here? I should say not!" exclaimed Dolly. "I'm almoststarved--and, Bessie, they must be terribly worried about us, too. Andnow tell me, as we go along, how you ever found me. I don't see how youmanaged that. "

So, as they made their way down the trail, Bessie told her of all thathad happened since her rude awakening at the camp fire, just after thegypsy had carried Dolly off. 

"Oh, Bessie, it was perfectly fine of you, and it's only because of youthat we're safe now! But you oughtn't to have taken such a risk! Justthink of what might have happened!"

"That's just it, Dolly. I've got time to think about it now, but then Icould only think of you, and what was happening to you. If I'd stoppedto think about the danger I'm afraid I wouldn't have come. "

"But you must have known it was dangerous! I don't know anyone else whowould have done it for me. "

"Oh, yes, they would, Dolly. That's one of the things we promise when wejoin the Camp Fire Girls--always to help another member of the Camp Firewho is in trouble or in danger. "

"Yes--but not like that. It doesn't say anything about going into dangeryourself, you know. "

"Listen, Dolly. If you saw me drowning in the water, you'd jump in afterme, wouldn't you? Or after any of the girls--if there wasn't time to gethelp?"

"I suppose so--but that's different. It just means going in quickly, without time to think very much about it. And you had plenty of time tothink while you were tramping along that horrid dark trail after me. "

"Well, it's all over now, Dolly, and, after all, you had to save both ofus in the end. "

"That was just a piece of luck, and a trick, Bessie. It didn't take anycourage to do that--and, beside, if it hadn't been for you I would neverhave had the chance to do that. I wonder why Lolla let you have herknife to cut those cords about me?"

"I think she's a regular actress, Dolly, and that she wanted to make mefeel absolutely sure she was on our side, so that we would both be therein that trap when she and Peter came back. "

"It's a good thing he was such a coward, Bessie. "

"Oh, I think he'd be brave enough if he just had to fight with a man, sothat it was the sort of fighting he was used to. You see it wasn't hisplan, and when I said I'd use that knife he couldn't see why he shouldrun any risk when all the profit was for the other man. "

"And when you played that trick with your voice he was frightened, because he'd never heard of anything of that sort, and he didn't knowwhat was coming next. I think that would frighten a good many people whoare really brave. "

"Bessie, why do I always get into so much trouble? All this happenedjust because I changed those signs that day. "

"Oh, I don't know about that, Dolly. It might have happened anyhow. I'vegot an idea now that they knew we were around, and that John planned tokidnap one of us and keep us until someone paid him a lot of money tolet us go. Something Lolla said made me think that. "

"Then he was just playing a joke when he said he wanted to marry me?"

"Yes, I think so, because I don't think he was foolish enough to thinkhe could ever really get you to do that. I did think so at first, but ifthat had been so I'm quite sure that Lolla wouldn't have helped him. "

"She'd have been jealous, you mean?"

"Yes, I'm quite sure, you see, that she saw him and talked to him whenwe went over to their camp that time, so that she could take orders fromhim to Peter. He knew he'd be watched, so he must have made up his mindfrom the first that he would have to have help. "

"I wonder what he is doing now, Bessie. "

"I certainly hope he's still over there at the camp, sitting near thatguide. The guide said he would shoot him if he tried to get away, youknow. "

"My, but I'll bet there's been a lot of commotion over this. "

"I'm sure there has, Dolly. Probably all the people at the hotel heardabout it, too. I'll bet they've got people out all through the woodslooking for us. "

"I wish we'd meet some of them--and that they'd have a lot of sandwichesand things. Bessie, I've simply got to sit down and rest. I want to getback to Miss Eleanor and the girls, but if I keep on any longer I'lldrop just where we are. I'm too tired to take another step without arest. "

"I am, too, Dolly. Here--here's a good place to sit down for a littlewhile. We really can't be so very far from Long Lake now. "

"No, " said a voice, behind them. "But you're so far that you'll neverreach there, my dears!"

And, turning, they saw John, the gypsy, leering at them. His clotheswere torn, and he was hot and dirty, so that it was plain that he hadhad a long run, and a narrow escape from capture. But at the sight ofthem he smiled, evilly and triumphantly, as if that repaid him amply forany hardships he had undergone. 

"Don't you dare touch us!" said Bessie, shrilly. 

She realized even as she said it, that he was not likely to pay anyattention to her, but the sight of his grinning face, when she had beenso sure that their troubles were over at last, was too much for her. 

She sank down on a log beside Dolly, and hid her face in her hands, beginning to cry. Most men, no matter how bad, would have been moved topity by the sight of her sufferings. But John was not. 

"Don't cry, " he said, with mock sympathy. "I am not going to treat youbadly. You shall stay in the woods with me. I have a good hiding place, a place where your friends will never find you until I am ready. You aretired. So am I. We will rest here. It is quite safe. A party of yourfriends passed this way five minutes ago. They will not come again--notsoon. I was within a few feet of them, but they did not see me. "

Bessie groaned at the news. Had they only reached the place five minutesearlier, then, they would have been safe. She was struck by an idea, however, and lifted her voice in a shout for aid. In a moment thegypsy's hand covered her mouth and he was snarling in her ear. 

"None of that, " he said, grittingly, "or I will find a way to make youkeep still. You must do as I tell you now, or it will be the worse foryou. Will you promise to keep quiet?"

Bessie realized that there was no telling what this man would do if shedid not promise--and keep her promise. He was cleverer than Peter, and, therefore, much more dangerous. She felt, somehow, that the trick whichhad worked so well when Dolly had used it before would be of no availnow. He might even understand it; he was most unlikely, she was sure, toyield to superstitious terror as Peter and Lolla had done. And, leaningover to Dolly, she whispered to her. 

"Don't try that trick, Dolly. You see, if the others had dared the voiceto do something they would have found out that there was really nothingto be afraid of--and I'm afraid he'd wait. It may be useful again, butnot with him, now. If we tried it, and it didn't work--"

"I understand, " Dolly whispered back. "I think you are right, too, Bessie. We'd be worse off than ever. I was thinking that if only some ofthe other gypsies were here we might frighten them so much with it thatthey'd make him let us go. "

"Yes. We'll save it for that. "

The gypsy was still breathing hard. He looked at the two girlsmalignantly, but he saw that they were too tired to walk much unless helet them rest, and, purely out of policy, and not at all because he wassorry for them, and for the hardships he had made them endure, he letthem sit still for a while. But finally he rose. 

"Come, " he said. "You've been loafing here long enough. Get up now, andwalk in front of me--back, the way you came. "

They groaned at the prospect of retracing their footsteps once more, buthe held the upper hand, and there was nothing for it but obedience. Thatmuch was plain. Desperately, as they began to drag their tired feet oncemore along the trail, they listened, hoping against hope for the soundsthat would indicate that some of the searchers they were sure filled thewoods were in the neighborhood. 

But no comforting shouts greeted them. The woods were silent, save forthe calls of birds and animals, which, friendly though they might be, were powerless to aid the two girls against this traditional enemy ofevery furred and feathered creature in the forest. 

Steadily they plodded on. Bessie knew the ground well by this time, and, one by one they passed the landmarks she knew so well, until they cameat last to the cross path which had brought Bessie back to the trapLolla had prepared for her. And there they came upon a startlinginterruption of their journey. 

For suddenly Lolla herself, who had evidently been hiding there whenthey had passed, alone, before their meeting with John, sprang out andstood in front of them. Long as she had resisted her fear of thesupernatural force that had come to the aid of the girls, she wasplainly afraid of it still, for at sight of them her cheeks paled, andshe cried out in terror. And behind her, as scared as she was herself, came Peter, the big gypsy, shaking in every limb. 

"A fine mess you made of things--letting them escape, " growled John, ashe saw his two compatriots. "If I hadn't found them on the trail, bysheer luck, they'd have been back at the lake by this time. "

"Let them go--for heaven's sake, let them go, John, " wailed Lolla. "There is a devil fighting for them--he will kill you if you try anylonger to keep them from their friends. "

"Pah! What child's talk is this? Be thankful that I do not beat you withmy stick for letting them get free!"

"Listen to her, John, " said Peter, warningly. "She speaks the truth. Itwas a devil that spoke from the air. I saw his horns and his red tail. Be careful--he may be here now. "

John laughed, scornfully. 

"Run away, if you are afraid, " he said. "I will manage alone now. Iwould not trust you--you have failed me once, both of you. Do not thinkyou can frighten me into failure because you are as brave asa--chicken!"

"Let them go, I say, " said Peter, with a sternness in his voice thatgave Bessie a new ray of hope. "I have had my warning, I will profit byit. "

"You coward!" sneered John. 

But that was too much for Peter. With a cry of rage he sprang forward. 

"I fear no man, no man I can see or touch, " he cried. "And no man shallcall me coward!"

In a moment the two were grappling in a furious fight. John was smallerthan Peter, but he was wiry and as lithe and powerful as a trainedathlete, so that he was a match, at first, for the rugged strength ofPeter. But he had had a hard day, and gradually Peter's strength worehim down, and, as they crashed to the ground together, Peter was on top, and plainly destined to be victor in the fight. He looked up at the twogirls. 

"Go!" he said. "I will have nothing to do with you. I am fighting withmy friend to save him, not for your sakes, you who have a devil to helpyou. If he keeps you harm will come to him. John, listen to me: I dothis because you are my friend. "

Bessie and Dolly needed no second invitation. Amazing as was thislatest intervention in favor, they were too happy to stop to questionit. It was their chance to escape, and five minutes later they were outof sight, and making their way, as fast as their tired bodies wouldallow them to do, toward Long Lake and safety. 

CHAPTER XIII

SAFE AT LAST

Indeed, any lingering fear Bessie and Dolly might have had that John hadsucceeded in escaping from his two anxious friends who were sodetermined to protect him against his own recklessness, was dissipatedbefore they came in sight of the lake, when, at a crossing of the trail, a glad cry hailed them and a sturdy guide stepped across their path. 

"Well, I'll be hornswoggled!" he exclaimed. "Ain't you the two that waslost, or stolen by that gypsy critter?"

"We certainly are, " said Dolly and Bessie, in one breath. "Were youlooking for us?"

"Lookin' fer you!" he exclaimed. "Every one in these here woods has beena-lookin' fer you two since sun-up, I guess. Godfrey, but we was scared!Didn't know but that there gypsy might have sneaked you clean out ofthe woods! How did you all ever come to get loose? Or was you just plainlost?"

"No, we weren't lost, " said Bessie. "He carried Dolly off all right;this is Dolly Ransom, you know. But he didn't catch me. "

"Then how in tarnation did you come to be lost, too? You was, wasn'tyou? They told us two girls was missin'. "

"Well, we were asleep in the open air, outside the tent, and I woke upjust as he was carrying Dolly off. I didn't wake up until he'd got outof the firelight, and there wasn't any use calling anyone else. So Ijust followed myself. "

"She says anyone would have done it, " Dolly broke in, her eyes shining. "But I don't believe it, do you?"

"No, by Godfrey!" he said, emphatically. "A greenhorn, goin' out in themwoods at night, in the dark, and a girl, at that? I guess not!"

He looked at Bessie, as if puzzled to learn that she had actually donesuch a thing. 

"Well, you're all right now, " he said. "Here, I'll just give the signalwe fixed up. Listen, now!"

He raised his rifle, and, pointing it straight in the air, fired twoshots, and then, after a brief interval, two more. 

"The sound of that'll carry a long way, " he explained, "and that meansthat you're both found. The other fellows who are searchin' for you willquit lookin', now, and come into Long Lake. If I'd fired just two shots, and hadn't fired the second two, that would have meant that one of youwas found, and they'd have kept right on a-lookin' fer the other. I'llwalk along with you now, an' I guess that varmint won't bother you nomore. If he does--"

He patted his rifle with a gesture that spoke more plainly than wordscould have done. 

"Tell me all about it as we go along, " he said. "I guess maybe there'llbe some work for us to do after we all get together--runnin' thosegypsies out. They're a bad lot, but this is the fust time they everdone anythin' around here that give us a real chance to get even withthem. We've suspected them of doin' lots of things, but a deer can'ttell you who killed him out o' season, 'specially when all you find ofthe deer is a little skin and bones. "

He listened admiringly as Bessie told her story. At the tale of Lolla'streachery he laughed. 

"They're all tarred with the same brush, " he said. "One's as bad asanother. "

And when he heard of the trick by which Dolly had worked on thesuperstitious fears of Lolla and Peter his merriment knew no bounds, andhe absolutely refused to keep on the trail until Dolly had given him ademonstration of just how she had managed it. 

"Well, by Godfrey!" he said, when she had thrown her voice far overhead, and once so that it seemed to come from just above his shoulder. "Don'tthat beat the Dutch! I don't wonder you skeered 'em! You'd have had megoin', I guess, an' I ain't no chicken, nor easy to skeer, neither. Youtwo certainly done a smart job gettin' away from them. "

And so, when they reached Long Lake, the girls and the guides, who hadscattered all over the woods searching for them, agreed, when theystraggled in, one party after another. Eleanor Mercer was one of thefirst to return, and when she had finished proving her gratitude fortheir safe return, she turned a laughing face toward the chief guide. 

"Do you know the thing that pleases me best about this, Andrew?" sheasked him. 

"I can guess, ma'am, " he said, with a grin. "You told us when you comeup here that you was goin' to prove that a party of girls could getalong without help from men. And I reckon it looked to you this morningas if you was goin' to need us pretty bad, didn't it?"

"It certainly did, Andrew, " she answered, gravely. "And I don't want youto think for a moment that we're not grateful to you for the way youturned out and scoured the woods. "

"Don't talk of gratitude, Miss Eleanor. We've known you for years, buteven if we'd never seen you before, and didn't know nothin' about thegirls that thief had stolen, we'd ha' turned out jest the same way torescue them. An' I guess any white men anywhere would ha' done the samething. 

"But if it was only us you'd had to depend on, I'm afraid the younglady'd still be out there. It was her friend that saved her. Too bad shetrusted that Lolla witch. If she'd gone to Jim Skelly when she was nearthe gypsy camp that time, an' told him where her chum was, he'd have hadher free in two shakes of a lamb's tail. "

"I think Dolly and Bessie must be awfully hungry, " said Zara, who hadlistened with shining eyes to the tale of her friends' adventures. 

"Oh, they must, indeed!" said Eleanor, remorsefully. "And here we'vebeen listening to them, and letting them talk while they were starving. "

She turned toward the fire, but already two of the guides had leapedforward, and in a moment the smell of crisp bacon filled the air, andcoffee was being made. 

"Oh, how good that smells!" said Dolly. "I _am_ hungry, but it was soexciting, remembering everything that happened, that I forgot all aboutit! Isn't it funny? I was dreadfully scared when I was alone there, andagain afterward, when we thought we were safe, and that horrid mancaught us. 

"But now that it's all over, it seems like good fun. If one only knewthat everything was coming out all right when things like that happen, one could enjoy them while they were going on, couldn't one? But whenone is frightened half to death there isn't much chance to think of hownice it's going to be when it's all over, and you're safe at homeagain. "

"That's just the trouble with adventures, Dolly, " said Eleanor. "Younever can be sure that they will come out all right, and lots of timesthey don't. It's like the thrilling story that the man told about beingchased by the bear. "

"What was that, Miss Eleanor?"

"Well, he told about how the bear chased him, and he got into a trap, and the bear was between him and the only way of getting out, and itseemed to him as if he was going to be killed. So they asked him whathappened; how he got away?"

"And how did he?"

"He said he didn't; that the bear ate him up!"

"Miss Eleanor, " said Andrew, the old chief guide, as the two girls beganravenously to eat the tempting camp meal that the other guides had soquickly prepared, "we've got something more to do here. "

Eleanor looked at him questioningly. 

"We've got to find that gypsy, " he said, "and see that he spends thenight in jail, where he belongs. If I'm not mistaken, he'll spend a goodmany nights and days there, too, after he's been tried. "

"I suppose he must be caught and taken to a place where he can betried, " said Eleanor. "I don't like the idea of revenge, but--"

"But this ain't revenge, Miss Eleanor. If you was a-goin' to say thatyou was quite right. It's self protection, and protection for younggirls everywhere. "

"Yes, you're right, Andrew. Well, what do you want me to do? I amafraid I wouldn't be touch good in helping you to catch him. "

Andrew laughed heartily. 

"I ain't sayin' that, ma'am, but there's men enough of us to catch him, all right. Maybe you didn't notice it, but I sent out some of the men'most as soon as they got here, just so's they'd be able to fix thingsfor him to have to stay where we could catch him. Trouble is, none of usdon't know him when we see him. I was wonderin'--"

"Oh, no, not now, Andrew. I know what you mean. You want the girls to gowith you, so as to point him out, don't you? But they're so tired, I'msure they couldn't do any more tramping today. "

"I know they're tired, ma'am, and I wasn't aimin' to let them do anymore walkin'. I've got more sense than that. But we could rig up a sortof a swing chair, so's two of the boys could carry one of them, easily. Then we could take her over there, and she could tell us which was him, and never be tired at all. She'd be jest as comfortable, ma'am, as ifshe was a settin' here by the lake, watchin' the water. "

"Well, I suppose we can manage it if you do it that way, Andrew, if youthink it's really necessary. "

When it came to a choice, since it was necessary for only one of thegirls to go, Dolly insisted on being the one. 

"Bessie is much more tired than I am, " she said, stoutly. "I was carrieda good part of the way and she tramped all around with that wretchedlittle Lolla, when she thought Lolla wanted to help her get me away. SoI'm going, and Bessie shall stay here and rest"

"Don't, make no difference to me, " said Andrew "Let the other girls comealong with us, if you like, Miss Eleanor. And you can stay hind herewith the one that stays to rest. See!"

And so it was arranged. Bessie, lying on a cot that had been broughtfrom Eleanor's tent, watched Dolly being carried off in the litter thathad been hastily improvised, and Eleanor sat beside her. 

"You've certainly earned a rest, Bessie, " said Eleanor, happily. Itdelighted her to think that Bessie, whom she had befriended, shouldprove herself so well worthy of her confidence. "I don't know what we'dhave done without you. I'm afraid that Dolly would still be there in thewoods if you'd just called us, as most girls would have done. "

"I don't quite understand one thing, even yet, Bessie, " continuedEleanor, frowning, "You know, at first, it seemed as if the idea we hadwas right; that this man had some crazy idea that he might be able tomake a gypsy of Dolly. 

"I'm beginning to think that there was some powerful reason back of whathe did; that he expected to make a great deal of money out of kidnappingher. It seems, too, as if he knew where we were going to be, and who weall were, more than he had had any chance to find out. "

"I thought of that, too, " said Bessie. "If it had been Zara he tried tosteal--but it was Dolly. And she hasn't been mixed up at all in ouraffairs. "

"I know, and that's what is so puzzling, Bessie. Maybe if they catchhim, though, he'll tell why he did it. I think those guides willfrighten him. They're all perfectly furious, and they'll make him sorryhe ever tried to do anything of the sort, I think--Why, Bessie! What'sthe matter?"

"Don't turn around, Miss Eleanor. But I saw a pair of eyes, just behindyou. I wonder if he could have sneaked back around and come here?"

"Oh, I wish we'd had one of the men stay, I was afraid of somethinglike that, Bessie. "

"I'm going to find out, Miss Eleanor. I'll pretend I don't suspectanything, and get up to go into the tent. Then, if it's John, I thinkhe'll show himself. "

She rose, and in a moment their fears were confirmed. John, his eyestriumphant, stepped out, abandoning the concealment of the hushes. 

"Where is the other?" he said. "The one called Bessie--Bessie King? It'snot you I want--"

"Hands up!" cried the voice of Andrew, the chief guide. 

And the gypsy, wheeling with a savage cry, faced a half circle ofgrinning faces. He made one wild dash to escape, but it was useless, andin a moment he was on the ground, and his hands were tied. In thestruggle a letter fell from his pocket, and Bessie picked it up. Suddenly, as she was looking at it idly, she saw something that made hercry out in surprise, and the next moment she and Miss Mercer werereading it together. 

"Get this girl, Bessie King, and I will pay you a thousand dollars, " itread. "She is dark, and goes around with a fair girl called Dolly. Itwill be easy, and if you once get them to me and out of the woods, Iwill pay you the money, and see that you are not in danger of beingarrested. I will back you up. "

"Who wrote that letter? Turn over, quickly!" cried Eleanor. 

"I know without looking, " said Bessie. "Now we can guess why he was soreckless; why he took such chances! He thought I was Dolly, because ofthat mistake about our hair! Yes, see; it is Mr. Holmes who sent himthis letter!"

CHAPTER XIV

THE GYPSY'S MOTIVE

But, despite the revelation of that letter, the gypsy himself maintaineda sullen silence when efforts were made to make him tell all he knew andthe reason for his determined effort to kidnap Dolly. He snarled at hiscaptors when they, asked him questions, and so enraged Andrew and theother guides by his refusal to answer that only Eleanor's interventionsaved him from rough handling. 

"No I won't let you use violence, Andrew, " said Eleanor, firmly. "Itwould do no good. He won't talk; that is his nature. You have him now, and the law will take him from you. There isn't any question of hisguilt; there will be evidence enough to convict him anywhere, and hewill go to prison, as he deserves to do. All I hope is that he won't bethe only one, that we can get the man who bribed him to do this, andsee that he gets punished properly, too. "

"I'm sure with you there, ma'am, " said old Andrew. "He's a worthlesscritter enough, I know, but he ain't as bad as the man that set him on. If the law lets that other snake go, ma'am, jest you get him to come uphere for a little hunting, and we'll make him sorry he ever went intosuch business, I'd like to get my hands on him. I'm an old man, but Ireckon I'm strong enough to thrash any imitation of a man what wouldplay such a cowardly trick as that. Afraid to do his own dirty work, ishe? So he hires it done. Well, much good it's done him this time. "

"I'll keep this letter, " said Eleanor. "I think it was mighty foolish ofhim to sign his name to it. It's a pretty good piece of evidence againstthe man, if he is rich and powerful. If there's any justice to be had, Ithink he'll suffer this time. "

"How did you ever get back here, just when you were so badly needed?"Bessie asked Andrew. 

He smiled at that. 

"Well, we get sort o' used to readin' tracks in our work around here, Miss, and we seen that someone who might be this feller was doublin'around mighty suspicious. So, bein' some worried about leavin' you twohere alone anyhow, I decided to come back with three or four of the menhere, an' we did it, leavin' the others to go on an' see if they couldpick up the other two gypsies. 

"To tell the truth, I thought it'd be mighty strange if we found himanywhere near that camp. Seemed like he must know that we'd be lookin'fer him, and that there was the fust place we'd go to. So here we were, and mighty timely, as you say, Miss. "

It was no great while before the sounds of the other party, returning, resounded through the woods, and soon Lolla and Peter, the man bound, and the girl carefully guarded by two guides, each of whom held one ofher arms, were brought into the clearing about the camp. Lolla, at thesight of John, lying against a tree, his arms and his feet bound, gavea cry of rage, and, snatching her arms from her guardians, ran towardhim, wailing. 

"Go away, you fool!" muttered John. "This is your doing. If you andPeter had not been afraid of your own shadow, this would not havehappened. I am glad they have caught you; you will go to prison now, like me. "

"Look here, young feller, " said Andrew, angrily, "that ain't no way totalk to a lady, hear me! She may be a bad one, but she's stuck to you. If you get off any more talk like that I'll see if a dip in the lakewill make you feel more polite like. See?"

John gave no answer, but relapsed into his sullen silence again. 

Eleanor approached Lolla gently. 

"We are not angry with you, Lolla, " she said, kindly. "No, nor withJohn. You love him, do you?"

Lolla gave no answer, but looked up into Eleanor's face with eyes thatspoke plainly enough. 

"I thought so. Then you do not want him to go to prison? Try to make himtell why he did this. If he will do that, perhaps he can go free, andyou and Peter, too. You wouldn't like to have to leave your people, andnot be able to travel along the road, and do all the things you are usedto doing, would you?

"Well, I am afraid that is what will happen to you, unless John willtell all he knows. They will take you away, soon now, and you will godown to the town and there you will be locked up, all three of you, andyou and John will not even see one another, for a long time--two orthree years, maybe, or even longer--"

Still Lolla could not speak. But she began to cry, quietly, but with adisplay of suffering that moved Eleanor. After all, she felt Lolla waslittle more than a girl, and, though she had done wrong, very wrong, shehad never had a proper chance to learn how to do what was right. 

"I'm sorry for you, Lolla, " said Eleanor. "We all are. We think youdidn't know what you were doing, and how wicked it was. I will do mybest for you, but your best chance is to make John tell all he knows. "

"How can I? He blames me. He says if I and Peter hadn't been suchcowards all would have been well. He is angry at me; he will not forgiveme. "

"Oh, yes, he will, Lolla. I am sure he loves you, and that he did thiswicked thing because he wanted to have much money to spend buying nicethings for you; pretty dresses, and a fine wagon, with good horses. Sohe will be sorry for speaking angrily to you, soon, and you will be ableto make him tell the truth, if you only try. Will you try?"

"Yes, " decided Lolla, suddenly. "I think you are good--that you forgiveus. Do you?"

"I certainly do. After all, you see, Lolla, you haven't done us anyharm. "

Lolla pointed to Bessie. 

"Will she forgive me?" she inquired. "I tricked her--made a fool ofher--but she made a fool of me afterward. I lied to her; will sheforgive me, too, like you?"

"Did you hear that, Bessie?" asked Eleanor, by way of answer to thegypsy girl's question. 

"Yes, " said Bessie. "I'm sorry you did it, Lolla, because I only wantedto help your man, and if you hadn't done what you said you were going todo, and helped me to get Dolly away from him, he wouldn't be in all thistrouble now. 

"But you didn't understand about that, and you helped your own peopleinstead of a stranger. I don't think that's such a dreadful thing to do. It's something like a soldier in a war. He may think his country iswrong, but if there's a battle he has to fight for it, just the same. "

"But remember that the best way to help John now is to make him see thathe has been wrong, and to try to make him understand that he can make upfor his wickedness by helping us to punish the bad man who got him to dothis, " said Eleanor. "That man, you see, was too much of a coward to dohis work himself, so he got your man to do it, knowing that if anyonewas to be punished he would escape, and John would get into trouble. 

"John doesn't owe anything to a man like that; he needn't think he's gotto keep him out of trouble. The man wouldn't do it for him. He won'thelp him now. He'll pretend he doesn't know anything about this at all. "

"I will try, " promised Lolla. "But I think John is angry with me, andwill not listen. But I will do my best. "

And, after a little while, which the guides used to cook a meal, and torest after their strenuous tramping in the effort to find the missinggirls, Andrew told off half a dozen of them to make their way to thecounty seat, a dozen miles away, with the three gypsies. 

"Just get them there and turn them over to the sheriff, boys, " said theold guide. "He'll hold them safe until they've been tried, and we won'thave any call to worry about them no more. But be careful while you'reon your way down. They're slippery customers, and as like as not to tryto run away from you and get to their own people. "

"You leave that to me, " said the guide who was to be in charge of theparty. "If they get away from us, Andrew, they'll be slicker than anyoneI ever heard tell of, anywhere. We won't hurt them none, but they'llwalk a chalk line, right in front of us, or I'll know the reason why. "

"All right, " said Andrew. "Better be getting started, then. Don't wantto make it too late when you get into town with them. Let the girl restonce in a while; she looks purty tired to me. "

Bessie and Dolly and the other girls watched the little procession startoff on the trail, and Bessie, for one, felt sorry for Lolla, who lookedutterly disconsolate and hopeless. 

"We couldn't let them go free, I suppose, " said Eleanor, regretfully. "But I do feel sorry for that poor girl. I don't think she liked theidea from the very first, but she couldn't help herself. She had to dowhat the men told her. Women don't rank very high among the gypsies;they have to do what the men tell them, and they're expected to do allthe work and take all the hard knocks beside. "

"You're right; there's nothing else to do, ma'am, " said old Andrew. "Well, guess the rest of us guides had better be gettin' back to work. Ain't nothin' else we can do fer you, is there, ma'am?"

"I don't think so. I don't suppose we need be afraid of the othergypsies, Andrew? Are they likely to try to get revenge for what hashappened to their companions?"

"Pshaw! They'll be as quiet as lambs for a long time now. They was abreakin' up camp over there by Loon Pond when the boys come away lasttime. Truth is, I reckon they're madder at John and his pals for gettin'the whole camp into trouble than they are at us. 

"You see, they know they needn't show their noses around here fer along time now; not until this here shindy's had a chance to blow overan' be forgotten. And there ain't many places where they've been aswelcome as over to the pond. "

"I shouldn't think they'd be very popular here in the woods. "

"They ain't, ma'am; they ain't, fer a fact. More'n once we've tried tomake the hotel folks chase them away, but they sort of tickled thesummer boarders over there, and so the hotel folks made out as theyweren't as bad as they were painted, and was entitled to a chance tomake camp around there as long as they behaved themselves. "

"I suppose they never stole any stuff from the hotel?"

"That's jest it. They knew enough to keep on the right side of thempeople, you see, an' they did their poachin' in our woods. Any timethey've been around it's always meant more work for us, and hard work, too. "

"Well, I should think that after this experience the people at thehotel would see that the gypsies aren't very good neighbors, after all. "

"That's what we're counting on, ma'am. Seems to me, from what I justhappened to pick up, that there was some special reason, like, for thisvarmint to have acted that way today, or last night, maybe it was. Somefeller in the city as was back of him. "

"There was, Andrew, I'm afraid; a man who ought to know better, and whomyou wouldn't suspect of allowing such a dreadful thing to be done. "

Andrew shook his head wisely. 

"It's hard to know what to wish, " she said. "Sometimes a man is muchworse when he comes out of prison than he was when he went in. It seemsjust to harden them, and make it impossible for them to get started onthe right road again. "

"It's their fault for going wrong in the fust place, " said the oldguide, sternly. "That's what I say. I don't take any stock in these newfangled notions of makin' the jail pleasant for them as does wrong. Make 'em know they're goin' to have a hard time, an' they'll be lestwillin' to take chances of goin' wrong and bein' caught with the goods, like this feller here today. I bet you when he gets out of jail he'll beso scared of gettin' back that he'll be pretty nearly as good as a whiteman. "

"Of course, the main thing is to frighten any of the others from actingthe same way, " said Eleanor. "I think the hotel will be sorry it letthose gypsies stay around there. Because it's very sure that mothers whohave children there will be nervous, and they'll go away to some placewhere they can feel their children are safe. 

"Well, good-bye, Andrew. I'm glad you think it's safe now. I reallywould like to feel that we can get along by ourselves here, but, ofcourse, I wouldn't let any pride stand in the way of safety, and if youthought it was better I'd ask you to leave one of the men here. "

"No call for that, ma'am. You've shown you can get along all right. Wedidn't have nothin' to do with gettin' Miss Dolly away from that scamptoday. It was her chum done that. Goodbye. "

CHAPTER XV

A FRIENDLY CONTEST

Morning found both Dolly and Bessie refreshed, and, though the othergirls asked them anxiously about themselves, neither seemed to feel anyill effects after the excitement of the previous day, with its series ofsurprising events. Dolly, at first, was a little chastened, and seemedwholly ready to stay quietly in camp. And, indeed, all the girls decidedthat it would be better, for the time at least, not to venture far intothe woods. 

"I think it's as safe as ever now, along the well-known trails that areused all the time, " said Miss Eleanor, "but, after all, we don't knowmuch about the gypsies. Some of them may be hanging around still, evenif the main party of them has moved on, and we do know that they are arevengeful race; that when one of them is hurt, or injured in any way, they are very likely not to rest until the injury is avenged. They don'tcare much whether they hurt the person who is guilty or not; hisrelatives or his friends will satisfy them equally well"

"I'm perfectly willing to stay right here by the lake, " said MargeryBurton, "for one. It's as nice here as it can possibly be anywhere else. I'd like someone to go in swimming with me. "

"If it isn't too cold I will, " cried Dolly, cheerfully. 

And so, after the midday meal--two hours afterward, too, for EleanorMercer was too wise a Guardian to allow them to run any risk by goinginto the water before their food had been thoroughly digested--bathingsuits were brought out, and Margery Burton, or Minnehaha, as the one whohad proposed the sport, was unanimously elected a committee of one totry the water, and see if it was warm enough for swimming. 

"And no tricks, Margery!" warned Dolly. "I know you, and if you found itwas cold it would be just like you to pretend it was fine so that we'dall get in and be as cold as you were yourself!"

"I'll be good! I promise, " laughed Margery, and, without any preliminaryhesitation on the water's edge, she walked to the end of the little dockthat was used for the boats and plunged boldly in. She was a splendidswimmer, a fact that had once, when Bessie had first joined the CampFire, nearly cost her her life, for, seeing her upset, no one exceptBessie had thought it necessary to jump in after her, and she hadactually been slightly stunned, so that she had been unable to swim. 

But this time there was no accident. She disappeared under the waterwith a beautiful forward dive, and plunged along for many feet beforeshe rose to the surface, laughing, and shaking the water out of hereyes. Then, treading water, she called to the group on the dock. 

"It's all right for everyone but Dolly, I think, " she cried. "I'm afraidit would be too cold for her. I like it; I think it's great!"

"You can't fool me, " said Dolly, and, without any more delay, she tooplunged in. But she rose to the surface at once, gasping for breath, andlooking about for Margery. 

"Why, it's as cold as ice!" she exclaimed. "Ugh! I'm nearly frozen todeath! Margery, why didn't you tell me it was so cold?"

"I did, stupid!" laughed Margery. "I said it was warm enough for me, butthat I was afraid it would be too cold for you, didn't I?"

"I--I thought you were just fooling me; you knew I'd never let theothers go in if I didn't!"

"It's not my fault if you wouldn't believe me. All I promised was totell you whether it was cold or not! Come on, you girls! It _is_ cold, but you won't mind it after you've been in for a minute!"

"Look out! Give me room for a dive!" cried Eleanor Mercer, suddenlyappearing from her tent. "I know this water; I've been in it every yearsince I was a lot smaller than you. I'm afraid of it every year thefirst time I go in, but how I do love it afterward!"

And, running at full speed, she sped down to the edge of the dock, leaped up and turned a somersault, making a beautiful dive that filledthe girls who were still dry with envy. And a moment later they were allin, swimming happily and enjoying themselves immensely. All, that is, except Zara, who could not swim. 

"Oh, I wish I could dive like that, Miss Eleanor!" exclaimed Bessie, whohad been one of the first to go into the water. 

"Oh, that's nothing; you can learn easily, Bessie. You swim better thanany of us. Isn't this water cold for you? I should think you wouldn't beused to it. All the others have been in pretty cold water before now. "

"Oh, so have I! You see, around Hedgeville we used to go into theregular swimming holes, and they never get very warm. There's no beach, you just go in off the bank, and most of the swimming holes have treesall around them so that they're shady, and the sun doesn't strike them. They're in the shade all the time, and that keeps the water cold. Thisis warmer than that, ever so much. "

"I tell you what we'll do, girls; we'll fix up a spring-board and havesome lessons in real diving. Wouldn't that be fun?"

"It certainly would! I'd love to be able to do a backward dive!"

"Well, this is a good place to learn; no one around to make you nervous, and good deep water. It's sixteen or seventeen feet off that dock, allthe time, and that's deep enough for almost any diving; for any thatwe're likely to do, certainly. "

Later they talked it over again, when they had dried and resumed theclothes they wore about the camp, and Eleanor Mercer, her enthusiasmwarming her cheeks, told them something they had not heard even a hintof as yet. 

"A friend of mine is scoutmaster of a troop of Boy Scouts, " she said. "And he has teased me, sometimes, about our work. He says we justimitate the Boy Scouts, and that we just pretend we're camping out anddoing all the things they do. Well, I told him that some time we'd havea contest with them, and show them; a regular field day. And, just forfun, we made up a sort of list of events. "

"Oh, what were they?"

"Well, we planned to start in, all morning, and make a regular trip, cook meals, and come back. And on the way we to divide into parties;there are three patrols his troop, you know, and we could divide up thesame way. The parties were to keep in touch with one another by smokesignals--they're made with blankets--and there was to be a fire-makingcontest, to see which could make fire quickest without matches. And, oh, lots of other things. "

"That would be fine. "

"Then I got reckless, I think. I said my girls could beat his boys inthe water--that we could swim better--I meant more usefully, not justfaster, in a race, because I think they'd beat us easily in just aplain race. And I'm afraid I boasted a little. "

"I bet you didn't; I bet we can do just as well as any old Boy Scouts!"exclaimed Dolly. "I wish we just had the chance, that's all. "

"Well, you have, " said Eleanor, with a smile. "That's what I'm trying totell you, girls. Mr. Hastings is over at Third Lake right now with onepatrol of his troop. He got there yesterday and the way I happened tohear about it was that he was on his way over yesterday morning--he gotin ahead of the boys--to help us look for Dolly and Bessie, when theywere found. "

"Oh, that's fine! And shall we have that field day?"

"Later on, before we go home, yes. But he began teasing me againyesterday, and I told him we'd have a water carnival any time he wantedto bring his boys over. And he said they'd come Saturday. "

"We'll have to get ready and show them what we can do, then, " saidMargery Burton, with determination in her voice. "My brother's a BoyScout, and I know just what they're like; they think we're just the sameas all the other girls they know. I tell you what would be fun; to getup a baseball team. "

"Maybe we'll try that later, " said Eleanor. "But right now we want to beready for Saturday. So I'll teach you everything I can. And I'm quitesure we can beat them in a life-saving drill; their three best againstour three. We'd have you, Margery, and Bessie, and Dolly Ransom. "

So it was agreed, and they all began to practice. 

"I wish I could do something, " said Zara, wistfully. "But I don'tbelieve I could learn to swim before Saturday. "

"You could learn to keep yourself afloat, " said Margery. "But thatwouldn't be much good, of course. You'd rather not go in at all, Isuppose, unless you could really swim. "

"I know what I could do, though, " said Zara, suddenly, after she hadwatched Bessie go through the life saving drill. But she would notconfide her idea to anyone but Miss Mercer, who looked more thandoubtful when she heard it. 

"I don't know, Zara, " she said, "I'll see. It seems a little risky. ButI'll think it over. It would be splendid, but, well, we'll see. "

Speed swimming, pure racing, was barred when Saturday came. But withScoutmaster Hastings and Miss Mercer as referees, and three summervisitors from the Loon Pond Hotel, who had no prejudice in favor ofeither side as judges, several contests were arranged that called forskill rather than strength. 

"In this diving, " Hastings explained to the judges, "what we want tofigure on is the way they do it. If a dive is graceful, and the diverstrikes the water true, going straight down, with arms and legs heldclose together, you give so many points for that. I'll make each divefirst; that will serve as a model, you see. "

Scoutmaster Hastings was not speaking in a boastful manner. He was anoted diver, and had won prizes and medals in many meets for his skill. And, when everything was arranged, he did all the standard dives fromthe spring-board at the end of the dock, and three members of eachorganization followed him. 

Bessie had taken remarkably well to these new tricks, as she consideredthem. Her powers as a swimmer no one had questioned, but it wasremarkable to see how quickly she had acquired the ability to dive welland gracefully. And, to the surprise and chagrin of the Boy Scouts, whohad expected, as boys always do, when they are pitted against girls, towin so easily that they could afford to be magnanimous, and to abstainfrom gloating, the judges were unanimous in deciding that she had donebetter than any of the six competitors in all five of the standard divesin which Hastings showed the way. 

As there were six competitors, the judges awarded six points for firstplace in each dive, five for second, four for third, three for fourth, two for fifth, and one for sixth place. And in two of the dives secondplace went to Margery Burton, while one of the Boy Scouts, Jack Perry, was second in the other four. 

To the disgust of the other boys, Margery was placed third in the fourdives in which Jack Perry beat her, and Dolly, a good, but not a reallywonderful diver, was fifth in every one of the dives, beating at leastone boy in each. So sixty-six points altogether went to the Camp FireGirls, while the Boy Scouts, who had expected to finish one, two, three, had to be content with forty-eight, and were soundly beaten. 

"That girl that was first is a wonder, " said Hastings admiringly to MissMercer. "I take it all back, Eleanor. But I didn't think you'd haveanyone as good as she is. Why, she's better than you are, and I alwaysthought you were the nearest to a fish of any girl I ever saw in thewater. She could win the woman's championship with a little morepractice. "

"Maybe you won't crow so much over us after this, " said Eleanor, with alaugh. 

"Not about the diving, certainly, " said Hastings, generously, "Butthat's tricky, after all. The life saving is going to be different Therestrength figures more. I really think my boys ought to give a handicapin that. "

"Not a bit of it, " said Eleanor. "Women have been taking handicaps frommen too long. They've got so that they think they can't do anything aswell as a man. This Camp Fire movement is going to show you that that'sall over and done with. "

"Well, we'll go through the tests first, " said Hastings. "Then yourgirls will know what they've got to beat, anyhow. "

The tests for life saving were to be conducted on a time basis. From aboat a certain distance out in the lake a boy or girl was to be thrownoverboard, and, at the same moment, the competitor was to leap in afterthe one who represented the victim and take him or her to shore, thewinners being those who did it in the shortest time. Again, as therewere to be six competitors, the first place was to count six points, thesecond, five, and so on. 

First, the boys went out and went through their exercise in fine style. Although the boy who played the part of victim could swim, he made nomove to help himself, simply staying perfectly still and letting his"rescuer" take him in. 

Then, when the three boys had finished, with only five seconds betweenthe fastest and the slowest, Eleanor and Hastings rowed out with thethree who represented the Camp Fire Girls, and, as "victim, " Zara!

Zara had insisted. 

"I really would be drowned if they didn't save me, " she said, "so itwill be a real test. "

And, with that added spur, each of the three girls actually managed tobeat the fastest time of the boys. Margery was first, Bessie was second, and Dolly third. Hastings, as soon as he discovered that Zara could notswim, was full of admiration. 

"That's the nerviest thing I ever heard of, " he said. "Of course theydid better. But it's your 'victim' that deserves the credit. She'scertainly plucky. "

"So I really did help, didn't I!" said Zara. "My, I was scared at first. But then I knew the girls wouldn't let me go down, and, after the firsttime, it wasn't so bad. "

"Well, you gave us a surprise, and a licking, " said ScoutmasterHastings. "But we'll be ready for you when we have that field day. Howabout some day next week!"

"Splendid, " said Eleanor. "And we'll give you a chance to get even. "