Campfire Girls at Twin Lakes
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Stella M. Francis >> Campfire Girls at Twin Lakes
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CHAPTER XIV.
SPARRING FOR A FEE.
Pierce Langford drove the automobile, in which he made his first trip to
Stony Point, up to the end of the drive near the Graham cottage, and
advanced to the front entrance. The porch on which he stood awaiting the
appearance of someone to answer his knock--there was no bell at the
door--was bordered with a railing of rough-hewn, but uniformly selected,
limbs of hard wood or saplings. The main structure of the house was of
yellow pine, but the outer trimmings were mainly of such rustic material
as the railing of the porch.
The front door was open, giving the visitor a fairly good view of the
interior. The front room was large and fairly well furnished with light
inexpensive furniture, grass rugs and an assortment of nondescript,
"catch-as-catch-can," but not unattractive, art upon the walls.
Langford, who was not a sleepy schemer, was able to get a good view of
the room before any one appeared to answer his knock.
It was a woman who appeared, a sharp featured, well-dressed matron with
a challenging eye. Perhaps no stranger, or person out of the exclusive
circle that she assumed to represent ever approached her without being
met with the ocular demand, "Who are you?"
Pierce Langford recognized this demand at once. If he had been of less
indolent character this unscrupulous attorney might have made a
brilliant success as a criminal lawyer in a metropolis. The fact that he
was content with the limitations of a practice in a city of 3,500
inhabitants, Fairberry, his home town, was of itself indicative of his
indolence. And yet, when he took a case, he manifested gifts of
shrewdness that would have made many another lawyer of much greater
practice jealous.
Attorney Langford's shrewdness and indolence were alternately
intermittent. When the nerve centers of his shrewdness were stimulated
his indolence lapsed and he was very much on the alert. The present was
one of those instances. He knew something, by reputation, of the woman
who confronted him. He had had indirect dealing with her before, but he
had never met her. However, he was certain that she would recognize his
name.
"Is this Mrs. Graham?" he inquired, although he scarcely needed to ask
the question.
"It is," she replied with evidently habitual precision.
"My name is Langford--Pierce Langford," he announced, and then waited
for the effect of this limited information.
The woman started. It was a startled start. The challenge of her
countenance wavered; the precision of her manner became an attitude of
caution.
"Not--not Pierce Langford of--of--?" she began.
The man smiled on one side of his mouth.
"The very one, none other," he answered cunningly. "Not to be in the
least obscure, I am from the pretty, quiet and somewhat sequestered city
of Fairberry. You know the place, I believe."
"I've never been there and hope I shall never have occasion to go to
your diminutive metropolis," she returned rather savagely.
"No?" the visitor commented with a rising inflection for rhetorical
effect. "By the way, may I come in?"
"Certainly," Mrs. Graham answered recovering quickly from a partial
lapse of mindfulness of the situation.
The woman turned and led the way into the house and the visitor
followed. Mrs. Graham directed the lawyer to a reed rockingchair and
herself sat down on another reed-rest of the armchair variety. The woman
by this time had recovered something of her former challenging attitude
and inquired:
"Well, Mr. Langford, what is the meaning of this visit?"
"Very much meaning, Mrs. Graham," was the reply; "and of very much
significance to you, I suspect. I come here well primed with information
which I am sure will cause you to welcome me as you perhaps would
welcome nobody else in the world."
Mrs. Graham leaned forward eagerly, expectantly, apprehensively.
"You come as a friend, I assume," she said.
"Have you any reason to doubt it?" the man inquired. "If it were
otherwise, I must necessarily come as a traitor. I hope you will not
entertain any such opinion of me as that. As long as you treat me
fairly, you'll find me absolutely on the square for you and your
interests."
"I hope so," returned the woman in a tone of voice that could hardly be
said to convey any significance other than the dictionary meaning of the
words. "But let's get down to business. What is this information that
you come here primed with? Has it to do with the old subject?"
"Certainly, very intimately, and with nothing else."
"In what way?" Mrs. Graham asked with more eagerness than she intended
to disclose.
"Well, there are some spies in this neck of the woods."
"Spies!" the woman exclaimed, betraying still more of the eagerness she
was still struggling against.
"Yes spies. That's exactly what they call themselves."
"Who are they?--how do you know they are here to spy on me?"
"I overheard their plans. I got wind in a roundabout way, as a result
of talk on the part of Mrs. Hutchins' servants, that there was something
doing, with Twin Lakes as a central point of interest. I suspected at
once that your interests were involved; so I stole slyly, Willie
Hawkshaw-like, up to their rendezvous one night and listened to some of
them as they discussed their plans and--"
"Some of them," Mrs. Graham interrupted. "How many are there?"
"Oh, a whole troup of them."
"That's a funny story," the woman commented dubiously, searching the
face of her visitor for an explanation of his, to her, queer statements.
"Not at all so funny when you hear it in detail," Langford returned
quietly.
"Well hurry up with the details," the impatient Mrs. Graham demanded.
"There's no need of being in a hurry," the lawyer said with provoking
calmness. "Business is business, you see, and full confidences should
never be exchanged in a situation of this kind until a contract is drawn
up, signed, sealed, witnessed, and recorded. In other words, I ought to
have an understanding and a retainer before I go any farther."
Mrs. Graham had no reason to doubt that this was coming sooner or later,
but she winced nevertheless when it came.
CHAPTER XV.
LANGFORD GETS A CHECK.
"I hope you realize, Mr. Langford, that we are not exactly made of
money," Mrs. Graham remarked tentatively by way of meeting the demand
which she read between his words. "Moreover, we were under heavy expenses
during the last year and you got a good deal of what we paid out."
"Not so very much," Langford corrected, from his point of view. "You
must remember that I was working for you through another man and he
handled the pay roll, on which he and I were the only payees, and
naturally he took what he didn't absolutely have to give to me."
"Well, how much do you want for this service?" the woman inquired.
"I ought to have at least $25 a day and my expenses," the lawyer
answered.
"Absolutely out of the question. That's several times the amount of our
income from the source you are interested in. And a considerable part of
that has to go for the boy's clothing, board and education."
"That is one of the important points to which I am coming," Langford
interrupted. "I come to inform you that Mrs. Hutchins is very much
interested in how the boy is being clothed and fed and educated, and
also how he is being treated, and she has decided to find those things
out."
"It's a case of her old suspicions being revived?" Mrs. Graham asked.
"I suppose so; anyway, she's mighty suspicious."
"Who's been peddling stories to her?"
"That's something I didn't find out."
"Don't you think a $25-a-day man ought to find out?"
"Perhaps; and perhaps I could have discovered that very thing if I had
thought it wise to spend the time on it. After the mischief was done, it
seemed hardly worth while to expend any effort to find the mischief
maker. I decided it was best to get after the mischief itself and stop
it."
"I suppose you're right," assented Mrs. Graham. "But it really would be
a lot of satisfaction to know who the traitor is."
"This is no time to waste any of your efforts on revenge. That may come
later, not now. But how about my fee?"
"You ask too much."
"I don't agree with you. That is a very small fee, compared with what
some attorneys get. Why, I know lawyers who never take a case under $100
a day."
"That's in the big cities, where they are under heavy expenses--costly
offices and office help."
"Where do you get your information?"
"Oh, I have traveled and lived," the woman replied with emphasis on the
last word. "And I know there are plenty of judges who get only $10 a
day, some less. Now, what do you think of that? Do you think you ought
to get more than a judge?"
"Oh, fudge on the judges," Langford exclaimed in affected disgust. "No
big lawyer will take one of those political jobs. There are lots of big
lawyers making $50,000 or $100,000 a year, and there are few judges
getting more than $10,000."
"Well, I can't pay more than $10 a day, and I can't pay that very long.
We're under heavy expenses here and in Baltimore."
"You ought to economize, Mrs. Graham," Langford advised. "Remember, this
special income can't last forever. The boy is past 10 years old now, and
if nobody takes it away from you earlier, it will stop when he is 21."
"Take it away!" Mrs. Graham exclaimed in a startled manner, indicating
that her apprehension had not carried her imagination as far as this.
"Sure--why not?" the lawyer returned. "What do you think all this talk
about spies has been leading up to?--a Christmas present? If Mrs.
Hutchins is suspicious enough to send a lot of spies here to get the
goods on you, don't you think she has some notion of taking some sort of
drastic action?"
"What kind of 'goods' does she expect to get on me?" the woman inquired.
"Can't you guess?"
"I can't imagine, dream, or suspect."
"Just hurry things along to an agreement tween you and me, and I'll tell
you."
"I'll give you $10 a day and reasonable expenses. That doesn't include
your board; only your carfare and such incidentals when you're away from
home. That is all conditioned, of course, on your proving to my
satisfaction that you have the information you say you have. There's no
use of my fighting for this income if I have to pay it all out without
getting my benefit from it."
"I'll try not to be so hard on you as all that," Langford reassured the
woman. "I accept your offer, although it's the minimum I would consider.
I suppose you are prepared to give me a check today?"
"Yes, I can give you something--your expenses thus far and maybe a
little besides. Now hurry up and tell your story."
"I can do it in a few words. Mrs. Hutchins has sent a dozen or more
girls up here to find out how you treat the youngster and if he is well
fed, clothed and educated. She's received word from some source to the
contrary and is planning to take him away if she discovers that her
suspicions are true. These spies are all Camp Fire Girls who were
camping on her farm. One of them is her niece. The proof of my statement
that they are here to spy on you is in their plan to camp near your
cottage and cultivate an intimate acquaintance with your family,
particularly your two daughters. Two of them were up here looking over
the lay of the ground; maybe they're here yet. Undoubtedly you'll see
something of them tomorrow or the next day."
Mrs. Graham's eyes flashed dangerously. Langford saw the menace in her
look and manner.
"As I am now in your employ as counsel," he said, "I'll begin giving
advice at once. Cut out this hate business. It's your worst enemy. Just
be all smiles and dimples and give them the sweetest con game welcome
imaginable. Pretend to be delighted to meet the bunch of Camp Fire
Girls. Tell them you had long held their organization in the highest
esteem. Take your two daughters into your full confidence. Tell them
they must play their part, too, and play it well. They must be eager to
become Camp Fire Girls and seek to be chummy with the spies.
"And as for the boy, in whom they are specially interested, you must
treat him as if you regard him the dearest little darling on earth."
(Mrs. Graham's face soured at this suggestion.) "No, none of that, or
you'll spoil the whole game. Mrs. Hutching means business, and all she
needs to do is to prove a few acts of cruelty and neglect, and any court
in the land will give her speedy custody of the child, in view of the
provisions of his father's will, which, you know, are very exacting of
you and very friendly toward Mrs. Hutchins and her late husband. By the
way where are the child and the other members of your family?"
"My husband is in Baltimore working at his regular employment," Mrs.
Graham answered. "I expect him here next week; his vacation begins then.
My son, James, Jr., went up the lakes this morning with some friends of
his. Addie, my oldest daughter, went to Twin Lakes to do some shopping,
and the other girl, Olga, is in the next room with Glen."
"By the way, Mrs. Graham, how well is the boy supplied with clothing?"
Langford inquired.
"He has some good suits," Mrs. Graham replied slowly as if going over
Glen's wardrobe piece by piece, in her mind.
"Dress him up in his best and get some more for special occasions. You
might be working on some article of clothing for him also. That would
indicate strongly that you are interested in his welfare.
"Now, if you don't mind, I will take my check and go. I'll be back
again, but don't think it advisable to come often. I have prepared a
short telephone cipher code by which we can carry on a commonplace
conversation over the wire and let each other know if all is well or if
trouble is brewing or has already broken. Here is a copy of it."
Mrs. Graham wrote the lawyer a check for $35, and he arose to depart.
"Remember," he said as he stood facing the woman schemer at the doorway;
"the success of this little plan of ours rests in the ability of
yourself and other members of the family to play the most spontaneously
genteel game the cleverest persons ever planned. If you fall down on
this, undoubtedly you'll lose your handsome side-issue income of $3,500
a year."
Then he went out, cranked his rented automobile, and drove away.
CHAPTER XVI.
LANGFORD CHECKS UP.
The twelve girls in the boat landed and proceeded with Katherine and
Hazel up the steps to the top of the Point, where a conference was held.
The two advance scouts reported developments in detail, much to the
interest and delight of the other girls. The progress made thus far was
so encouraging that everybody showed a disposition of impatience at the
first sign of inactivity.
"We must go right back and get permission from Mr. Ferris to locate our
camp somewhere near the Graham home," said Katherine. "We ought to get
our tents pitched just as soon as possible, and we mustn't run any risk
of not being able to find Mr. Ferris today."
"Don't you think it would help to allay their suspicions if we all
remained here a while and looked around as if interested in the scenery
just as tourists?" Azalia Atwood suggested.
"No, I don't," Katherine replied quickly. "Either that man Langford
suspects us or he doesn't. If he suspects us, he has grounds for his
suspicion, and any such attempt to throw him off the track would result
in failure. I think we had better assume that he knows what we are up to
and act accordingly, without appearing to admit it."
"But won't they try to cover up the evidence that we are after?"
Julietta Hyde reasoned.
"Of course they will," Katherine answered.
"That will be one of the most interesting features of this adventure,"
said Helen Nash, who already had a reputation wider than the Camp Fire
circle for natural shrewdness. "When they begin to do that, we'll have
some great fun."
"Can't you point out from the lake the place or places where you think
it would be well for us to locate our camp?" Miss Ladd inquired,
addressing Hazel and Katherine.
"You can get a pretty good view of it right from here," Hazel replied.
"It's right up the shore between those two cottages which are about the
same distance up from the water and have similar paths and flights of
steps running down to their boat landings. Between those two places is a
stretch of timberland that doesn't seem to be used by anybody in
particular. We didn't explore it because we didn't have time, but it
surely must contain some good camping places. We saw several small open
spots near the road that could be used if nothing better is found. We
must make a thorough inspection, of course, before we select a site, but
that won't take long and can be done when we bring our outfit up here."
"We ought to take a run in the boat along the shore and see if we can't
find a good landing place," Katherine suggested. "Wouldn't it be
delightful if we could find a suitable place on the side of that hill
and overlooking the lake? Let's take enough time for that."
"It's a good idea," said Miss Ladd warmly. "Let's do that at once and
then run back to Twin Lakes. But remember, girls, don't say anything
about our mission on the boat. The boatman would be sure to start some
gossip that probably would reach the ears of the very persons we want to
keep in the dark as much as possible."
They were soon back in the large canopied motorboat, and Miss Ladd gave
instructions to the pilot. The latter cranked his engine, took his place
at the wheel, and backed the vessel away from the landing. A few moments
later the "Big Twin," as the owner facetiously named the boat to
distinguish it from a smaller one which he called the "Little Twin," was
dashing along the wooded hill-shore which extended nearly a mile to the
north from Stony Point. They obtained a good view of the section of the
shore just north of the Graham cottage and picked out several spots
which appeared from the distance viewed to be very good camping sites.
Then the prow of the boat was turned to the south and they cut along at
full speed toward Twin Lakes.
The run was quickly made, and Katherine and Hazel hastened at once to
the Ferris real estate office and presented their petition to Mr. Ferris
in person. The latter was much interested when he learned that a Fire of
Camp Fire Girls desired permission to pitch their tents on land of which
he was the local agent, and still more interested when informed that
they were students at Hiawatha Institute whose reputation was well known
to him. He gave them a pen-and-ink drawing of the vicinity, indicating
the approximate lines of the lands owned or leased by cottagers then in
possession, and granted them permission, free of charge, to locate their
camp at any place they desired so long as they did not encroach on the
rights of others.
An hour later the squint-eyed man whose activities have already created
much of interest in this narrative entered the office of Mr. Ferris and
inquired:
"Are you agent for that land along the lake just north of Stony Point?"
"I am," the real estate man replied.
"Do you allow campers to pitch their tents on the land for a week or two
at a time?"
"I don't object if they are all right. I always require some sort of
credentials. I wouldn't allow strangers to squat there without giving me
some kind of notice. I granted permission to a bunch of Camp Fire Girls
today to pitch their tents there."
"Is that so? Where are they going to locate?"
"Just beyond the Graham cottage, if you know where that is."
"That is where some friends of mine would like to camp," said Langford
in an affected tone of disappointment.
"I don't think I'd care to grant any more permits in that vicinity,"
Mr. Ferris announced rather meditatively. "I feel rather a personal
interest in the girls and don't want any strangers to pitch a camp too
near them. Your friends might, perhaps, locate half a mile farther up
the shore."
"I'll tell them what you say," Langford said as he left the office.
Five minutes later he was in a telephone booth calling for No. 123-M. A
woman answered the ring.
"Is this Mrs. Graham?" he inquired.
"Yes," was the reply.
"This is Langford. I just called to inform you that the parties we were
talking about have obtained permission to camp near your cottage. You'll
probably see something of them tomorrow."
"Thank you."
"And I'll be at your place tomorrow afternoon between 3 and 4 o'clock."
"I'll expect you."
That ended the conversation.
CHAPTER XVII.
A DAY OF HARD WORK.
That evening Miss Ladd received the letter that Mrs. Hutchins had
announced in her telegram addressed to the Guardian on the train, would
follow that communication. She did not discuss the matter with any of
the girls, but quietly passed it around until all had read it.
In her letter Mrs. Hutchins stated little that had not been read between
the lines of the telegram, although her views and comments on the
circumstances were interesting. She had seen Pierce Langford arrive at
the station just as the train was pulling in, buy a ticket and board the
train just as it was pulling out. Curiosity, stirred perhaps by the
recollection that this man had recently represented interests hostile to
the mission of the Thirteen Camp Fire Girls and their Guardian, and
might still represent those interests, caused her to inquire of the
agent for what point Mr. Langford had purchased his ticket. The reply
was "Twin Lakes."
That was sufficient. The woman asked for a telegram pad and wrote a few
lines. Then she gave the message to the operator with these directions:
"I want that to catch Miss Ladd in the limited as soon as possible. Keep
it going from station to station until it is delivered. Have the
operator who succeeds in getting the message into Miss Ladd's hands wire
back 'delivered' as soon as she receives it."
On the day following the advance excursion and inspection of the camping
prospects at Stony Point, the "Big Twin" was engaged again to convey the
Camp Fire Girls to the prospective camping place. On this occasion the
tents and other paraphernalia were taken aboard and conveyed to the
scene of the proposed camp. The boat skirted along the shore and a
careful examination was made to discover landing places that might
provide access from the lake to such camping sites as might later be
found.
Several good landing places were found. The one they selected
tentatively as a mooring for the boat was a large flat-rock projection a
few hundred yards north of the Graham pier. A comparatively level shore
margin extended back nearly a hundred feet from this rock to the point,
where the wooded incline began. The boatman and a boy of eighteen who
had been engaged to assist in handling the heavier paraphernalia,
remained in the boat while the girls started off in pairs to explore the
nearby territory for the most advantageous and available site.
They came together again half an hour later and compared notes. The
result was that the report made by Marion Stanlock and Harriet Newcomb
proved the most interesting. They had found a pretty nook half way up
the side of the hill shore and sheltered by a bluff on the inland side
and trees and bushes at either end, so that no storm short of a
hurricane could seriously damage a well-constructed camp in this place.
The area was considerable, quite sufficient for the pitching of the
complement of tents of the Fire.
After all the girls had inspected this proposed site in a body, a
unanimous vote was taken in favor of its adoption. This being their
decision, they returned without delay to the boat and the work of
carrying their camping outfit a distance of some three hundred yards was
begun.
The pilot and the boy assistant took the heavier luggage while the girls
carried the lighter articles and supplies. In this manner everything was
transported to the camp site in about an hour. The pilot and the boy
then assisted in the work of putting up the tents, and after this was
finished they were paid and dismissed.
Everything went along smoothly while all this was being done. Not
another person appeared in sight during this period, except the
occupants of several boats that motored by. The Graham cottage was about
a quarter of a mile to the south and farther up on the hill, but the
screen of dense foliage shut it off from view at the girls' camp.
All the rest of the day was required to put the camp into good
housekeeper's condition. The light folding cots had to be set up and
got ready for sleeping, the kitchen tent also required much domestic art
and ingenuity for the most convenient and practical arrangement, and a
fireplace for cooking had to be built with rocks brought up principally
from the water's edge.
So eager were they to finish all this work that they did not stop to
prepare much of a luncheon. They ate hurriedly-prepared sandwiches,
olives, pickles, salmon, and cake, and drank lemonade, picnic style, and
kept at their camp preparation "between bites," as it were. In the
evening, however, they had a good Camp Fire Girls' supper prepared by
Hazel Edwards, Julietta Hyde and the Guardian. Then they sat around
their fire and chatted, principally about the beauty of the scenery on
every hand.
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