Campfire Girls at Twin Lakes
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Stella M. Francis >> Campfire Girls at Twin Lakes
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But they were tired girls and needed no urging to seek rest on their
cots as the sun sunk behind the hills on the opposite side of the lake.
The move "bedward" was almost simultaneous and the drift toward
slumberland not far behind. They had one complete day undisturbed with
anything of a mysterious or startling nature, and it was quite a relief
to find it possible to seek a night's repose after eight or nine hours
of diligent work without being confronted with apprehensions of some
impending danger or possible defeat of their plans.
CHAPTER XVIII.
PLANNING.
Next morning the girls all awoke bright and early, thoroughly refreshed
by their night's rest. A breakfast of bacon, flapjacks and maple syrup,
bread and butter and chocolate invigorated them for a new day of camp
life in a new place.
Their program was already pretty well mapped out, being practically the
same as that followed while in camp in Fern Hollow near Fairberry. They
still did some work on certain lines arranged under the honor lists of
the craft, but were giving particular attention to knitting and sewing
for the Red Cross, which they aided in an auxiliary capacity.
The program regularly followed by the girls required three hours of
routine work each day. This they usually performed between the hours of
7 and 10 or 8 and 11, depending upon the time of their getting up and
the speed with which they disposed of the early morning incidentals.
On this morning, in spite of the fact that they had gone to bed
thoroughly tired as a result of the exertions of the preceding day, the
girls arose shortly after 6 o'clock and by 7:30 all were engaged in
various record-making occupations, including the washing of the
breakfast dishes and the making of the beds and the general tidying-up
of the camp.
After the routine had been attended to, the girls took a hike for the
purpose of exploring the country to the north of their camp. This
exploration extended about two miles along the shore, their route being
generally the automobile road that skirted the lake at varying distances
of from a few rods to a quarter of a mile from the water's edge,
depending upon the configuration of the shore line.
During much of this hike, Katherine, Hazel and Miss Ladd walked together
and discussed plans for creating a condition of affairs that might be
expected to produce results in harmony with the purpose of their
mission. They were all at sea at first, but after a short and fruitless
discussion of what appeared to be next to nothing, Katherine made a
random suggestion which quickly threw a more hopeful light on affairs.
"It seems to me that we've got to do something that will attract
attention," she said. "We'll have to do some sensational, or at least
lively, stunts so that everybody will know we are here and will want to
know who we are."
"That's the very idea," Miss Ladd said eagerly.
Katherine was a little startled at this reception of her suggestion.
When she spoke, she was merely groping for an idea. But Miss Ladd's
approval woke her up to a realization that she had unwittingly hit the
nail on the head.
"Yes," she said, picking up the thread of a real idea as she proceeded;
"we have got to attract attention. That's the only way we can get the
people in whom we are most interested to show an interest in us."
"What shall we do?" Hazel inquired.
"Map out a spectacular program of some sort," Katherine replied. "We
might build a big bonfire, for one thing, on the shore tonight and go
through some of our gym exercises, including folk dances."
"Good," said Hazel. "Let's start off with that. And tomorrow we can have
some games that will make it necessary for us to run all over the
country--hare and hounds, for instance."
"We ought to find a good safe swimming place near our camp, too,"
Katherine said.
"Let's look for one this afternoon," Miss Ladd suggested.
"How will we test it?" Hazel inquired.
"That's easy," the Guardian replied. "We'll use poles to try the depth
and then one of us will swim out with one end of a rope attached to her
and the other end in the hands of two of the girls ready to haul in if
she needs assistance. In that way we will be able to locate a good
swimming place and not run any risk of anybody's being drowned."
"We've got a good starter, anyway," Katherine remarked in a tone of
satisfaction. "By the time we've taken care of those items something
more of the same character ought to occur to us. Yes, that's the very
way to interest the Grahams in our presence and open the way for an
acquaintance."
The three now separated and mingled with the other girls who were some
distance ahead or behind, and communicated the new plan to all of them.
It was received with general approval and was the main topic of
conversation until they all returned to the camp for luncheon.
CHAPTER XIX.
WATCHED.
After luncheon, the girls, with two sharp hatchets among them, began a
search through the timber for some long, slim saplings. After a half
hour's search they were in possession of three straight cottonwood
poles, ten or twelve feet long, and with these in their possession, they
began an examination of the water-depth along the shore for a safe and
suitable bathing place.
They might have used their fishing rods for this purpose, but these were
not serviceable, as they were of extremely light material and, moreover,
were hardly long enough for this purpose. The saplings proved to be
excellent "feelers" and the work progressed rapidly from the start.
About 200 yards north of their camp was a sandy beach which extended
along the shore a considerable distance. It was here that the girls made
their first under-water exploration. They tied a rough stone near one
end of each of the poles to increase its specific gravity and then
proceeded to "feel" for depth along the water's edge.
Careful examination with these poles failed to disclose a sudden drop
from the gradual downward slope of the beach into the water, so that
there appeared to be no treacherous places near the shore. Satisfied in
this respect, they now arranged for a further test. Azalia Atwood, who
was an excellent swimmer, returned to the camp, donned a bathing suit,
and then rejoined the other girls, bringing with her a long rope of the
clothesline variety. One end of this was looped around her waist, and
Marion Stanlock had an opportunity to exhibit her skill at tying a
bowline.
While two of the girls held the rope and played it out, Azalia advanced
into the water, stepping ahead carefully in order to avoid a surprise of
any sort resulting from some hidden danger under the surface of the
lake. To some, all this caution might seem foolish, inasmuch as Azalia
swam well, but one rule of, Flamingo Camp Fire prohibited even the best
swimmers from venturing into water more than arm-pit deep unless they
were at a beach provided with expert life-saving facilities.
The purpose of Azalia's exploration was to wade over as large an area of
lake bottom as possible and establish a certainty that it was free from
deep step-offs, "bottomless" pockets and treacherous undertow. Soon it
became evident that she had a bigger undertaking before her than she had
reckoned on, for the bed of the lake sloped very gradually at this
point, and Katherine Crane and Estelle Adler volunteered to assist her.
"All right," said Azalia, welcoming the suggestion. "Go and put on your
bathing suits and bring a few more hanks of rope. Better bring all
there is there, for we probably can use it."
Katherine and Estelle hastened back to camp and in a short time
returned, clad in their bathing suits and carrying several hundred feet
of rope. In a few minutes they too were in the water and taking part in
the exploration, protected against treacherous conditions as Azalia was
protected.
In half an hour they had explored and pronounced safe as large a bathing
place as their supply of rope would "fence in" and then began the
"fencing" process. They cut several stout stakes six feet long and took
them to the water's edge. Then the three girls in bathing suits assumed
their new duty as water pile-drivers. They took one of the stakes at a
time to a point along the proposed boundary line of the bathing place,
also a heavy mallet that had been brought along for this purpose. A
wooden mallet, by the way, was much more serviceable than a hatchet for
such work, inasmuch as, if dropped, it would not sink, and moreover, it
could be wielded with much less danger of injury to any of those working
together in the water.
The first stake was taken to the northwest corner of the proposed
inclosure. Katherine, who carried the mallet, gave it to Estelle and
then climbed to a sitting posture on the latter's shoulders. Then Azalia
stood the stake on its sharpened end and Katherine took hold of it with
one hand and began to drive down on the upper end with the mallet,
which Estelle handed back to her.
It was hard work for several reasons--hard for Estelle to maintain a
steady and firm posture under the moving weight, hard for Katherine to
wield the mallet with unerring strokes, hard to force the sharpened
point into the well-packed bed of the lake. Katherine's right arm became
very tired before she had driven the stake deep enough to insure a
reasonable degree of firmness. While this task was being performed, the
girls were still protected against the danger of being swept into deeper
water by the ropes looped around their waists and held at the other ends
by some of the girls on the sandy beach.
After this stake had been set firmly into the river bed, the girls
returned to the shore and got another. This they took to another
position about the same distance from the beach as the first one and
drove it into the hardened loam under the water. The same process was
continued until six such stakes had been driven.
Then they took up the work of extending rope from stake to stake and
completing the inclosure. The sags were supported by buoys of light wood
tied to the rope, the two extreme ends of which were attached to stakes
driven into the shore close to the water.
"There, that is what I call a pretty good job," declared Miss Ladd
gazing with proud satisfaction upon the result of more than three hours'
steady work. "Whenever you girls come out here to go bathing, you will
be well warranted in assuming that you have earned your plunge."
All the girls by this time had their bathing suits on, but most of them
were too tired to remain in the water any longer; so, by common consent,
all adjourned to the camp to rest until suppertime.
"Well, it appears that our activities have not yet aroused any special
interest in the Graham household," Hazel Edwards observed as they began
their march back toward the sheltered group of tents.
"I'm not so certain of that," Miss Ladd replied.
"Why not?" Katherine inquired, while several of the girls who were near
looked curiously at the Guardian.
"Because I believe I have seen evidences of interest."
"You have!" exclaimed two or three unguardedly.
"Now, girls, you are forgetting yourselves," said Miss Ladd warningly.
"Remember that the first requisite of skill in your work here is
caution. The reason I didn't say anything to you about what I saw is
that I was afraid some of you might betray your interest in the fact
that we were being watched. I saw two girls half hidden in a clump of
bushes up near the top of the hill. I am sure they were watching us.
They were there at least half an hour."
CHAPTER XX.
THE MISSILE.
Five of the members of the Camp Fire were present when Miss Ladd made
this startling announcement that they had been watched secretly for a
considerable time while roping off the limits of their swimming place.
The other girls had taken the lead back to the camp and were a
considerable distance ahead.
"Are they watching us yet?" Azalia asked.
"I think not," the Guardian replied. "I haven't seen any sign of them
during the last twenty minutes."
"How do you know they are girls?" Katherine inquired. "That's quite a
distance to recognize ages."
"Oh, they may be old women, but I'll take a chance on a guess that they
are not. The millinery I caught a peep at looked too chic for a
grandmother. I've got pretty good long-distance eyes, I'll have you
know," Miss Ladd concluded smartly.
There was no little excitement among the other girls when this bit of
news was communicated to them. But they had had good experience-training
along the lines of self-control, and just a hint of the unwisdom of loud
and extravagant remarks put them on their guard.
Some of the girls proposed that the plan of building a bonfire in the
evening be given up and nobody objected to this suggestion. All the
girls felt more like resting under the shade of a tree than doing
anything else, and those who had performed the more arduous tasks in the
work of the afternoon were "too tired to eat supper," as one of them
expressed it. So nobody felt like hunting through the timber for a big
supply of firewood.
The atmosphere had become very warm in the afternoon, but the girls
hardly noticed this condition until their work in the water was finished
and they returned to the camp. After they had rested a while some of the
girls read books and magazines, but little was done before supper.
After supper some of the girls, who felt more vigorous than those who
had performed the more exhausting labor of the afternoon, revived the
idea of a bonfire and were soon at work gathering a supply of wood. They
busied themselves at this until nearly dusk and then called the other
girls down to the water's edge, where on a large rocky ledge
arrangements for the fire had been made.
All of the girls congratulated themselves now on the revival of the
bonfire idea, for the mosquitos had become so numerous that comfort was
no longer possible without some agency to drive them away. A bonfire was
just the thing, although it would make the closely surrounding
atmosphere uncomfortably warm.
Even the girls who had performed the hardest tasks in the "fencing in"
of their swimming place were by this time considerably rested and
enjoyed watching the fire seize the wood and then leap up into the air
as if for bigger prey.
"Let's sing," proposed Harriet Newcomb after the fire had grown into a
roaring, crackling blaze, throwing a brilliant glow far out onto the
water.
"What shall it be?" asked Ethel Zimmerman.
"Burn Fire, Burn," Hazel Edwards proposed.
"Marion, you start it," Miss Ladd suggested, for Marion Stanlock was the
"star" soprano of the Fire.
In a moment the well-trained voices of fourteen Camp Fire Girls were
sending the clear operatic strains of a special adaptation of the fire
chant of the Camp Fire ritual. The music had been composed and arranged
by Marion Stanlock and Helen Nash a few months previously, and diligent
practice had qualified the members of the Camp Fire to render the
production impressively.
This song was succeeded by a chorus-rendering of a similar adaptation of
the Fire Maker's Song. Then followed an impromptu program of
miscellaneous songs, interspersed here and there with such musical
expressions of patriotism as "America," "Star Spangled Banner," and
"Over There," in evidence of a mindfulness of the part of the United
States in the great international struggle for democracy.
Meanwhile dusk gathered heavier and heavier, the stars came out, and
still the fire blazed up brightly and the girls continued to sing songs
and tell stories and drink in the vigor and inspiration of the scene. At
last, however, the Guardian announced that it was 9 o'clock, which was
Flamingo's curfew, and there was a general move to extinguish the fire,
which by this time had been allowed to burn low.
Suddenly all were startled by an astonishing occurrence. A heavy object,
probably a stone as large as a man's fist, fell in the heap of embers,
scattering sparks and burning sticks in all directions. There was a
chorus of screams, and a frantic examination, by the girls, of one
another's clothes to see if any of them were afire.
CHAPTER XXI.
"SH!"
"Who in the world do you suppose did that?" Hazel Edwards exclaimed, as
she hastily examined her own clothes and then quickly struck out a spark
that clung to the skirt of Azalia Atwood.
"Quick, girls," cried Miss Ladd; "did any of you do that?"
There was a chorus of indignant denials. No room for doubt remained now
that the missile had been hurled by someone outside the semicircle near
the bonfire.
All eyes were turned back toward the timber a short distance away, but
not a sign of a human being could they see in that direction.
"If we'd been on the other side of the bonfire, we'd have got that
shower of sparks right in our faces and all over us," Katherine Crane
said indignantly.
"We ought to find out who threw that rock, or whatever it was," Ethel
Zimerman declared. "It must be a very dangerous person, who ought to be
taken care of."
"If that sort of thing is repeated many times, some of us probably will
have to be taken care of," observed Julietta Hyde.
"Listen!" Miss Ladd interrupted, and the occasion of her interruption
did not call for explanation. All heard it. A moment later it was
repeated.
"Wohelo!"
"No Camp Fire Girl ever made such a noise as that," said Helen Nash
disdainfully.
"It sounds like a man's voice," Azalia Atwood remarked.
"I'll bet a Liberty Bond that it is a man," ventured Ruth Hazelton.
"Have you a Liberty Bond?" asked Helen.
"I'm paying for one out of my allowance," Ruth replied.
Just then the "noise" was repeated, a hoarse hollow vocalization of the
Camp Fire Watchword. This time it seemed to be farther away.
"The person who gave that call threw the missile into our bonfire," said
Miss Ladd in a tone of conviction. "If he bothers us any more we'll find
out who he is."
The girls now turned their attention again to the fire. Several pails of
water were carried from the lake and dashed into the embers until not a
spark remained. Then they returned to their tents and to bed, although
apprehensive of further disturbance before morning.
But they heard nothing more of the intruder that night.
Shortly after sunup, the girls arose, put on their bathing suits, and
went down to the beach for a before-breakfast plunge. Marie Crismore and
Violet Munday reached the water's edge first, and presently they were
giving utterance to such unusual expressions, indicative seemingly of
anything but pleasure that the other girls hastened down to see what
was the matter.
There was no need of explanation. The evidence was before them. The
stakes that had been driven into the bed of the lake to hold the rope
intended to indicate the safety limit had been pulled out and thrown
upon the shore. The rope itself had disappeared.
"There surely are some malicious mischief makers in this vicinity,"
Helen Nash observed. "I suppose the person who did that was the one who
threw a stone into our bonfire and hooted our watchword so hideously."
"What shall we do?" Violet Munday questioned. "We can't let this sort of
thing go on indefinitely."
"We must complain to the authorities," Ernestine Johanson suggested.
"Do you suppose they would do anything?" Estelle Adler asked. "I
understand it's very hard to get these country officials busy on
anything except a murder or a robbery."
"Then we must organize a series of relief watches and take the law into
our own hands," Katherine proposed.
"Spoken like a true soldier," commented Miss Ladd approvingly. "I was
going to suggest something of the same sort, although not quite so much
like anarchy."
"Where do you suppose they hid that rope?" Marion Stanlock inquired.
"Somebody probably needed a clothesline."
"Here come some people who may be able to throw some light on the
situation," said Marion.
All looked up and saw two girls apparently in their "upper teens,"
dressed more suitably for an afternoon tea than a rustic outing. The
latter were descending the wooded hill-shore, and had just emerged from
a thick arboreal growth into a comparatively clear area a hundred yards
away.
"Sh!" Katherine warned quickly. "Be careful what you say or do. Those
are the Graham girls."
CHAPTER XXII.
THE GRAHAM GIRLS CALL.
"They're early risers; we must say that much for them," observed
Katherine in a low voice. "We must give them credit for not lying in bed
until 10 o'clock and, and----"
"And for dressing for an afternoon party before breakfast," Helen Nash
concluded.
"Isn't it funny!" Hazel Edwards said with a suppressed titter. "I wonder
if they are going in bathing."
"Keep still, girls," Miss Ladd interposed. "They're getting pretty near.
Let's not pay too much attention to them. Let them seek our
acquaintance, not we theirs. The advantage will be on our side then."
At this suggestion of the Guardian, the girls turned their attention
again to the conditions about their bathing beach. A moment later
Katherine made a discovery that centered all interest in unaffected
earnest upon the latest depredation of their enemy, or enemies. With a
stick she fished out one end of a small rope and was soon hauling away
at what appeared to be the "clothes line" they had used to indicate the
safety limits of their bathing place.
"Well, conditions are not as bad as they might be," said Miss Ladd, as
she took hold to assist at hauling the line out of the water. "We have
the stakes and the rope and can put them back into place."
"Would you mind telling us what has happened?"
These words drew the attention of the Camp Fire Girls away from the
object discovered in the water and to the speaker, who was one of the
older of the urbanely clad summer resorters from the Graham cottage.
"Someone has been guilty of some very malicious mischief," Miss Ladd
replied. "We had roped in a bathing place after examining it and finding
it safe for those who are not good swimmers, and you see what has been
done with our work. The stakes were pulled up and the rope hidden in the
water. Fortunately we have just discovered the rope."
"Isn't that mean!" said the younger girl, whom the campers surmised
correctly to be Olga Graham.
"Mean is no name for it," the other Graham girl declared vengefully.
"Haven't you any idea who did it?"
"None that is very tangible," Miss Ladd replied. "There was a mysterious
prowler near our camp last evening, but we didn't catch sight of him. He
threw a heavy stone into our bonfire and knocked the sparks and embers
in every direction, but he kept himself hidden. A little later we heard
a hideous call in the timbers, which we were pretty sure was intended to
frighten us."
"That's strange," commented the older of the visitors.
"Maybe it's the ghost," suggested Olga with a faint smile.
"Ghost!" repeated several of the Camp Fire Girls in unison.
"I was just joking," the younger Graham girl explained hurriedly.
"Why did you suggest a ghost even as a joke?" inquired Katherine. The
utterance of the word ghost, together with the probability that there
was a neighborhood story behind it, forced upon her imagination an
irrational explanation of the strange occurrences of the last evening.
"Oh, I didn't mean anything by it," Olga reassured, but her words seemed
to come with a slightly forced unnaturalness. "But there has been some
talk about a ghost around here, you know."
"Did anybody ever see it?" asked Hazel Edwards.
"Not that I know of," avowed Olga. "Of course, I don't believe in such
things, but, then, you never can tell. It might be a half-witted person,
and I'm sure I don't know which I'd rather meet after dark--a ghost or a
crazy man."
"Is there a crazy man running loose around here?" Ernestine Johanson
inquired with a shudder.
"There must be," Olga declared with a suggestion of awe in her voice.
"If it isn't a ghost--and I don't believe in such things--it must be
somebody escaped from a lunatic asylum."
"I saw something mysterious moving through the woods near our cottage
one night," Addie Graham interposed at this point. "Nobody else in the
family would believe me when I told them about it. It looked like a man
in a long white robe and long hair and a long white beard. It was
moonlight and I was looking out of my bedroom window. Suddenly this
strange being appeared near the edge of the timber. He was looking
toward the house, and I suppose he saw me, for he picked up a stone and
threw it at the window where I stood. It fell a few feet short of its
mark, and then the ghost or the insane man--call him what you
please--turned and ran away."
"My sister told us about that next morning, and we all laughed at her,"
said Olga, continuing the account. "I told her to go out and find the
stone, and she went out and picked one up just about where she said the
stone that was thrown at her fell."
"Were there any other stones near there?" Marion Stanlock inquired.
"We looked around specially to find out if there were any others near,
but didn't find any," Olga answered. "Addie--that's my sister--had the
laugh on us all after that."
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