CHAPTER I—A NIGHT OF EXCITEMENT

“Oh, where can Crazy Jane be!” wailed Margery Brown.

“It isn’t so much a question of where Jane may be as where we ourselves are, Buster,” answered Harriet Burrell, laughingly. “However, if she doesn’t come, why, we will make the best of it. This will not be the first time we have spent the night out of doors.”

“Are we lost?” gasped Hazel Holland.

“It looks very much as though we had gone astray,” replied Miss Elting, who was acting as guardian and chaperon to the Meadow-Brook Girls.

“Oh, thave me!” wailed Grace Thompson, her impish little face appearing to grow several degrees smaller.

“Girls! Please do not become excited,” urged the guardian. “There is no cause for 8 alarm. Even if we have lost our way we shall find it again on the morrow. Harriet, you have the map. Suppose we examine it again and see if we can find out where we are. We surely must be near human habitation, and the country is so open that really getting lost is quite impossible.”

Harriet Burrell unslung the pack that she carried over her shoulder, then felt about in it until she found that for which she was looking. She spread the map out on the ground at one side of the road, her companions gathering about and gazing down over her shoulder. Miss Elting sat down beside the map.

“Here! Trace our day’s route with the pencil,” she said. “This should be Harmon’s Valley. That being the case, the village of Harmon should be not more than a mile farther on.”

“There is no village anywhere near us, according to the route we have traveled since this morning,” answered Harriet.

“Oh, that can’t be possible,” exclaimed Miss Elting.

“Please look for yourself, Miss Elting,” Harriet replied earnestly. “After leaving Granite Mountain we swung to the left as you will see by the line I have marked.”

“Hm-m-m,” murmured the guardian as she scanned the map. 9

“It looks to me very much as though we had taken the wrong valley,” said Harriet, as she paused in her scrutiny of the map to glance up at the hills that shut in the valley where they now were. “See! There isn’t a town marked on this map anywhere in this valley.”

“I believe you are right. In order to get to our stopping place for the night we shall have to cross those hills to the right. How far is it across?”

“Five miles,” answered Harriet, after making some brief measurements.

“Five mileth?” wailed Grace. “Oh, thave me!”

“Tommy, will you be quiet?” begged Margery. “You make me nervous. Miss Elting, you aren’t going on, to-night, are you? I simply can’t walk another mile. My feet are so numb that I can’t feel them.”

“I can feel mine. They are ath big ath elephantth,” declared Tommy.

“What do you say, girls? Shall we go on or make camp for the night?” questioned the guardian. “Remember, Jane McCarthy is no doubt waiting with her car for us over in the other valley. She will not know where to go if we do not get in touch with her to-night.”

Grace, Hazel and Margery begged Miss Elting to go no farther. They already had made 10 ten miles that day, which they declared was quite enough.

“What do you say, Harriet?” asked Miss Elting.

“Of course I am a little footsore, but I could walk another ten miles if necessary. However, the other girls do not wish to go farther, so I vote with them to remain here for the night. But won’t Jane be puzzled where to go in the morning!”

“She will find us, my dear,” smiled the guardian.

“If you think best I will cross the ridge, after supper, and see if I can find her,” suggested Harriet Burrell.

“No. I could not think of permitting you to do that, Harriet. Jane will be sure to wait at the meeting place we agreed upon until noon to-morrow before starting on to the next stopping place.”

“But we haven’t any plathe to thleep,” protested the lisping Tommy. “I can’t thleep on the ground, can I?”

“No. You are going to sleep standing up like a horse,” answered Margery petulantly.

“No, I’m not. I’m going to lie down jutht like I alwayth do,” lisped the little girl.

“Girls, stop your disputing. We have other things to think of,” rebuked Harriet. “Let’s 11 try to make the best of our unpleasant situation.”

Miss Elting, shading her eyes with her hand, gazed inquiringly at the surrounding country. It was barren of buildings except for a large barn and a number of stacks and sheds, some distance away in a field to the west. Still beyond this was a clump of trees and bushes. There was nothing else—no house, no human beings other than themselves in sight.

“Girls, let’s investigate that miniature forest over yonder,” called the guardian. “It looks as though it might be an excellent place in which to cook supper, provided we are able to find water.”

“Supper!” cried the girls in chorus. They realized all at once that they were hungry. With one accord they snatched up their packs, heavy as they were, slung them over their shoulders and laboriously climbed the roadside fence. Tommy caught her foot on the top rail in attempting to jump to the ground on the other side.

“Look out!” warned Miss Elting sharply.

“Thave me!” wailed the lisping Tommy and sprawled on all fours on the other side of the fence, kicking frantically as she fell.

“Are you hurt, dear?” cried Harriet, springing over to her companion. 12

“Hurt? I gueth I am. Don’t you thee, I’ve thkinned my nothe. Oh, I withh I were home!”

“No, you don’t. Think what a lot of fun you are having,” comforted Harriet. “There! You are all right now.”

“Am I all right?”

“Of course you are.”

“All right, if you thay tho,” nodded Tommy, gathering up her pack and moving away with Harriet Burrell’s arm about her. Miss Elting and the other girls had started for the clump of trees. Arriving, they quickly flung down their packs. The guardian began hunting for water. She found a stream of cold water just inside the clump of trees beyond the field, as she had anticipated. The greenness of the foliage about the spot had told her that water was near. In other parts of the valley the leaves were turning. There was a strong suggestion of Autumn in the air, which at night was crisp and bracing, though the days thus far on their long tramp, had been unusually warm for so late in the Fall.

It was Harriet’s duty to build the fire. She went about this task at once. There was some difficulty in finding wood that would burn. After searching she found some pieces of old fence rails. These were of pine, and as they were too long for a fire over which to cook food, 13 Harriet got out her hatchet and began to chop them into smaller pieces. It was a hard task to chop through a rail, sharp though the hatchet was. However, within fifteen minutes, the girl had accomplished the task and the fire was burning.

“I am afraid I can’t promise a great variety or quantity of edibles for supper,” announced Miss Elting, “though what there is to eat will be appetizing.”

“If there is enough, it will answer,” Margery declared.

“Enough?” repeated Tommy wisely. “Buthter, you thurely ought to diet—a girl ath thtout ath you are.”

“I think I’ve heard you remark something of the sort before,” sighed Margery wearily. “I wish you would forget that I weigh—well, never mind how much! The subject is a distressing one. I’m almost too hungry to-night to think of anything except eating.”

Tommy’s mischievous glance roved about, resting first on Harriet, who with flushed face was bending over the fire, then on Miss Elting, who was slicing bacon. In addition to the bacon there was to be coffee, supplemented by a few biscuits. There was nothing very hearty about that repast for healthy girls who had tramped for hours under a warm September 14 sun. Still, there were no complaints, save as Tommy and Margery had voiced their disgust with their present life.

Though none of these young women could guess it, they were destined, before morning, to encounter enough excitement to make them all wish they had never started on this long walk from Camp Wau-Wau, where they had spent the summer, to their homes in Meadow-Brook.

Surely the Meadow-Brook Girls need no introduction to the readers of this series who will recall how, under the chaperonage of Miss Elting, the four girls had gone to the summer camp in the Pocono Woods, where, somehow, each day of their life had grown increasingly exciting. All of the things that happened to Harriet and her friends at that time are set forth in the first volume of this series, under the title of “The Meadow-Brook Girls Under Canvas.” While in the summer camp the Meadow-Brook Girls had passed through many varied and exciting experiences. The mischievous initiation of Harriet Burrell and Grace Thompson by the older girls, the arrival in the camp of Jane McCarthy, known to her friends as “Crazy Jane” and the series of lively happenings that followed her coming; the nocturnal visit of a bear, and Harriet’s spirited chase of 15 the animal were incidents that contributed to the interest of the narrative.

Harriet’s brave rescue of her companions during a severe storm and her subsequent generous treatment of the two Camp Girls, Patricia Scott and Cora Kidder, who had plotted against her, won for her the warm admiration of her associates at Camp Wau-Wau.

When it had come time to leave the camp in the great forest it had been agreed by the Meadow-Brook Girls and their guardian that, instead of returning by train they would walk all the way home, disdaining any “lifts” or other helps that prevented them from making their way strictly on foot.

So endeared had “Crazy Jane” McCarthy become to them all during her stay in camp that she had been voted as one of their number. Crazy Jane, however, would hear of but little walking. She sent for her automobile, a present from her father, and insisted on using this in “scouting” and in carrying the tent and provisions for the Pathfinders, as the Meadow-Brook Girls now elected to call themselves.

Each night Jane would meet the girls at a place agreed upon in advance. Then the tent would be pitched at some distance from the highway, and there the girls would spend the night. But now, on the third day, the Meadow-Brook 16 Girls had failed to meet their supply car. What they were to do for the night, Miss Elting did not know. Her first move was to see to the preparation of the little food that they had with them.

Jane McCarthy, with a full purse and a wealthy, indulgent father, had claimed the right of being purveyor of food on that long journey. The speed at which that young woman traveled permitted of her foraging far and wide. Whereever she went she was likely to be remembered, for it was her reckless driving that had given her the name of “Crazy Jane.” Yet this light-hearted, impulsive girl had wonderful control of her machine. With all her reckless driving she had never yet injured any one, though her friends often remonstrated with her for her haphazard style of running her car.

Supper finished, Margery and Hazel were left to attend to the dishes, and to put them in the packs, which were ordinary hunters’ bags, made to strap over the shoulders.

“After you have finished the work, girls,” directed Miss Elting, “be sure to extinguish the last spark of the fire. Harriet, will you come with me?”

“Thay, where are you going?” cried Grace. “Pleathe don’t go away and leave uth here alone. It ith going to be dark, pretty thoon.” 17

“Don’t you want a place to sleep?” smiled the guardian.

“Yeth, but it’th getting dark,” Tommy insisted.

“All the more reason for finding sleeping quarters,” smiled Miss Elting.

“Are you thinking of trying the barns?” asked Harriet, as she and the guardian stepped away.

“Yes. I don’t see anything else to do.”

“We’re going to have a storm,” Harriet went on thoughtfully, “so of course we shall do well to secure more shelter than we could get by making a brush lean-to.”

“I don’t believe we are in the least danger of being disturbed in the barn,” the guardian continued. “I don’t imagine there are any other human beings within several miles of this place. This is certainly a very lonesome bit of country. It is the first day since we have been out that we haven’t met some one. That may be because we have kept away from the roads to-day. We haven’t been on a highway more than an hour all day long.”

“This is what I like,” answered Harriet. “I just love to strike out across country and blaze new trails. It’s ever so much more interesting. But, Miss Elting, are you certain there is no one about?” 18

The guardian halted sharply and faced her companion. She knew Harriet Burrell too well not to understand that the girl’s question was significant.

“What is it?” she asked.

“I saw some one not far from camp when we were eating our supper,” was Harriet’s quiet announcement.

“You are sure of that?”

“Yes; it was just beyond the woods there. At first I thought it a fence post; then all at once the post moved. I saw it was a person.”

“What was the person doing, Harriet?”

“The person appeared to be watching us. I also discovered something else. The person was a woman.”

Miss Elting threw back her head and laughed merrily.

“I don’t think we need to be very much alarmed at that. So long as it wasn’t a tramp you saw, we won’t disturb ourselves.”

“She was a strange looking creature,” continued Harriet. “I couldn’t make her out very well. All at once she disappeared in the most mysterious fashion. You said something. I glanced up, then back to the place where the woman had been standing and she had gone. It happened in less than half a dozen seconds. She would have to be a pretty lively person to 19 get out of sight in that time, wouldn’t she, Miss Elting?”

The guardian nodded. They had now reached the big barn. Like its surroundings, it was deserted so far as they were able to observe. Miss Elting wished to examine the place while there was still light, so they hurried in, the doors being wide open. The scent of hay was strong on the air as they entered. There were little heaps of hay on the barn floor, and on either side in the mows the hay was piled up high. Ladders led up to the top of the mows from the barn floor.

“This looks nice and comfy, doesn’t it?” smiled the guardian.

“The best sort of bedroom,” agreed Harriet. “I hope there are no mice here?”

“Mice? Gracious! I hope not, too. I think we can do no better than to climb the ladder to the top of one of the mows, roll up in our blankets and go to sleep. Which bedroom will you take, the north or the south?”

“I think I should prefer the room on the south side. One is more likely to get the morning sun there,” answered Harriet gravely.

Miss Elting laughed.

“Thank you. I hadn’t thought of it in that light. The south side bedroom will be best for the Meadow-Brook Girls. I know Jane McCarthy would 20 enjoy this sort of camping out. As it is, she will have to sleep at a farm house to-night. She will never be able to find us here. Suppose you climb the ladder and see how the land lies.”

“You mean the hay,” chuckled Harriet, running up the ladder with agility. “Oh, it is fine up here, and just as warm as can be. Won’t it be splendid to sleep on the hay?” she called down, peering over the edge of the mow.

After gazing over the mows for some moments Harriet finally descended to the floor. Next she and Miss Elting made a survey of the yard back of the barn. The yard was surrounded by empty sheds and great stacks of hay and straw. It was evident that the owners intended to winter considerable stock in this remote place.

“Well, what do you think of it, Harriet?” inquired Miss Elting.

“Glorious! It is as clean and sweet here as in our own bedrooms at home. I’ll tell you what I will do. I’ll run back and get the girls,” said Harriet.

Miss Elting nodded acquiescence and Harriet hurried across the field, the teacher remaining at the barn to investigate the place further while Harriet went for her companions. This she did, and decided that they were most fortunate 21 in finding so comfortable a place in which to spend the night.

Half an hour later she heard them coming. Tommy’s chatter sounded louder than the conversation of all the rest of the party. Twilight had settled over the interior of the barn by the time the girls came trooping in.

“Br-r-r-r! This place looks spooky,” cried Margery. “We aren’t going to stay in here all night, are we, Miss Elting?”

“Yes, Margery. You are not afraid of the dark, are you?”

“No-o-o. But——”

“There is nothing to alarm you. As we are all rather tired, I propose that we go upstairs and get to bed at once. I am sorry we shall not be able to get our baths this evening. This hotel isn’t provided with bath tubs. By the way. There are matches in our packs, so we will leave them below. One of the first things a Camp Girl learns, you know, is to be careful of fire both indoors and out. Strap your blanket rolls over your shoulders. You know it is quite a climb to your bedrooms.”

“Up there is where we sleep,” Harriet informed them. The top of the mow was not discernible from the barn floor now.

“What! Away up there?” demanded Margery. “How do we get up?” 22

“We shall have to climb the ladder,” answered Miss Elting.

Margery groaned.

“I’m glad it’s dark. If it were daylight I know I should fall,” declared Hazel. “Let me go first. I don’t want to stand here and think about what is before me. If I stop to think I’ll never have the courage to climb.”

“Don’t look down,” cautioned the guardian. “There. That’s fine.”

Hazel was going up rapidly. Margery, with many a groan, next essayed the climb. Harriet was directly behind her. Margery had not gone far before the wisdom of Harriet’s action became apparent. A wail from Margery brought a chorus of “ohs!” from her companions.

“I can’t go another step,” gasped Margery. “I’m going to fall. Catch me somebody.”

“Margery, keep on climbing. I’m right below you here. Go on,” urged Harriet.

“Oh, I—I can’t. I’m dizzy.”

“Buthter ith theathick,” observed Tommy from the barn floor. Harriet began lightly, tapping Buster with a switch that she had brought with her.

“Oh! Ouch! Stop it! I tell you stop it!” howled Margery.

“Climb!”

Margery did climb. She went up the ladder 23 faster than she ever had climbed before, wailing and threatening every foot of the way. Tommy was delightedly dancing about on the barn floor during all this time, uttering a perfect volley of unintelligible lisps and jeering cries. Margery reached the top of the ladder and flung herself panting on the hay.

“Be careful not to come too near the edge,” warned Harriet, hurriedly clambering down. Buster made no reply. She was too much out of breath to say a word. “Now, let’s see what you can do, Tommy. See if you can do any better,” chuckled Harriet.

“You jutht thee me climb. I’ll thhow you. I gueth I know how to climb. Buthter ith too fat to climb a ladder. Don’t you hit me. I’ll kick you if you do,” was her parting admonition as she began running up the ladder. Rather to the amazement of her companions, Grace made the climb to the haymow without the least difficulty. Only once did her foot slip from a rung of the ladder. Grace recovered it with no more than a smothered little exclamation.

“You next, Miss Elting,” nodded Harriet.

“I will wait until you get up. I wish to look after the packs first. What would we do were we to lose them? We shouldn’t have a thing to eat for breakfast, and goodness knows when we will reach a store to purchase food.” 24