Laura Lee Hope

“ The lurid sunset, glaring through the dark and rain, gave an awful, yellow look to the land and sea alike.
"It is like the end of the world," whispered Nellie to Nan, as the two girls looked out of the window to see the wild storm approaching.
Then the lightning came in blazing blades, cutting through the gathering clouds.
The thunder was only like muffled rolls, for the fury of the ocean deadened every other sound of heaven or earth.
"It will be a dreadful storm," said Aunt Emily to Mrs. Bobbsey. "We must all go into the sitting room and pray for the sailors." ”

“ It was in the best of spirits that the party of young people stood on the end of the dock, waiting to hail the little steamer as it chug-chugged its way from the summer colony at the far end of Pine Island to the mainland.
When finally it did come in sight, the girls and the boys found themselves convulsed with laughter. If the shabby little craft had appeared grotesque in the mist of the night before, how much more forlorn did it look in the full, dazzling glare of the sun! ”

“ We must go to Mollie. Come, girls, to the rescue!" cried Betty, resolutely.
"But let us get some one to help us first!" insisted Amy. "We ought not to face that—that thing alone!" and she gasped, so rapidly was her heart beating.
"We're not alone!" insisted Betty. "There are four of us, to one—one man."
"How do you know he was a man?" demanded Grace.
"Didn't I hear him speak? It was a man's voice. Some man, for purposes of his own, is masquerading as a ghost, and he probably tried to frighten Mollie and the rest of us to keep up the reputation of the mansion for being haunted. ”

“ I can't talk to a doll!" cried Bunny.
"Yes, you can, too," said his sister. "Just pretend, you know."
"Well, even if I do, how can your doll talk to you, and wake you up?"
"Oh, Bunny! I'm only going to be make-believe asleep, and of course a doll, who can pretend to talk, can make-believe wake me up as easy as anything, when I'm only make-believe asleep."
"Oh, all right, if it's only make-believe," agreed Bunny. "Giddap, Splash! I've named the make-believe chair-horse the same as our dog," he explained to Sue. ”

“ She felt again the creeping sensation that had traveled up and down her spine at sight of that crouching, sinister figure that had sprung out from the shadow of the porch.
It had disappeared into the bushes last night, and, for all she knew--and the thought made her tingle weirdly--it might still be hiding in them, crouching, ready to spring--
With an effort she shook off the mood and turned to Amy brightly.
"There is no use in our making a mountain out of a mole hill," she said, plucking a wild rose as they swung by and smelling of its delicious fragrance. ”

“ The very air tingled with life that the sunshine coaxed into being, and the gentle wind further fanned it to rapidity of action. "Oh, I do feel so happy!" cried Mollie.
"I guess we all do," spoke Grace, but even as she said this she could not refrain from covertly glancing at Amy, over whose face there seemed a shade of—well, just what it was Grace could not decide. It might have been disappointment, or perhaps an unsatisfied longing. Clearly the mystery over her past had made an impression on the character of this sweet, quiet girl. But for all that she did not inflict her mood on her chums. ”

“ Well, what is it, Bunny?" she went on, as she saw the little boy looking closely at her hands. "Do you see something?" Aunt Lu asked.
"It—it's that," and Bunny pointed to the shining ring.
Aunt Lu's eyes sparkled, almost as brightly as the glittering stone in the ring, and her cheeks became red.
"I know what it is—it's a diamond!" exclaimed Sue. "Isn't it, Aunt Lu?"
"Yes, dear."
"Did you find it?" asked Bunny. "Or did you dig it out of a gold mine?"
"Diamonds don't come from gold mines; they make 'em out of glass!" said
Sue.
"Yes they do dig 'em; don't they, Aunt Lu?" insisted Bunny. ”

“ Grace answered trembling. "I don't know, Mollie, dear, of course, but from her description, those two children sounded an awful lot like the twins!"
Mollie waited to hear no more, but was off like a whirlwind down the beach toward the second boat that was just coming in to shore. And while she ran she was praying with all her fervent young heart.
"Oh, Lord, give me back those babies!" she cried sobbingly. "If you only will I'll never, never, never ask you for anything again as long as I live." ”

“ Bunny cried, as he looked up and saw that he was in a sort of square steel cage, going up what seemed to be a long tunnel; standing up instead of lying on the ground as a railroad tunnel lies. "I see! We're going up, just like a bucket of water comes up out of the well."
"That's it!" said Aunt Lu. "And when we go down we go down just like the bucket going down in the well."
"It's fun! I like it!" and Sue clapped her hands. "I like the elevator!"
"Yes'm, it sho' am fun!" echoed Wopsie.
"Wopsie would ride up and down all day if I'd let her," said Aunt Lu. "But here we are at my floor. ”

“ Bunny knew his way about grandpa's farm, for he was older than Sue, and he remembered having been there once before.
"Oh, here's a horse. Sue!" he cried, as he went into the barn.
Looking over the edge of the manger, or box where his hay and oats were put, was a brown horse. He sniffed at the children, and whinnied, as if glad to see them. When a horse whinnies it is just as if he laughs.
"Hullo!" said Bunny, and, liking horses, and not being afraid, he went up and patted this one on the nose. "Come on, Sue, rub him." ”

“ Confusion on board a ship in a storm may be real confusion and riot, or it may only seem so to those not used to the sea. Often what is a hopelessly tangled mass of sails, ropes, spars and gears to the landsman, is as clear to a sailor as a skein of yarn is to an experienced knitter, who can ply her needles in the dark.
It was so on the Mary Ellen when the storm, that had been so long threatening, and half-performing, broke in all its fury. ”

“ The Rabbit fell down, but as the grass was soft, like a cushion, he was not hurt. He gave a little grunt as he fell down.
"Now you stay here a while and see how you like it," said the bad cat, and away he trotted, hoping to get a meal of goldfish this time. And there came to the poor Candy Rabbit from the distance the sound of the Cat's voice as he laughed, "Ha-ha," and snarled, "I've fixed you all right! Ha-ha!"
"Dear me!" thought the poor Candy Rabbit, "I wonder what will happen to me. I must try to get out of here. I can hop, as long as no human eyes see me. ”

“ Then the light gradually died from the colored arches, to be repeated again in the wonderful cloud effects at sunset. The storm had been like the weeping of a little child, who smiles before its tears—and afterward. ”

“ Outside of Great Hedge the wind howled and the snow whirled about in white flakes. Inside it was warm, light and cosy. But the queer noise which had sounded, and which had seemed so to startle the grown folk, came from inside, and not outside. At least that is what Rose and Russ thought.
"It's the ghost!" said Rose again.
"Nonsense!" laughed Daddy Bunker. "What do you children know about ghosts? There aren't such things. There never has been a ghost and never will be one. ”

“ I tell you, we fellows felt like shouldering our guns, and marching over right away."
"Oh, it's wonderful to be a man these days," sighed Mollie. "You can get right in the thick of it, while all we can do is stay home and root for you."
"Well, that's a lot," said Frank soberly. "Just to feel that you girls are backing us up, and that there's somebody who cares whether we give a good account of ourselves or not, makes all the difference in the world."
"But that's not all we can do," cried Betty, her eyes shining with the light of resolution. ”

“ The snow, the cold and biting winds had gradually been left behind, and Nature, coy and uncertain at first, had, with the advance into the South, grown bolder. They had come from the land of bleakness and barrenness—from the place of leafless trees—into the region of Summer, almost in a day and night. They had exchanged snows for flowers.
Mrs. Stonington had stood the trip well, though a trifle weary and worn as the end of the journey came in sight. But the warm and balmy air of the South seemed to revive her, and her cheeks, that had been pale, took on a tinge of color. ”

“ Bert took the old tin cup and regarded it reverently.
"Think of us drinking out of that cup," reflected Bert. "Why, it's a war relic!"
"How's the cider?" asked the old soldier.
"Couldn't be better," said Harry. "I guess the cup helps the flavor."
This pleased old Ben, for the light of glory that comes to all veterans, whether private or general, shone in his eyes.
"Well, a soldier has two lives," he declared. "The one under fire and the other here," tapping his head and meaning that the memories of battles made the other life. ”

“ As the days passed Mirabell came to love her Lamb on Wheels more and more. Sometimes the little girl would tie a string to the wooden platform, on which her toy stood, and pull the Lamb around the house, as Arnold used to pull his little express wagon.
"I like to ride that way," thought the Lamb. "It is much more fun than it would be to be crowded into a Noah's Ark like the Wooden Lion and thrown into the flooded bathtub." ”

“ Baby May did not seem to mind being the center of a mystery. She grew fatter and taller, her eyes seemed bluer, her hair more golden, and certainly her smile was sweeter. She was a dear little baby, and every one loved her, especially the Bobbsey twins.
Summer was close at hand now. Every day it seemed warmer and warmer to have to go to school. With the windows open, so the sweet wind blew in and the songs of birds could be heard, it was quite a task to keep the children at their lessons. Miss Riker found it so in the room where Bert and Nan recited. ”

“ Often in a studio, even, the director will be notional—"temperamental," he might call it—and let a day go by, and again the glare of the powerful lights may so affect the eyes of the players that they have to rest, and so time is lost in that way.
But the time lost in a studio is as nothing compared to the time lost in filming the big outdoor scenes. There the sun is a big factor, for a brilliant light is needed to take pictures of galloping horses, swiftly moving automobiles and locomotives, and every cloudy day means a loss of time. ”

“ Look, Nan—Flossie!"
Taking courage, the girls went up to look. Snap stood over it, wagging his tail as proudly as though he had captured a real snake. As Freddie had said, it was only a tree root.
"But it did look a lot like a snake in the grass," said the little fellow.
"It must have," agreed Nan. "It looked like one even when Snap had it. But I'm glad it wasn't."
"So am I," spoke Grace, and Nellie made a like remark.
Snap frisked about, barking as though to ask praise for what he had done.
"He is a good dog," observed Freddie, hearing which the animal almost wagged his tail off. ”

“ What is a Judge?"
"Some one who tells the right from the wrong," answered the Rake. "Listen, Mr. Stuffed Elephant! Get up on that box, for a Judge must be above every one else, and we will tell you what the trouble is."
The Elephant got up on a strong, empty onion crate, and stood there with the Shovel, the Rake and the Pick standing in a row in front of him.
"You must say 'Ahem!' and bang on the box, like a real Judge," said the Shovel.
"Ahem!" coughed the Elephant, as loudly as he could. Then he took up a piece of wood in the end of his trunk, and banged on the side of the onion crate. ”

“ With a howl and a yowl Snoop pulled his claws loose from where they were tangled up in the turkey's feathers. With a final gobble, the turkey let go of Snoop's tail. The water spurted out in a spraying stream, Freddie's engine being a strong one, for a toy.
"That's the way I do it!" cried Freddie, just like Mr. Punch. "That's the way I do it! Look, I made them stop!"
"Why—why, I believe you did!" exclaimed Bert, with a laugh.
The gobbler ran out through the open barn door, his feathers wet and bedraggled. He must have thought he had been caught in a rainstorm. ”

“ Bunny insisted. "Now I'll do my trapeze act," and he climbed up to the bar that hung by the long ropes from the beam in the barn.
"I want to do a trapeze act, too!" cried Tom White.
"Say, we can't all do the same thing!" Bunny said. "That isn't like a real circus. It's got to be different acts."
"Oh, say!" cried Ned Johnson. "I know what I can do! I can ride you in a wheelbarrow, Tom, and upset you. That will make 'em all laugh."
"It won't make me laugh, if you upset me too hard!" declared Tom.
"I'll spread some hay on the floor, like the time I did when Bunny fell," said Sue. ”

“ CHAPTER XX THE MOTORCYCLIST AGAIN
"What a glorious morning!" cried Betty, raising her face to the brilliant sunshine. "I feel as if I could walk miles and miles and miles and never stop."
"Well, it's lucky for you that you do," sighed Grace. "Perhaps you'd be willing to walk a few for me."
"Oh, don't give up, Grade dear, before we've even started," cried Betty, giving a little exuberant skip with the sheer joy of being alive. "Anyway," she added, with inspiration, "if you get tired you and Mollie can go back and get the car." ”

“ While Bert got out the express wagon, Snap, the big dog, saw his little master, and jumped about, barking in joy.
"I don't care if that is a lion on the back of Miss Pompret's dishes," murmured Bert, as he put a piece of carpet in the wagon for Flossie and Freddie to sit on, "it looks just like you, Snap. And I wonder if I could ever find that milk pitcher and sugar bowl and get that hundred dollars. I don't guess I could, but I'd like to awful much. No, I mustn't say 'awful,' but I'd like to a terrible lot. A hundred dollars is a pack of money!" ”

“ Bert and Nan heard a rumbling sound back of the rough, wooden railroad station. Flossie and Freddie were too busy watching and listening to some blue jays in a tree overhead to pay attention to much else. But as the rumbling sound grew louder Bert saw a big wagon approaching, drawn by two powerful horses.
"Where's the automobile?" asked the boy, with a look at his father.
"I was just joking," said Mr. Bobbsey. "The roads here are too rough for autos. Lumber wagons are about all that can get through." ”

“ A little farther on the road home, Dorothy, Nan, and Nellie met the wanderers, and then the woodland escapade seemed a wild tale about bears, Indians, and even witches, for each girl added, to the boys' story, so much of her own imagination that the dark night and the roaring of the ocean, finished up a very wild picture, indeed.
"Now, you are real heroes," answered Dorothy, "and you are the bravest boys I know. I wish I had been along. Just think of sitting by a campfire in a dark woods, and having no one to bring you home but a poor little cow!" ”

“ Can’t I, Bert?” asked Freddie.
“I’ll see,” was all Bert would promise. “You go ahead and make the coffee for Aunt Sallie, Nan, while I get the hatchet.”
“And I want my breakfast!” cried Flossie.
“So do I,” chimed in Freddie.
“Now, just go easy,” advised Nan. “I can’t do everything at once. Oh, dear,” she sighed, “so many things are happening! I do wish mother and daddy would come back!”
“Oh, we’ll get along all right,” replied Bert. “This isn’t anything. ’Tisn’t half as bad as if the chimney had fallen down, for then we couldn’t have any fire.” ”

“ The whole room looked as though a cyclone--or a maniac --had been at work.
The girls stared for a minute and then drew closer together as if seeking protection from some unseen menace. They had some vague conception of what had taken place here in this lonely little cottage. The elderly and already nervous professor, reading the tragedy of his sons' death, all alone perhaps, with no one to comfort or restrain him, had lost his mind, temporarily at least, and had found an outlet in ruthlessly destroying everything which came within reach of his hand. ”

“ GRANDPA'S HORSES
"Well, well! You children do the queerest things!" cried Grandpa Brown, when Mr. and Mrs. Kendall drove up to the farmhouse with Bunny Brown and his sister Sue in the wagon, Splash standing up in the back, and barking as though he had done it all. "Yes, you certainly do queer things! The idea of running off to a circus!"
"We—we didn't run—we walked," corrected Sue.
"And we saw the elephants, but I didn't water any," said Bunny.
"Oh, I was so worried about you!" cried Mrs. Brown, as she put her arms around Bunny and Sue. ”

“ Betty's voice came out of the darkness, harsh, unnatural, like the crack of a whip. "The only danger we're in is the danger of losing our heads. Whoa, there, Nigger, old boy. Take it easy, beauty—there's nothing to be frightened about—there—there——" and she crooned to the big beast soothingly.
Someway, the other girls managed to follow her example, enough at least to quiet their restless mounts. Grace was sobbing, more from nervousness than fright, but she managed to say with a catch in her breath, "Stand still, Nabob—don't be such a s-silly. Isn't your Auntie Grace here with you?" ”

“ Grace groaned and looked behind her.
"They're gaining," she cried, and then all at once the spirit of the thing caught her—the contest of speed was getting into her blood. "Oh, Betty, don't let 'em," she almost screamed, above the noise of the motor and the rushing wind. "They're not more than fifty feet behind now!"
Betty gave her a swift look, smiled to herself, and once more fixed her dancing eyes on the road ahead.
"All right," she crowed. "Just watch me run away from them. I wouldn't have had the heart," she added with a chuckle, "if Mollie hadn't brought it all on herself." ”

“ There's no such thing as a ghost, of that we are certain, and yet if we shy at mentioning it all the while it will only make us more nervous."
"The idea! I'm not nervous a bit," declared Mollie.
"Well, then," resumed Betty, "there's no use in being afraid to use the word, as Amy seemed to be. So talk ghost all you like—you can't scare me. I'm so tired I know I'll sleep soundly, and I hope the rest of you will. Only, for goodness sakes, don't be talking in wierd whispers. That is far worse than all the ghosts in creation." ”

“ From the windows of Aunt Lu's house Bunny and Sue could look down on the street and see many strange sights. Oh! how many automobiles there were in New York!
There were big ones, and little ones, but there were more of the small kind, with little red flags in front, than any other.
"Those are called taxicabs," Aunt Lu told Bunny. "They are like the old cabs, drawn by horses. If a person wants to ride in a taxicab he just waves his hand to the men at the steering wheel." ”

“ Down in a valley below them was a crowd of soldiers, with cannon and guns, firing at one another. The soldiers were divided into two parties. First one party would run forward, and then the other, both sides firing as fast as they could.
"It's a war!" cried Bert. "It's a battle!"
"It's only a sham battle!" said Mr. Bobbsey. "No one is being hurt, for they are using blank cartridges. It must be that the soldiers are practicing so as to know how to fight if a real war comes. It is only a sham battle." ”

“ She flourished a shoe in the air and regarded Betty as though it were her fault. "I feel all quivery and shaky and trembly inside, and I don't think I could smile if you paid me for it."
"Goodness, I know I couldn't!" said Betty, and then added as she pinned on the bunch of carnations Allen had brought her the night before: "We've just got to smile, though, whether we feel like it or not. We don't want the boys to remember us in tears."
"I should say not!" responded Grace emphatically. "When I cry I'm a perfect fright. That's why I never do it." ”

“ Grace Ford was sitting in front with Mollie, while Betty Nelson and Amy Blackford "sprawled," to use Mollie's sarcastic and slightly exaggerated description, "all over the tonneau."
"You look as if you had never done a real day's work in your life," said Mollie, with a disapproving glance over her shoulder at the girls in the tonneau.
"We never have," returned quiet Amy, with a grin.
"And we are proud of it," added Betty, as she defiantly settled her feet still more comfortably on the foot rail. "Why should we be energetic when it is so much easier to be lazy?" ”

“ Now it lightened very often, and it thundered so loudly that Sue awakened on the back of the hermit, and began to cry.
"I want to go home!" she sobbed. "I want my mamma!"
"I'll get her as soon as I can," said the old man. "Don't cry little girl. The thunder is only a big noise, like Fourth of July, and the lightning is only a great big firefly—that is make-believe you know."
"Oh, yes, let's pretend that way!" cried Bunny, for he was not as frightened at the storm as was Sue.
She stopped crying. Sue always liked anything make-believe, even if it had to do with thunder and lightning. ”

“ The girls supported the unsteady little figure while the dim old eyes roved questioningly about.
"I—got—hurt!" she gasped, and then quite suddenly fainted again.
"Oh, Betty!" moaned Mollie, her face white with pity. "She's hurt worse, much worse, than we thought she was! Oh, what shall we do?"
"There's only one thing to do," replied Betty, trying to hide the tremor in her voice. "We'll have to get her to the hospital, and in a hurry."
"But Grace and Amy!" gasped Mollie. "We can't go without them." ”

“ The chugging of many motors—the churning to foam of the blue waters of the lake—a haze of acrid smoke hanging over all, as some cylinder did not properly digest the gasoline vapor and oil fed to it, but sent it out half consumed—spray thrown up now and then the distant sound of a band—eager eyes looking toward the stake buoys—tense breathing—all this went to make up the race in which our outdoor girls were taking part.
Foot by foot the Gem crept up on the Bug, which was the name of the foremost boat. Drop by drop Betty fed more gasoline to her striving motor. ”

“ The disastrous quality of their last adventure had had a dampening effect on the girls' enthusiasm for this form of entertainment, and for the present they preferred the safety of the ranch to the lure of the great unknown, as it were. However, this condition of mind was only temporary. They would soon be as eager as ever for new experiences. "I'm game for anything, Mollie dear, as long as you keep away from land-slides and wild animals."
"Just hear the child!" said Mollie disgustedly. "As if an adventure would be an adventure without a little danger mixed in!" ”

“ Those aboard the schooner peered anxiously over the storm swept waters for a sight of the motor craft, but they saw nothing. They shouted and called, but only the wind howled back at them.
Then, with a suddenness that was appalling, they seemed to be flung into the midst of a hurricane. The wind lashed the sea to fury, and the Mary Ellen spun around like some gigantic top.
"We're in the vortex!" cried Jack Jepson. "We're in the vortex of a cyclone! All hands look to themselves!" ”

“ Grace turned upon her reproachfully. "You're never going to—"
"Yes, she is," cried Mollie gleefully. "What does she say, Betty? It ought to be good."
"I never say anything that isn't good," put in Grace primly, adding, as she saw the light of mischief in Betty's eye. "If you tell tales out of school, Betty Nelson, I'll never forgive you."
"It's awfully funny," began Betty, bubbling over, while Mollie leaned forward gleefully. "She talks in such a wee small voice, and sometimes she'll even answer questions—if you speak very coaxingly." ”