Josephine Chase

“ Tom remained up there until the loud halloos of his companions informed him that breakfast was ready. The forester returned to his camp slowly and thoughtfully.
"Find anything up there?" questioned Hippy, giving him a quick glance of inquiry.
Tom nodded.
"The tents?" asked Elfreda.
"Naturally not up there," he replied, sitting down on a blanket and taking the plate of bacon that Elfreda handed to him.
"Out with it," laughed Grace. "It always is reflected in your face when there is anything weighty on your mind."
"Having something on one's mind is more than all of us can boast," chortled Hippy. ”

“ The wind now bore a new fragrance, and the air was heavily pungent with the odor of pine.
"Emma, does your nature cult explain to you why the trees grow so tall and so straight?" asked Tom, riding up beside Miss Dean.
Emma shook her head.
"Because they are fighting the battle of nature—fighting for existence, for their very lives, just as all the world of humans is fighting its battle. A tree must have light and air, or it dies. ”

“ After a hearty supper, well cooked under the observant eyes of Tom Gray, the lumberjacks retired to their shack, and the sound of the fiddle and the shuffle of dancing feet, accompanied by shouts and yells, rose from the bunk-house, which was located near enough to the Overland Riders' camp to enable them to hear, and to see, if they wished, what was going on. ”

“ A dead silence greeted the announcement, a silence broken only by the heavy breathing of the lumberjacks, and the shrill voice of Joe Shafto back in the cook-house abusing Willy Horse.
"What do you say, fellows?" urged Tom quietly.
Something seeped slowly into the brain of those rough and ready two-fisted lumbermen. To advance a confessed crook to foreman, a man who had bargained to do a traitorous thing to his Big Boss—it was big, it was unheard of in their rough lives. ”

“ Hippy introduced him to the members of the Overland party, the ranger bowing awkwardly, but with the quiet dignity so characteristic of those who have learned their lesson from the heart of nature herself.
"Sorry, folks, that I had to be up a tree with you, but we must do our duty and protect this forest. There are not many of 'em left in these United States, and what there is, are going fast. I'll have a snack with you."
"Peace has been declared," murmured Emma.
"Keep that menagerie away! I don't like bears nosing around me any more'n I do wolves."
"Wolves!" exclaimed Nora. ”

“ Henry, who had been out of sight ever since the arrival of the two men, had ambled into camp observed only by Emma Dean who hugged herself delightedly when she saw the bear's intention.
A yell from Chet Ainsworth when he felt the hot breath of the beast on his neck, as Henry sniffed at it, brought every one, including Chet, to their feet. Tobe Skinner whipped out his revolver and would have fired at the animal had not Tom Gray gripped his wrist.
"He's tame. Don't be frightened," soothed Hippy. "All the animals in our menagerie are halter-broken and milk-fed. Sit down. Go away, Henry! ”

“ Darkness had settled over the Big North Woods when Hippy rallied his flock for the party, each girl spruced up for the occasion, Emma Dean's face wreathed in smiles in anticipation of the good time that was in prospect. The only member of the outfit who remained behind was the forest woman, who flatly refused to associate with "them varmints," meaning the lumberjacks. Henry, laboring under no such scruples, followed the Overlanders as they set out for the lumberjacks' shack. ”

“ At nine o'clock in the morning the forest fire was conquered, after having burned over several acres of timber. Here and there little blazes were fanned into life by the morning breeze, but alert eyes discovered, and ready hands quickly whipped them out.
"Done! But it will have to be watched. You girls go back to camp and make some coffee. I don't believe that much of our belongings have been destroyed," said Tom.
Instead of starting for camp, the girls sank down in their tracks, and dropped instantly into a sleep of exhaustion. Neither man made an effort to arouse them. ”

“ Tom took his pocket lamp with him, leaving the Overlanders in the dark, for their own lamps were in their packs in the tents. Tom, however, came back inside of fifteen minutes.
"How is the camp?" asked Elfreda.
"There isn't any camp," answered Tom.
"Wha—at?" gasped the Overlanders.
"It hit me and went on into the river," groaned Hippy. "Voice of nature," he added in a mutter, but no one laughed.
"Our camp was pitched in the travoy way. The storm loosened the supports of the skidway and let the logs down. Several hundred thousand feet of them rolled over our camp and mashed it flat. ”

“ A sudden uproar was heard in the direction of the bunk-house. The lumberjacks having discovered that a fight was in progress were running towards the river to see if they too could not get into the fray, for a lumberjack loves nothing in the world so violently as he loves a fight.
"Keep out of it!" ordered Tom as he saw that the jacks were headed for the path that Peg and Willy had taken.
"Tom! Do something!" begged Grace. "Don't let those two men kill each other."
"We can do nothing. Even to call to Willy would take his attention from the battle. You know what that would mean." ”

“ While the Overland girls were washing at the river, Willy cleaned the fish and handed them to the forest woman who already had the cook fire going. And such a breakfast as the Overland party had that morning! Following the meal they made Willy take them for a ride in his canoe, two at a time; then Hippy and the bull pup took a skim up and down the river with Willy at the paddle.
"All we need now to make us feel like real aborigines is an Indian wigwam or a tepee," suggested Grace to her companions. ”

“ A dozen lumberjacks leaped to the cap-log to go to the assistance of Tom and Hippy, who they knew were in great peril.228
"Come back! Boys, come back! You can't help them now," cried Grace in an agony of apprehension.
"The fools! Why don't they run?" raged Joe Shafto, and the pet bear growled in sympathy with her at the unusual sounds.
It was a terrifying moment for those who could do no more than stand helplessly watching. The jacks by this time were well out on the cap-log, with Willy Horse in the lead and red-headed Spike close at his heels. ”

“ Hippy stepped between him and the blaze.
"Don't do anything childish. Let the fire alone. When we want the fire out we will put it out ourselves," reminded Lieutenant Wingate.
The ranger drew back an arm as if about to strike at the Overland Rider when a menacing growl at his side caused the forest man to spring back. He had recognized that growl instantly. Henry, standing on his hind legs, "arms" extended, was ready for fight, following a gentle prodding and a "Sick 'im, Henry," from his mistress.
The ranger whipped out his revolver.
"Drop that gun!" yelled Joe Shafto. "That's my bear!" ”

“ The Overland girls laughed merrily, and Grace linking an arm into the guide's led her down to the river where the two sat down, Grace to give Joe Shafto friendly advice, and Joe to accept it as she would from no other member of the Overland Riders.
In the meantime Tom and Hippy were discussing their plans. They spent a good part of the day doing so. After dinner Grace and Elfreda paddled up the river in the bark canoe, returning just before suppertime, faces flushed from their exercise, and eyes sparkling. ”

“ How I wish Madam Gersdorff might be here to hear it. Girls, you don't know, you cannot dream what a wonderful woman she is."
"I'd like to see anybody dream with you setting up such a chatter," complained Anne.
"Please, please, Emma, let the wolves howl if they wish. We can't stop them, but that is no reason why you should keep us all awake. We need sleep," begged Grace Harlowe laughingly.
After a few muttered protests, Emma subsided, and only the faint yelps of the dreaming bull pup and the noisy slumber of Hippy Wingate disturbed141 the deeply impressive silence of the great forest. ”

“ You Big Friend. Bye," he said, halting before Lieutenant Wingate. With that he trotted away.
"What a queer character," exclaimed Nora Wingate. "He loves my Hippy, because my Hippy is a brave man."
"Who runs away to fight another day—not!" added Emma mockingly.38
"He must have run very fast to catch up with us," suggested Anne.
"An Indian can outdistance a horse, as horses ordinarily travel," answered Tom. "Then, too, he probably knew a shorter cut."
"Did you notice how bruised and swollen his face was, and how indifferent he appeared to be about it?" questioned Grace solicitously. ”

“ Tom and Hippy, having sprung back, were gazing on the intruder in startled amazement, while Nora Wingate, standing on the table with one foot in the platter of venison, was screaming.
Grace, who had backed into a corner, was trying to subdue her own individual panic sufficiently to reason out the situation. Joe Shafto's words, when Grace finally absorbed them, brought enlightenment.
"Will he bite, Mrs. Shafto?" she called.
"Won't bite nothin' if ye don't bother him."
Grace ran to Emma and bathed her face with water.
"Get down!" commanded Lieutenant Wingate, holding up a hand to Nora. ”

“ They're varmints," answered the ranger.
"Why don't they try dynamite?" asked Emma. "Perhaps the wolves might eat it and go off."
"Call the bear," suggested Hippy after a brief silence.
The Overland Riders shouted, and the forest ranger grinned, the bull pup joining in the merriment by barking and dashing about the camp, taking a gentle nip at Henry's flank as he passed that none too good-natured beast. ”

“ Even the girls of the Overland party, not one of whom had known of Tom's and Hippy's purpose, felt a thrill, but no one spoke.
"Well, fellows?" urged Tom gently.
"Yes!" The word was uttered in a roar, a mighty roar that was heard in the cook-house and by the lumberjacks at their Christmas dinner in the old bunk-house.
Nora Wingate, carried away by her emotions, sprang to her feet and threw wide her arms.
"Boys! Boys!" she cried almost hysterically.252
"You're rough, but you're men—loyal, splendid fellows, and I love you, every one of you!"
Spike, with burning face, bolted for the door. ”

“ Miss Briggs declared that she would have been keenly disappointed if something had not occurred to stir them up at the outset of their journey.39
"This getting into difficulties became a habit with this outfit on the very day that it set sail for France and the great world war," she said.
"I thank my stars that we are going into the woods where peace and the voices of nature reign supreme," spoke up Emma.
"Sometimes the voices of nature have a savage growl in them," reminded Tom Gray laughingly. "Who is going to stand guard to-night?"
"No one," answered Grace, nodding to Hippy. ”

“ Tom said he was. The palace horsecar attached to their train had already been shunted to a siding, and the ponies of the Overland Riders were found to have made the journey from the east without injury. Quite an assemblage of villagers had gathered to witness the operation of unloading the ponies, and they gazed with interest as each Overland girl in turn stepped up to claim her mount as it was led slipping down the gangway. Hippy Wingate's pony, a western bronco that he had acquired that summer, was the last of the ponies in the car. ”

“ After the campers awakened, the forest woman's shrill call soon brought the bear ambling back to camp, but they observed that he was restless, now and then lifting his nose and sniffing the air, punctuated with an occasional throaty growl, but the bull pup, flat on his back, feet in the air, was sound asleep on his browse bed. ”

“ Many additional men had been taken on during the early part of the winter when the lumbering operations began on a large scale, and efforts were made to instill into the new men the spirit of the Overland outfit, which the old men long since had absorbed.
The great day arrived. The old and faithful jacks were to sit down with the Overlanders to the spread that was in preparation all that day, Joe Shafto, after much grumbling, laying aside her feud against all lumberjacks and helping the regular cook in his work of preparing the dinner. ”

“ One shouldn't look for drawing-room manners in a lumberjack. We have a loyal gang of men, men who will fight for us, if necessary, and who certainly can work. That, it appears to me, is the answer."
"Very well. I shall keep my eye on him, just the same. Hark! I thought I heard someone coming."
Tom and Grace were sitting by the campfire. The others of their party, with the exception of Mrs. Shafto and the bear, were listening to the fiddle and the thudding of the hob-nail boots of the lumberjacks as they danced away the early hours of the evening. ”

“ Sick 'im, Henry! Sick 'im!" raged Joe Shafto.
Grace, hearing the bear growl, sprang up and ran out. Her companions were not far behind her.
Sitting crouched over the campfire, which he had built, calmly cooking his breakfast, was the Indian, Willy Horse, wholly undisturbed by the uproar that his presence had created.
"Call off the bear!" commanded Grace sharply. "The man is our friend."
"He's a lazy good-for-nothin' and he's stole yer breakfast," protested the forest woman, as she headed off Henry and drove him back with sundry prods of her foot.
"Good morning, Mr. Horse," greeted Emma. ”

“ The Indian, suddenly recovering himself, darted between two buildings and disappeared.
"Good work!" chuckled Hippy, galloping up the street with Tom to join the girls, who were waiting for them.
"Oh, that was splendid!" cried Anne Nesbit as Tom and Hippy rejoined the party of Overland girls.
"It won't be splendid unless we step lively," answered Tom.
"Keep going, girls, keep going," urged Hippy.34
"I hate to run away, but being a peace-loving person I run away whenever a fight is suggested to me."
"We know it," observed Emma. ”