Laura Lee Hope

“ 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 weird whispers. That is far worse than all the ghosts in creation.”
“That’s what I say!” exclaimed Aunt Kate, who was an old-fashioned, motherly soul. “If the ghost comes I’m going to talk to it, and ask how things are—er—on the other side. ”

“ Grace went on.
“I have citronella, and there are mosquito nettings over the bunks,” said Betty. “Don’t worry.”
They went back to the boat, and the lanterns were lighted.
“Oh, doesn’t it look too nice to sleep in!” exclaimed Amy, as they gazed into the little cabin, with its tastefully arranged berths.
“I’m tired enough to sleep on almost any thing,” yawned Mollie. “Let’s see who’ll be the first to——”
“Not snore, I hope!” exclaimed Betty.
“Don’t suggest such a thing,” came from Amy. “We are none of us addicted to the luxury.” ”

“ Ford turns out.”
“That will be best,” spoke Betty. “Oh, see, it is a boat on fire!”
They had reached a place where they could see a small motor boat, not far from shore, wrapped in a pall of black smoke, through which could be observed flickering flames.
“There—he’s jumped!” cried Mollie, as a figure leaped from the burning craft. “He’s safe, anyhow.”
“There go Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Stone in their boat!” exclaimed Grace, as the slender racing craft shot out from shore.
Whatever may have been the faults of the young men as motorists, they knew how to act promptly in this case. ”

“ Then after the talk and laughter had died away, quiet gradually settled down in the camp tent. The Outdoor Girls were trying to go to sleep, but one and all, afterward, even Aunt Kate, complained that it was difficult. Whether it was the change from the boat, or the talk of the ghost, none could say. At any rate there were uneasy turnings from side to side, and as each cot squeaked in a different key, and as one or the other was constantly “singing,” the result may be imagined.
“Oh, dear!” exclaimed Grace, impatiently, after a half-hour of comparative quiet, “I know I’ll never get to sleep. ”

“ Look!” cried Betty, as she released the throttle control that connected the gasoline supply with the motor. At once, as when the accelerator pedal of an auto is pressed, the engine hummed and throbbed, and a mass of foam appeared at the stern to show the presence of the whirling propeller.
“That’s fine!” cried Grace, as Betty slowed down once more.
“I thought we’d take it easy,” the Little Captain went on, “as we don’t want to finish our cruise in one day, or even two. If I drove the Gem to the limit, we’d be in Rainbow Lake, and out of it, in too short a time. ”

“ A little tour was made of the island in the vicinity of the camp, and, as far as the girls could see, occasional picnic parties were the only visitors. There were no other campers there.
“We’ll have a marshmallow roast to-night,” decided Betty, as evening came on. They had gathered wood for a fire on the shore of the lake, and the candy had been provided by Grace, as might have been guessed.
“I hope the ghost doesn’t come and want some,” murmured Mollie.
“Hush!” exclaimed Betty. A noise in the woods made them all jump. Then they laughed, as a bird flew out. ”

“ The appetizing odor of bacon and eggs came from the little galley, mingled with the aromatic foretaste of coffee. Aunt Kate was busy inside. The girls were laughing out in the cabin, or on the lowered after-deck. It was the next morning—which makes all the difference in the world.
“I’m afraid we’re going to have a shower today,” observed Amy, musingly, as she looked up at the sky. A light fog hung over the river.
“Will you ever forget the awful shower that kept us in the deserted house all night?” asked Betty, as she arranged her hair. ”

“ If the man who owns this island knew what was good for him he’d advertise the fact that it was haunted. If Mr. Lagg were here I’d get him to make up a poem about the ghost. That would scare it off, if anything could.”
“That’s the way to talk!” cried Betty, cheerfully. “And now for a good night’s rest. Bur—r—r—r! It is cold!” and she shivered.
“I’m going to get some more blankets from the boat,” declared Mollie. “I know we’ll be glad of them before morning. Come along with me, Grace,” she added, after a moment’s pause, as she took up one of the lanterns. “You can help carry them.” ”

“ Near where they had docked was a little colony of summer cottages, and not far off was an amusement resort, including a moving picture show.
“Let’s go, girls!” proposed Grace after supper, “We don’t want to sit around all evening doing nothing. The boat will be safe; won’t it, Betty?”
“Don’t say ‘it’—my boat is a lady—speak of her as such,” laughed the Little Captain. “Yes, I think she will be safe. But I will see if there is a dock watchman, and if there is I’ll engage him.”
There proved to be one, who, for a small fee, would see that no unauthorized persons entered the Gem. ”

“ She did very well, for she had had some practice in a small motor boat the girls occasionally hired.
“Oh, I couldn’t have had anything in the world I wanted more than this!” she cried to her uncle. “It is just great!”
“And you think you girls will go for a cruise?”
“I am sure we will, and as soon as we can. It will be the very thing for the hot summer.”
“Wouldn’t Will just love this?” sighed Grace.
“Perhaps Betty will invite him and Allen Washburn and Percy Falconer to come along on a trip or two,” said Mollie, with a wink at her chums as she mentioned Percy’s name. ”

“ But Mollie’s fortunate dive frustrated his plans.
“Seen anything more of the ghost?” asked Will of the girls, when the canoe had been moored to the shore.
“No, and we don’t want to,” returned Betty.
“Afraid?” Allen wanted to know.
“Indeed not!” she exclaimed, with a blush.
“I’ll tell you what let’s do,” suggested Frank. “Let’s take a look around and see if that ghost left any footprints.”
“Ghosts never do,” asserted Will. ”

“ There’d always be a lot of curious ones about, looking at our boat, and our things, and all that.”
“Very well, we can pick out some other island,” agreed Betty. “You know there is to be a regatta, and water sports, on Rainbow Lake just about the time we get there, and we can take part, if we like.”
“Do! And if we can get in a race we will!” cried Mollie, with sparkling eyes.
“Uncle Amos has promised to be with us some of the time,” went on Betty. “And I suppose we will have to invite the boys occasionally, just for the day, you know.” ”

“ She’s in the offing, all fitted for a cruise. All she needs is a captain and crew, and I think Bet here will be the one, and you girls the other. I may ship as cook or cabin boy, if you’ll have me, but that is as may be. Now, if you’re ready we’ll go down to the dock and see how the tide is.”
“But we have no tide here, Uncle Amos,” spoke Betty.
“What! No tide! What sort of a place is it without a tide? I’m disappointed, lass, disappointed!”
“We’ll try and have one made for you,” said Mollie, with a laugh. ”

“ Lagg,” asked Will, lingering a bit behind the others, “just how much is there in this ghost story, anyhow?”
“Just what I told you,” was the answer. “There is something queer on that island.”
“Then the girls will find out what it is!” declared Will, with conviction. “If they could find the man who lost the five hundred dollar bill, they’re equal to laying the ghost of Elm Island. I’m not going to worry about them.”
“Let’s go down a little way farther and have a look at the haunted island,” proposed Grace, when they were again on board the Gem.
“Have we time?” asked Betty. ”

“ But Prince was now beyond the reasoning power of any human voice. The thunder rumbled and crashed overhead. Grace, above it, could hear the whining decrease of the exhaust of the big car that had caused her steed to run away. ”

“ Amy Stonington, who had not joined in the talk since the somewhat hurried arrival of Betty, strolled over to the hammock and began peering about in it—that is, in as much of it as the fluffy skirts of the two occupants would allow to be seen.
“I don’t see it,” she said in gentle tones—everything Amy did was gentle, and her disposition was always spoken of as “sweet” by her chums, though why such an inapt word is generally selected to describe what might better be designated as “natural” is beyond comprehension. “I don’t see it,” murmured Amy.
“What?” asked Grace, quickly. ”

“ Lagg laughed genially, and soon provided the party with bottles of deliciously cool soda, and straws through which to partake of it, glasses being voted too prosaic.
There came a protest from Paul, who was sharing the treat.
“I tan’t dit no sody!” he cried. “It all bubbles up!”
“No wonder! You are blowing down your straw. Pull up on it, just as if you were whistling backwards,” said Mollie.
“Whistling backwards is a distinctly new way of expressing it,” commented Frank.
“I dot it!” cried the tot, as the level of his glass began to fall under his efforts—successful this time. ”

“ She ventured to peer out from under the tent flap now. “Is it—is it gone?” she faltered.
“It’s in the lake—whatever it was,” said Mollie. “But wasn’t it oddly shaped, Betty?”
“It was indeed. And it made plenty of noise. Real ghosts never do that.”
“Oh, some do!” asserted Amy. “I read the ‘Ghost of the Stone Castle,’ a most fascinating story, and that ghost always rattled chains, and made a terrible noise.”
“What did it turn out to be?” asked Aunt Kate.
“The story didn’t say. No one ever found out.”
“Well, this one is exactly like Mr. Lagg described,” spoke Grace, “chains and all. ”

“ But really, it is the grandest thing! Oh, girls, such a time as may be ahead of us this summer!” and she pretended to hug herself in delight.
“Betty Nelson, you’ve just got to tell us!” insisted Mollie. “Look out, Amy, I’m going to get up.”
Getting up from a hammock—or doing anything vigorous, for that matter—was always a serious business with quick Mollie. She generally warned her friends not to “stand too close.”
“Never mind, here comes Grace,” interrupted Amy. “Do sit still, Mollie; it’s too warm to juggle—or is it jiggle?—around so.” ”

“ Amy said she thought she looked better dry. Certainly she was a pretty girl and knew how to “pose” to make the most of her charms—small blame to her, though, for she was unconscious of it.
“We can get it up easily enough,” declared Mollie, wringing the water from her skirt, “All we’ll have to do will be to toss out the stones, one by one, and the canoe will almost float itself. I can tie a rope to the bow, and we can stand on shore and pull. Those boys will be so glad to get it back.” ”

“ Hurrah!”
“Oh, thank the dear Lord!” murmured Mollie, and then she sobbed on Betty’s shoulder.
“Well, I guess we are ready to start,” announced Grace. “I have the chocolates. Who has the olives?”
“Chocolates and olives—the school girl’s delight!” mocked Will,
“Oh, you’ll be asking for some,” declared his sister.
“Chocolates and olives are good for the boys,
And to the girls they also bring joys.”
Thus remarked Mr. Lagg. The crowd of young people were in his store, stocking up the Gem for a resumption of her cruise on Rainbow Lake. ”

“ Really, it’s too warm to do more than drift to-day.”
“You finished the last of the candy yourself!” exclaimed Grace, with spirit. If Grace had one failing, or a weakness, it was for chocolates.
“I did not!” snapped Mollie. Her own failing was an occasional burst of temper. She had French blood in her veins—and not of French lilac shade, either, as Betty used to say. It was of no uncertain color—was Mollie’s temper—at times. ”

“ Now I am happy,” and she munched the appetizing combination.
“Crackers and olives!” murmured Betty. “Our old schoolday feast. I haven’t gotten over my love for them, either. Let them circulate, Mollie.”
The girls were making merry with quip and jest when Grace, hearing a crackling of under brush, looked back along the path they had come. She started and exclaimed:
“Here come those two young men—Mr. Stone and Mr. Kennedy.”
“Don’t notice them,” begged Amy, who was not much given to making new acquaintances.
“Too late! They see us—they’re coming right toward us!” ”

“ Then came calm evening, when they sat on deck and ate supper prepared by Aunt Kate.
“Now you girls just sit right still and enjoy yourselves,” she told them, when they insisted on helping. “You don’t win motor boat races every day, and you’re entitled to a banquet.”
That night there was another informal dance at the Yacht Club, and the girls had a splendid time. Mr. Stone and Mr. Kennedy exerted themselves to see that our friends did not lack for partners, and Grace was rather ashamed of the suspicions she had entertained concerning the twain. ”

“ Every one else is well, including Paul.
“Oh, but I shall be so anxious until it is over! They are going to let me know as soon as it is. Are we going to stay around here, where I can get word quickly?”
“Yes, we will remain on Elm Island, I think,” said Betty. “There is no use in cruising about too much when we are so comfortable there, and really it is lovely in the woods.”
“As long as the ghost doesn’t bother us,” spoke Amy.
“Nonsense!” exclaimed Betty. “What is your news, Grace?”
“Oh, Will writes that he and Frank are coming up to camp on the island near us.” ”

“ I’ll never cut business for a ball game again, and I’ll do all I can to help out. I’m sure Prince will soon come home, though, and it will be all right. I’ll go out to the stable now, and if he isn’t there I’ll saddle Toto and go hunting. I’ll start from where the accident happened, and trace Prince. Lucky he’s pure white, he’ll show up well, even in the dark.”
“No, I don’t want you to do that,” objected Mr. Ford. “You may go to the stable, if you like, but don’t start any search until morning. In the meanwhile we may hear something, or he may come back. It’s too bad a night to go out. ”

“ Lagg did a general business.
“What are all you folks doing around here?” asked the storekeeper, when he had waited on some other customers.
“Getting in practice for a cruise,” answered Mollie. “Betty, here, is the proud possessor of a lovely motor boat, and we are going to Rainbow Lake soon.”
“And camp on an island, too,” added Amy. “I know I shall love that.”
“Any particular island?” asked Mr. Lagg.
“Elm is a nice one,” remarked Will “Why don’t you girls try that? It isn’t as far as Triangle, and it’s nearly as large. It’s wilder and prettier, too.” ”

“ She opened the throttle a little more, and advanced the spark slightly. The result was at once apparent. The Gem shot ahead, and the girls in the leading boat looked back nervously.
“One of them is that pretty girl Will danced with so often at the ball,” said Mollie, as she got a glimpse of the rival’s face.
“Yes, and the other is her cousin, or something,” spoke Betty. “I was introduced to her. It’s mean, perhaps, to beat you, girls,” she whispered, “But I’m going to do it.” ”