Miss Elting

“ Margery giggled.
"Silence!" The captain's voice was stern.
"If you cannot keep quiet you will have to go below," rebuked Miss Elting. "You will spoil it all. Now, not another word."
The silence of sleep settled over the "Red Rover." A gentle ripple at the bows gave off a soothing, musical sound, but that was all. The girls were now able to see a boat approaching them from the island, though unable to make out the forms of the occupants of the craft. Miss Elting, with glasses in hand, was studying the approaching boat. Fortunately the night was dark, though the stars were shining brilliantly. ”

“ Livingston.
"How do you do, Mith Thkinner," greeted Tommy. "Like mythelf, you aren't fat, are you?"
"I am not," replied Miss Skinner.
"Where do we stow our belongings?" asked Miss Elting.
Mrs. Livingston looked puzzled.
"Every tent in the camp is full," she replied. "Really, I do not know what I am going to do with you, girls."
"That is easily answered. We will sleep out-of-doors," proposed Jane. "We were out all last night, and in our wet clothing at that."
"How soon will you have vacancies?" asked Miss Elting.
"Four girls will be leaving the last of next week, Miss Elting. ”

“ We want to hear about the Tramp Club and what we are to do to outwit them," said Miss Elting. "Did they bring their tent with them, Harriet?"
"Yes. At least they have a small tent. I don't believe they have moved their permanent camp, but they are here in force, that is certain. Now, I'll tell you about the surprise I propose to give them."
Harriet explained briefly. At first the girls were not in favor of it, but after she had gone into further details they grew enthusiastic.
"You certainly do love to work, don't you, Harriet Burrell?" said Miss Elting with a laugh. "But it is good for you. ”

“ We are always careful of fire,” Miss Elting made reply.
“What was it I fell over when I came in here?” he asked, glancing about him. “You certainly look mighty comfortable here.”
The girls looked at each other and giggled.
“It was a little contrivance of one of our young women, so that we might be warned of the approach of strangers,” the guardian informed him. “You see, it warned us that some one was coming.” 82
“I guess you can take care of yourselves, all right. Is there anything you want? If there is, come over to the house. My wife is curious to see this outfit. ”

“ Miss Elting suddenly found her arms gripped from behind. She struggled with all her strength. So did Harriet. Hazel screamed as she felt her own arms pinioned.
“Herd the other two in the tent, then git all the swag you can find,” commanded the spokesman breathlessly, for he was having his hands full helping his assistant to hold Miss Elting and the two girls. One grasped Tommy and Margery by their arms, and fairly dragging them over, flung them into the tent. “Get the stuff! Never mind those two. They’re too scared to bother. It’s these that we’ve got to look out for,” he directed. ”

“ The girls halted. "Are you the Meadow-Brook Gals?"
"Yes, sir," answered Miss Elting, brightly.
"Well, I'm mighty glad to know about it. 'Pears as if you didn't know where you was going."
"And who are you, sir?" demanded the guardian.
"I'm the guide, Janus Grubb."
"Will you listen to the man!" chuckled Jane.
Harriet nodded with satisfaction.
"Janus Grubb? Why, sir, I don't understand. We have already met Mr. Grubb," cried Miss Elting.
"Somebody is crazy," muttered Jane, "I think the man with the green goggles is the lunatic." ”

“ They’re a fine lot of fellows, but full of mischief.”
“As I said before, we haven’t words with which to express our gratitude to you for what you have done for us,” said Miss Elting. “Ah! There are your friends. Won’t you introduce us to them? I’ll first introduce my Meadow-Brook Girls.” Miss Elting introduced the girls to the Tramp Club as a body, after which the captain did the same with his friends. The names of the members of the club as given by the captain in his introduction, were Dill Dodd, Fred Avery, Sam Crocker, Charles Mabie, Will Burgess and Davy Dockrill. ”

“ We landed on plowed ground on the other side of the fence."
"Mercy!" exclaimed the Chief Guardian.
"Can anything hurt you, girls?"
"I hope not," answered Harriet. "This was a little sudden, but we didn't mind it so very much, did we, Miss Elting?"
"I don't know who you mean by 'we,' but please do not include me in this particular 'we.' I am not over the shock of that plunge yet, nor do I expect to be for some hours to come. I fear [175] the car is ruined, Mr. McCarthy. I hope you will not send another one down here for Jane, if you will pardon my saying so." This from Miss Elting. ”

“ 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. ”

“ I was chased by one at grandfather’s farm two years ago. There is only one way to save yourself from them when they are angry—that is to keep out of their way. I think——”
“Oh, look! Look, girls!” cried Hazel in a tone of suppressed eagerness.
“Oh, thave me! There they come,” moaned Tommy.
“It’s the Tramp Club as I live,” exclaimed Miss Elting. “Girls, we must call to them. It is a humiliating position for us, but we must get out of here. They can at least go for the farmer and ask him to drive the animals off.”
“Oh, Miss Elting, please don’t call to them,” begged Harriet. ”

“ They were bearing fence rails on their shoulders, fairly 112 staggering under the weight of their burdens.
“Oh, I’m so glad!” cried Miss Elting, now on the verge of tears after the strain. “Who are they, Harriet, my brave girl?”
“We’re the Tramp Club,” answered the first boy. “We’ll introduce ourselves after we get you girls out of the morass. You’re in a fine mess and you certainly do need help.” ”

“ With a ripping sound the canopy top was stripped clear of the vehicle and left dangling from the low hanging limbs of the trees under which the buck-board wagon had been dragged.
"Hold fast! Don't try to jump!" commanded Miss Elting without the least trace of excitement in her voice. Hazel placed a firm hand on the arm of the terror-stricken Tommy. ”

“ Jasper gazed at her, started to say something, then checked himself. Margery and Hazel giggled. The man finally picked up the bags and stood sullenly waiting. Miss Elting and Harriet also carried suit cases, the other girls taking small packages with them. Tommy stood leaning defiantly against a tree.
"Good night, Tommy," called Miss Elting sweetly. "Keep out from under the trees, if a thunder storm should come up during the night." Harriet, Hazel and Margery suppressed their giggles. Tommy held her position, standing with head thrust forward, eyes narrowed, face drawn into sharp wrinkles. ”

“ The other girls straggled after them, Margery being last of all. Behind them all Jane drove the car slowly, the engine making no noise.
“We must walk faster, girls!” cried Miss Elting, looking back. “You, especially, Margery. Faster!” ”

“ Janus sat up as the girl threw her own weight on the line to assist in holding it until the guide should have recovered himself.
"Oh, what has happened?" cried the guardian.
"Some one is over the edge," answered Harriet almost breathlessly. "Quick! Find out who it is."
"It's Tommy!" screamed Margery Brown.
Miss Elting sprang toward the edge of the shelf.
"Stop!" thundered the guide. "Careful! Don't rush. Take it easy. All the rest of you stay back. You go cautiously to the edge, Miss Elting, and find out just what shape she's in." ”

“ Listen to that, girls. Oh, isn't it perfectly splendid?" exclaimed Harriet. "I never dreamed that I should have such a glorious vacation as this is going to be. How many girls are there in camp, Miss Elting?"
"Forty or fifty I should say. I do not know the exact number. You will find a happy lot of young women. Are you hungry?" ”

“ Miss Elting had begun to unwind herself the instant her attention had been called to Grace Thompson's perilous position at the head of the chute. Hazel Holland also had rolled over to free herself of the blankets. But before either of them had succeeded in getting to her feet, Tommy had taken the long dive, followed, as the reader already knows, by Margery, and later by Harriet Burrell and Jane McCarthy.
"They'll be killed! Oh, those girls!" wailed the guardian. "Go after them, Janus."
"They are quite likely to be," observed the guide huskily. "I can go after them, but I can't stop them. ”

“ Harriet waited at the foot while her companion climbed it rapidly.
"I've got her," Jane called down. "She has fainted. What shall I do?"
"Get her down," urged Miss Elting.
"I can't. She is fast."
"Wait! I will be with you at once," called Harriet. "Will some one bring a rope, please?" Tommy, Margery and the guardian were scrambling down the rocks. Janus, having extricated himself from the litter, had picked it up and was on his way down to where Hazel had fallen by another path.
"Consarn the luck!" he grumbled. "Can't go a mile without something breaking loose. ”

“ To-day the Gipsy is the only free man who wanders the earth. He pays no tithes, he has no cares.”
“But you have a ruler, a head of all the Gipsies, have you not?” interjected Miss Elting.
“There is the queen of all,” answered the old woman softly. “She now is one hundred years old. She lives in Roumania. Each year are her commands received by all her peoples throughout the world. How, I cannot tell you. It is a secret of the Romanys. We love, we hate, but not as do the Gorgios. But see! The princess has returned. She seeks her friends.”
“You—you mean Miss McCarthy?” questioned Harriet. ”

“ Get the girls down and make them go outside. You will have to hurry. The roof may fall in. Make a rope of the blankets. We shall have to lower her to the ground. She is helpless.”
“I’ll be with you in a moment,” called the calm, confident voice of the guardian. Miss Elting was always to be depended upon in an emergency. She had gotten the other girls safely down before Harriet had called out to her, thinking that Harriet might need her undivided assistance in rescuing the woman from her perilous position. ”

“ All at once, however, Jane slowed down with a jolt. She then sent the car cautiously ahead, this time driving out on a level grass plot at the side of the road. There she shut down, turned off the power, and, leaning back, yawned audibly.
"Whoa!" she said wearily.
"Why, Jane, what is the matter?" cried Miss Elting.
"Like a sailboat, we can't make much headway without wind. As it happens, we have no wind on the quarter, as the sailors would say."
"I don't understand."
"She means the tires are down," explained Harriet Burrell. ”

“ So excited were the Meadow-Brook Girls at the prospect of spending a night in a Gipsy camp that they almost forgot the thrilling experiences through which they had passed. There were few preparations to be made. Miss Elting pocketed her revolver, though she had no idea that she would need it. She knew that 201 the old Gipsy woman might be trusted; that a Gipsy never forgets a favor—nor a wrong. Sybarina felt under deep obligations to them for what they had done for her. ”

“ 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.” ”

“ Harriet now set to work cutting down small saplings with her hatchet. These she threw out into the space between Miss Elting and the three girls. They were close together, which somewhat simplified the work. The Meadow-Brook girl knew that it would take a quantity of the small trees and limbs to support her weight, but it was the only course she knew of to follow. Fortunately for Harriet she was an athletic girl, possessing great strength for one of her age and build. Better still, she possessed a 105 courage and will all her own. ”

“ She, too, shouted as she sent a fair-sized boulder spinning down the incline.
"My, what a racket!" cried Jane. "Harriet, shall we go join the game?"
"I am getting ready as fast as I can. You had better remain quiet for a time yet, Hazel."
Hazel said she would. Miss Elting also lay gazing up at the sky, following with her eyes the flight of the birds, many of which, high in the air, were soaring toward the east to meet the coming of the day. ”

“ The girls looked at one another. No one spoke. None wished to place the blame on the Tramp Club. The girls now began to understand the hurried departure of Captain Baker and his friends. Miss Elting saw that there was only one course to pursue under the circumstances.
“I can’t tell you where we got the melons, sir, but we didn’t steal them. How much are the melons worth?”
“Why?” queried the farmer, scenting a bargain. 186
“We intend to pay for them,” answered Harriet coldly.
“How many melons were there?” asked the farmer, more blandly. ”