by Lilian Garis
CHAPTER X
MEET BUZZ AND FUSS
"Company!" called Madaline. "Someone is coming down our path."
"But we don't own the woods," replied Grace.
"They are surely coming here," insisted Cleo.
"And Bobbs! Listen!" exclaimed Louise. "It's the girls who wearlong-legged green silk stockings! Just look!"
The intruders were almost upon them and the order Louise gave seemedentirely uncalled for. Everyone looked! In fact they stared at the twoconspicuous blondes, who were recognized as the drivers of thebug-boat, and who seemed rudeness itself to the Scouts.
"Quick! Drop the tent flap, don't let them snoop!" whispered Cleo toMadaline who was nearest the pull rope.
Madaline picked herself up from her camp stool and with a great showof indifference sauntered into the tent and dropped the curtain as shewent. The other girls exchanged glances of satisfaction.
"Good afternoon," chirped one of the callers. "May we come in?"
"Certainly," replied Corene. She had risen but did not offer her seatto the strangers.
"What a perfectly dear nook!" exclaimed the shorter girl. Her remarkalmost gave Louise a spasm of some kind, for she choked, and coughed,and finally ran off to get a drink.
"And do you stay here all the time?" asked the girl with the longblack earrings.
"We're camping," replied Corene. At the moment everyone wished Mackeyhad not gone hunting new wild flowers.
"How perfectly lovely!" gasped Number One.
This threatened a spasm to Julia, but she kept her eyes on the sweatershe started the year before, and thus offset serious consequences.
"We are at the Fayette," volunteered Number Two, "and we perfectlyhate it." She dropped down on the grass and propped her uselessparasol over her head in an obvious pose. The other followed suit. "Iwish we might camp for a while, don't you, Buzz?"
The name brought Madaline out from the tent with a laugh in her eyes,but she closed the "door" after her, and carefully arranged thecurtains.
"Buzz!" she whispered to Cleo.
"Could you possibly take us in?" asked the other caller.
This surprising question almost precipitated something worse than achoking spell all around. After the way those bold girls ran theScouts out of the lake with their old yellow boat!
"We don't take boarders," replied Corene cruelly, grinding out theword "boarders" with vicious satisfaction.
"Oh, we know that. But Fuss meant could we come as Girl Scouts?"
"Girl Scouts!" repeated Cleo, incredulously.
"Why, yes, I think those togs are perfectly stunning and shouldn'tmind at all wearing them," condescended Fuss. "Can you get thoseuniforms around here?"
A look akin to disgust crossed the face of Corene. How she longed to"speak the truth for once," but politeness forbade the experiment.
"You can't wear the uniform unless you are a Scout, and you can't be aScout unless you qualify," she snapped.
"And what do you do to qualify?"
"Fuss and Buzz" had both seated themselves without invitation, and nowtheir line of questions indicated rather a stay.
Corene sank back and sighed. She picked up her book and toyed with itsignificantly. But no one replied. There was danger of a general laughbreaking out if someone didn't say something quickly, so Louise, justcoming back from the water pail, offered an excuse.
"All right Louie?" asked Grace. She had never called Louise Louiebefore.
"Oh, yes, I just choked," replied Louise, "and went for a drink."
"A drink!" repeated the Buzzer. "Oh, could we have a lovely, cooldrink? We are so warm from walking."
What could the Bobbies do?
"Certainly," said Julia. "I'll fetch it."
"I'll help you," offered Cleo, glad to escape for a moment.
A brand new tin pie pan with two glasses of spring water was fetched.There was no doily, either paper or otherwise, although the usual traywas so covered.
The strangers drank heartily, however, and it seemed now they surelymust go. But they didn't.
"And you couldn't take us for just a teeny-weeny while?" cooed Fuss.
"Oh, if you only could, we would be so good! We would do all thework--do you have to do all the work?" came another silly question.
"We don't _have_ to but we _choose_ to," snapped Corene again. Hercompanions seemed to have no pity, for rarely did one of them offer tohelp her out. Why didn't Mackey come and rescue them? Each waswondering.
"Do you know that queer girl on the hilltop?" asked Fussy,unexpectedly.
"Who do you mean?" Grace challenged.
"'Fly-away Peg,' they call her. She's so queer, and so--so sort ofheathenish," said Buzzy.
"We are acquainted with Peggie Ramsdell," replied Grace, glad that sheremembered the name, "but we don't consider her queer."
"You don't, really! Then you don't know her. She is very queer, and ifI were you--so young and trusting--I'd keep away from her," offered thesecond intruder.
"Why should we do that?" Corene shot the question defiantly.
"Well," a titter, "she won't get you any place, that's all," went onthe informer. "No one will take you up if you tag around with her."
"We don't want to be taken up," flung back Corene. "And I'm afraid youwill have to excuse us. It is almost time for class."
"Class! And do you go to school here, too?"
No one answered, but all had risen. They would take Corene's cue andgo in the tent; if only those rude girls would take themselves off.
"Oh, could we have just one peek in your tent? We are dying to!" camethe daring question which was put by both, one tagging the end on theother's introduction.
This brought out Corene's "fighting fury," as the girls wereaccustomed to characterize her aggressiveness, and now she faced thestrangers squarely.
"Aren't you the two young ladies who tried to run us out of the lakethis morning?" she demanded. Her face took on a tone of red she triedhard to keep down.
"Oh, did you mind?" simpered one. "Why, we were only fooling. You werehaving such a lovely time we thought it would be fun to--to chase you."
"You did it to show off and it wasn't funny a bit," declared Corene,her companions applauding with glances. "We don't feel like beingfriendly but we have tried to be polite," pursued Corene, "but now Iguess we had better----"
"Close the interview," mocked Buzz. "Of course we'll go. We neverintended to stay. We were only trying to have some fun with you," andher voice fairly hissed her rudeness. "Such babes in the woods! And nomammas! Better call nursie to shoo horrid, big things away. Comealong, Toots. They don't want and evidently won't take any advice. Butif they tag after Fly-away Peg maybe they'll be sorry they didn'tlisten."
Then they went, their glaring satin skirts--one was gold and the othermahogany--showing through the heavy brush as they wound in and out thepath, their twin-made sweaters of bright pink being last to fade fromview, over the little rustic bridge that spanned the creek.
The Scouts stood, too surprised to give expression to their feelings.
"Of all the cheek----" began Grace.
"Why didn't you hit them, Corey? I saw you stoop for a stick," saidCleo.
"I felt like doing something desperate," replied Corene. "I never inall my life saw such nerve."
"Do you think they were really fooling about wanting to come to camp?"queried Julia.
"They would be glad enough to come indeed if they saw any chance,"declared Margaret, promptly.
"Can you imagine Buzz and Fuss in our uniforms?" Grace went intoperfect kinks at the idea.
"They would love them," drawled Julia, imitating the tone of voiceused by the strangers.
"And wouldn't they look cute in the kilties?" mocked Madaline.
"With the green silk stockings and all!" howled Cleo.
Only the approach of Miss Mackin saved the Bobbies from wilderexpression of joy--joy that the callers had gone, and joy for the trailof humor they left behind.
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sp; Her arms filled with iron weed and late daisies, Mackey looked verypretty as she came along through the soft green setting, so differentfrom the last figures that travelled the same path.
The girls ran to meet her and eagerly told the exciting story.
"You see, I shouldn't leave you very long," commented the directorwhen the account was finished. "You are so attractive, even thefrivolous stop to admire. And I have a lovely surprise for you."
They took the flowers from her and "sat her down," as if she were notreally a girl but a queen among them.
"What's the surprise?" cooed Madaline.
"The Norms are going to start a class in basketry; who wants to join?"
"Oh, baskets, the Indian kind, and the pretty raffia kind, and the----"
"Lunch basket kind," Julia interrupted Grace. "We will join you,Mackey, won't we, girls?"
Everyone agreed eagerly, and the first session was arranged to be heldat Camp Comalong on the following afternoon.
"I thought after a few days things might get sort of samey," saidCleo, "but as it looks now I wonder how we are going to get everythingin? We must go riding soon, Louise."
"We surely must, Clee. Let us keep the next afternoon after to-morrowfree for that. I am just longing for a ride through those wonderful,green woods."
"Maybe we will meet Buzzie and Fussie, and if we do----" threatenedCleo.
"We'll make them run harder than they did us, with their oldbuggy-boat in the lake," finished Louise, well out of hearing of thedirector.
But a new cause for questions had crossed their wonderful path.
Why did those girls speak with such marked disapproval of Peg, theexclusive neighbor?