The Motor Girls in the Mountains; or, The Gypsy Girl's Secret

by Margaret Penrose

  CHAPTER VII THE MOUNTAIN CAMP

  The Motor Girls, followed by the boys, made their way briskly back to thecars and climbed in, Walter resuming his place with the other boys andBelle going back to Cora and Bess.

  For some time previous to running across the gypsy camp they had beenrising higher and higher into the mountains, and now the road becamestill steeper. They had to run more slowly in consequence, for althoughboth cars were good hill-climbers, it took a good deal of power to makeany kind of speed. Besides, as they got farther into the wilderness, theroad was rougher and more neglected. But it was just this wildness theyhad come to seek, and their spirits rose with the difficulties theyencountered.

  "You go in advance, Jack," said Cora, as the road grew narrower until itwas difficult for the two cars to go side by side. "Of course, having thefaster car, I suppose we ought to show the way, but we're nothing if notmagnanimous. If your car balks we'll push you along. Besides, you havethe map."

  "Don't worry about pushing us along," retorted Jack. "Just for that, Iought to shoot ahead out of sight and leave you to bitter regrets whenyou find yourselves lost in the wilderness. But I'm too noble to treathelpless girls that way, so you're safe for the present. But beware,woman, of goading me too far! It's a long worm that has no turning."

  "If you're as mixed in your road directions as you are in your proverbs,I'm afraid we won't get to Camp Kill Kare to-night," rejoined Cora. "Butgo ahead now like a good boy, and think up some more bright things tospring on us. We want to be by ourselves so that we can talk withoutfoolish interruptions."

  "They want to talk," muttered Jack. "What a novelty!"

  "If women talk a good deal, I notice that lots of men take after theirmothers," replied Belle, as Jack's car darted into the lead.

  "Isn't it tantalizing," said Cora to her chums, resuming theirinterrupted conversation, "that I can't think just whom that gypsy girllooks like? Don't you know how it is when you are trying to recall a wordor a line of poetry or something, and have it just on the tip of yourtongue but can't quite get it? I feel just that way about thisresemblance. I'm perfectly sure I've seen some one very much like her.Can't you girls help me out? We're together so much, and we know the samepeople. Put on your thinking caps and see if you can't give me a hint."

  "I only wish I could," replied Belle thoughtfully. "There _was_ somethinga little familiar about the girl, though it didn't strike me as stronglyas it did you."

  "There was a certain look in her eyes that suggested somebody I've seen,"said Bess, "but for the life of me I can't remember who it was. But evensuppose we did remember? It wouldn't prove anything. There are lots ofpeople in the world who look alike and yet who haven't the slightestrelation to each other."

  "I know it," admitted Cora. "But just the same I have what the boys wouldcall a hunch that in this case it would give us a clue to the gypsygirl's secret."

  "If she has any," laughed Bess.

  "Get out your crystal sphere, Sybilla, and pluck the heart from thismystery," smiled Belle.

  "You girls can laugh if you want to," rejoined Cora, "but all the sameI'll think about this and perhaps dream about it until I recall the faceI'm groping for."

  "I shouldn't wonder if we'd have something more practical to think ofbefore long," remarked Belle, pointing to the sky. "Do you see thoseclouds coming up there? I've been watching them for the last five minutesand they're getting bigger and blacker all the time. I'd hate to becaught in a thunderstorm."

  "And get into Camp Kill Kare all wet and bedraggled," added Bess. "Oh,Cora, let's hurry!"

  "It isn't getting wet that bothers me so much," replied Cora. "We couldput up the top and keep dry enough. But a heavy storm would turn the roadinto a quagmire, and goodness knows it's bad enough as it is."

  The boys ahead had seen the signs, and Jack shouted back:

  "Give her all the juice she can stand, sis! If the storm only holds offfor fifteen minutes we'll make the camp."

  His own car shot ahead, and Cora threw in the speed and kept closebehind. They could hear now faint rumblings of thunder, all the morenoticeable because of the sudden hush that had fallen over the forest, asbirds and animals and insects sensed the coming storm.

  Darker and darker it grew and faster and faster the cars sped along, astheir drivers called on the last ounce of speed they had in them. Despitetheir fluttering of anxiety, the girls had a keen sense of exhilarationin this race with the elements. Their veils whipped about their faces andtheir glowing eyes and reddened cheeks showed their inward excitement.

  A jagged flash of lightning shot across the sky, followed by a deafeningpeal of thunder. It was evident that the bolt had struck not far off, fora moment later they heard the crash of a falling tree at a littledistance to the right.

  "Oh, hurry! hurry!" urged Bess and Belle.

  "Do you think I'm creeping?" Cora called back. "I can't talk to the carand encourage it as I might a horse. You'll notice that the boys aren'tleaving us behind."

  As a matter of fact, the cars were nearly touching.

  "Keep up your pluck, girls!" Jack called back. "If this map is all right,we'll make the camp in five minutes more."

  "If we didn't have an old tub in front of us, we'd make it in four," sangout Cora.

  "If the rain will only hold off," murmured Belle.

  But the prospect grew ever more threatening. The peals of thunder wereredoubled and the lightning played so vividly across the sky that Besscovered her face with her hands.

  "Suppose the car should be struck!" she exclaimed.

  "If it were, we'd probably never know it," was all the comfort her sistercould give.

  Just then there was an appalling roar, and a great tree, split from topto bottom, swayed for a moment and then fell with a deafening crash rightacross the road, about a hundred feet in front of the leading car.

  There were shrieks from the girls, and a jumble of shouts came from theboys, as Jack brought his machine to a halt, and Cora, who had not losther presence of mind, did the same.

  All jumped out and ran forward. A glance told them that there was nogetting past the tree. It blocked the road completely. Nor was itpossible to get around the fallen monarch with the cars, for there wasdense undergrowth on both sides of the road.

  "No help for it, girls," announced Jack, after a hurried examination ofthe conditions. "We'll have to run for it. I caught a glimpse of thebungalow a minute ago, and it's not far from here. We'll have to leavethe cars here and come back and cut a path for them after the storm'sover."

  "But suppose they should be stolen?" objected Belle.

  "Mighty little chance of that in this neck of the woods," replied Paul."You notice we haven't met any one for the last two hours. We'll put upthe tops so that the inside won't get wet. And there'll be some one atthe bungalow that we can send out to guard them and keep you fromworrying about them."

  "Now we've got to make tracks for the house. Come ahead, girls!" criedJack, as soon as the tops had been put up.

  Each of the boys took charge of one of the girls, and they skirted thetree, pushing their way through the underbrush till they reached the roadon the other side.

  The outdoor life of the Motor Girls had made them fleet and strong, andalthough of course with their clinging skirts they could not keep up withthe boys, the latter accommodated their pace to theirs, and they came insight of the bungalow in a few minutes.

  But the rain was coming, too, and it was a pretty race. They could see itbeing driven before the wind in great gusts, and they felt the patteringof the advance drops. And just as they gained the shelter of the bungalowporch, the rain came down in torrents.

  Their coming had been seen from the house, and Aunt Betty King camerunning out to meet them.

  "You darlings!" she cried, as she tried to gather all the girls at onceinto her arms, and kissed them in turn. "How glad I am to see you! I'vebeen watching for you for the last two hours and was beginning to
worryfor fear you wouldn't get here before dark. And how lucky you were to gethere ahead of the storm. But how on earth did you come?"

  "We ran here all the way from Chelton," said Jack with a sober face. "Howis that for Marathon work?"

  "Don't pay any attention to that fibber," laughed Cora. "You know whatJack is. Our cars are standing a little way down the road. The lightningstruck a tree and it fell so that it blocked the path. So we had to makethe rest of the way on foot."

  "You poor dears!" exclaimed Aunt Betty with ready sympathy. "But comeright in now and get rested. You must be awfully tired after your longjourney, and you're all out of breath from running so hard. And you boys,too. Your rooms are all ready for you and supper will be ready in a fewminutes."

  She led the way inside, followed by the flushed and panting travelers,glad that the end of their journey found them safely housed at Camp KillKare.

  The bungalow was a strongly built and capacious one. It had only twostories, but was very wide and deep. It stood on a high point in theAdirondack Mountains, with a view that stretched for many miles in alldirections. There was a large cleared space about the building, but onehad only to go a few rods away to find himself in a genuine wilderness.

  The bungalow belonged to a relative of Mrs. Kimball. Usually the owneroccupied it himself during the summer months; but this year he was on atrip to India, hunting for big game, and he had placed the camp at Mrs.Kimball's disposal, with a cordial invitation to occupy it and make useof all the facilities it afforded for enjoyment.

  As Cora's mother could not accompany the young folks, the question of asuitable chaperon had given her some concern. But this had been solved bysecuring the consent of Aunt Betty to undertake that responsibility.

  Mrs. King was not really Cora's aunt, being a second cousin of Mrs.Kimball. But everybody called her by the comfortable and affectionatetitle of Aunt Betty, and she was a great favorite in the Kimball home,which she frequently visited. She was a widow without children, and shewelcomed the opportunity of mothering this lively brood of young people.

  The main floor of the bungalow was divided into two parts by the longhall that ran from front to back. On the right was a large living roomand library combined. Off from this was a music room, and the girls gavelittle cries of delight as they saw a handsome baby grand piano throughthe portieres.

  On the left of the hall was the dining room, which appealed more stronglyto the boys than the music room, and back of this was the kitchen, fromwhich savory odors were wafted to their olfactory organs.

  Up the broad stairs Aunt Betty led the way, and pointed out to thevarious members of the party the rooms they were to occupy. Those of thegirls were on the south side of the house, while the boys' quarters facedthe north. Trunks had been sent on before and were in the rooms.

  "What perfectly darling rooms!" cried Cora, as the delighted girls lettheir eyes roam over the two connecting rooms that had been assigned tothem.

  "That's all right!" shouted Jack from across the hall, "but don't forgetthat there's a perfectly darling little dining room downstairs, and I'mhoning to make its acquaintance."

  "Don't worry," flung back Belle. "We'll be ready to go down as soon asyou are."

  "Ha, ha!" cried Jack. "Listen to my low, mirthless laugh."