by Lilian Garis
Produced by Roger Frank and the Online DistributedProofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book wasproduced from scanned images of public domain materialfrom the Google Print project.)
THE PICTURESQUE FIGURE STOOD IN THE CENTER.]
THE GIRL SCOUTS AT ROCKY LEDGE
OR
_Nora's Real Vacation_
By LILIAN GARIS
Author of
"The Girl Scout Pioneers," "The Girl Scouts at Bellaire," "The Girl Scouts at Sea Crest," "The Girl Scouts at Camp Comalong," etc.
_ILLUSTRATED_
NEW YORK
CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY
THE GIRL SCOUT SERIES
By LILIAN GARIS
Cloth. 12mo. Frontispiece.
THE GIRL SCOUT PIONEERS Or, Winning the First B. C.
THE GIRL SCOUTS AT BELLAIRE Or, Maid Mary's Awakening
THE GIRL SCOUTS AT SEA CREST Or, The Wig Wag Rescue
THE GIRL SCOUTS AT CAMP COMALONG Or, Peg of Tamarack Hills
THE GIRL SCOUTS AT ROCKY LEDGE Or, Nora's Real Vacation
_Other volumes in preparation_
CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, NEW YORK
Copyright, 1922, by
Cupples & Leon Company
The Girl Scouts at Rocky Ledge
_Printed in U. S. A._
CONTENTS
I. Jim or Jerry: Ted or ElizabethII. The AtticIII. A Broken DreamIV. TransplantedV. The Woods at Rocky LedgeVI. A Prince in HidingVII. Cap to the RescueVIII. The Story Alma Did Not TellIX. A MisadventureX. A Novel InitiationXI. Too Much TeasingXII. A Diversion Nobly EarnedXIII. Crawling in the ShadowsXIV. Circumstantial EvidenceXV. Waif of the WildwoodsXVI. Lady Bountiful JuniorXVII. A Picnic and OtherwiseXVIII. The Little Lord's ConfessionXIX. A Deserted TrystXX. The Worst Fright of AllXXI. Strange DisclosuresXXII. The Danger Squad in ActionXXIII. Raiding the AtticXXIV. Fulfillment
THE GIRL SCOUTS AT ROCKY LEDGE
CHAPTER I
JIM OR JERRY: TED OR ELIZABETH
"Do you mind if I call you Jim?"
"Why no--that is----"
"And may I call the lady Aunt Elizabeth?"
"Elizabeth?"
"If you don't mind; I'd love to."
"But the fact is----"
"You see, I have always wanted a man named Jim to protect me, and nowthat I've got you I'd love to have you as Jim. Then, I have perfectlyloved the Aunt Elizabeths. They're always so lacy and cameo like." Shestood off and critically inspected the smiling woman in the most modernof costumes.
"You're really too young," continued the girl, "but you'll grow old soonI hope, don't you think so?"
"I'm afraid I shall----"
"Then that's that. And I'm glad we are settling things so quickly. CouldI see my attic room now, Aunt Elizabeth?"
"Attic room?"
"Isn't it?"
"Not exactly. We were giving you the yellow room; it's so cheerful andpretty."
"Well, of course, I don't want to be too particular, and it's lovely ofyou, dear Aunt Elizabeth, but all girls taken in are put in attic rooms,aren't they?"
"Taken in?"
"Yes, sort of adopted you know. The attic always gives the shadowy ghostbusiness." There was just a hint of disappointment in the child's mannernow.
"We've got a first rate attic room," suggested the man who was tiltingup and down in a heel and toe exercise. "And what do you say, Ted, Imean Elizabeth," he chuckled, "if we give----"
"Jerry, don't talk nonsense," interrupted the young woman not unkindlybut with some decision. "I am sure she would rather have the pretty----"
"But, please, could I see the attic room?" came rather timidly the verythread of a voice from the little girl.
"It's ghostly." This from Jerry.
"That would be just perfect. Does the roof slant so it gives you thenightmare on your chest, you know? And does the moon sort of make facesin the windows?" Interest was overcoming timidity.
"That may be the trouble," replied the man, with a chuckle. "But I'lltell you, little girl. Suppose we take the yellow room until you have achance to inspect thoroughly. You see your--er--Aunt Elizabeth has hadit all planned and fixed up----"
"Oh yes. Do excuse me for being impolite. You see, I've been thinkingabout it so long. The school was lovely, and the teachers all very kind,but it was sort of a regular kindness, you know, and did not have any ofmy dreams coming true in it. Do you dream an awful lot here?"
"Day dreams or night dreams?" asked the man.
"Oh, wake-dreams, of course. The other kind don't mean anything. Juststickers in your brain sort of pricking, you know. But the wake-dreamscan come true, if you plague them long enough. I guess they get tiredfighting you off and they have to give in and happen. What do you wantto call me?" This was a sudden digression and marked with a completeflopping down of the talkative child.
"Your name is Nora, isn't it?" replied the young woman who seemed ratherglad to sit down herself. They were on the big square porch and rockerswere plentiful.
"Yes, my name is Nora, and it's pretty good, but hard to rhyme easily.Then I would rather have you call me the name you have always calledyour dream child."
"Mine was Bob," blurted the man, "but Bob wouldn't exactly suit you."
"Oh, yes it would," she jumped up again and left the rocker swayingwildly. "Bob would be splendid for me. Would it suit you, AuntElizabeth? What was your pet name?"
"I think Nora too pretty to drop. Besides, don't you really think a nameis a part of one's self and ought to be loved and respected?"
"That's just it. I want to--that is, if you don't mind, I want to be theself I planned, not this one I didn't have anything to say about. It'sjust like religion. When we grow up big as I am, we ought to be allowedto choose." Her manner was even more babyish than her appearance.
"Big as I am!" Jerry repeated this to a rosebush.
As a matter of fact she was not much bigger than a child of eight yearsmight be, but she claimed a few more birthdays and she looked about assubstantial as a wind flower. Her eyes were blue, her hair light andfluffy, and she wore such a tiny white slip of a dress, socks andsandals and a white lace hat! Grown up? She looked just like anold-fashioned baby.
"Then, shall I be Bobbs?" asked Nora a moment later, with hope in hervoice.
"Ye-e-s, and if--the auntie wants to soften it she can call youBabette," ventured Jerry. "And now, if the christenings are over,suppose we go inside and freshen up. Come along Bob, you are going to bemy helper now, aren't you?" Jerry's eyes twinkled with his voice. Hewas, plainly, enjoying himself.
"I'd love to help--especially with outdoor work," replied the girl. "Andyou measure land, don't you?" she asked.
"Yes, that's about it. In other words I'm a surveyor," explained Jerry.
"And Aunt Elizabeth helps. Isn't that lovely? We won't, any of us, haveold pesky house work to think about. I haven't ever dreamed a dream, nota single one, about housekeeping. Some one always does that for me, or Ijust don't think about it at all and it's all done beautifully," boastedNora. "I love your place. It's so romantic," she expanded her arms andfluffy little skirt to fill the big chair. "I feel, somehow, everythingis going to come true now." Relief toned this statement while she lookedwistfully out of blue eyes, and any one might have easily guessed thatsomething very dear was included in that word "everything."
The young woman, who was threatened with being made over into an oldAunt Elizabeth with laces and cameos to boot, gazed intently at thesmall personality. She realized it was a personality, a little dreamer,a big romancer, and a very weird sample of the modern girl
,self-trained.
He who was to become "Jim" on the spot, seemed tickled to death over itall, and kept snapping his brown eyes, first at the newly named Bobbsand then his life's partner, until glints of fun-sparks charged the veryair.
"It might be a good idea to put on tags for a day or two," he suggestedplayfully. "I would hate to spoil the program by calling Elizabeth herejust Ted."
"Oh, do you think it will be hard? I didn't mean to make trouble, and,if you say so, I'll just put the dream back again on its peg and let itstay there. It really doesn't have to come true right now. There are somany new things to talk about," temporized Nora, considerately.
"I think it would be lots better to try things out for a little whileunder our own names," suggested the young woman, eagerly. "And I havealways loved the name Nora, so you see, _my_ dream will be coming true,at any rate," she smiled.
"Goody--goody! It's all right, then. I'll be Nora, and you'll be Ted,that's pretty: what does it mean?"
"Theodora," answered the man promptly.
"Then it is prettier than the old-fashioned Elizabeth," agreed thechild. "Really, things are different when you think about them than whatthey are when--you run right into them, aren't they?"
"Sure thing, especially water wagons and book agents," joked Jerry.
"And Jerry is lovely, too, just as nice as Jim. I knew a lovely oldtramp dog named Jerry." Again the wistful blue eyes dreamed.
"That's real nice," added the owner of the popular name. "Washe--gentle?"
"As a lamb. I used to ride on his back!"
"And was he--er--handsome?"
"He had the loveliest ears, all little pleaty wrinkles, and such big,floppy feet----"
"All right, I'll be content to be his namesake, only don't expect me tohowl when the phonograph plays. I can't undertake to do that," demurredthe affable Jerry.
They all laughed a little at this protest, for Jerry Manton seemed goodnatured enough to "howl" if occasion demanded it. Even the moon mighthave inspired him "doggerly" so to speak.
Mrs. Manton picked up the little hand satchel that Nora kept at her sidewhen the other baggage was being disposed of, and gently urged thelittle visitor into the Nest, there to settle that other question ofattic or guest room.
The short bright curls bobbed up and down incredulously, as theirsurprised owner looked in on the yellow room, a moment later.
"Golden! Perfectly golden!" exclaimed the child. "But, of course, onecould never get the nightmare in this lovely bird cage." She stopped,apparently reasoning out bird cages, nightmares and ghostly attics. "AndI have simply got to have a strange experience," she scratched her heelstogether anxiously. "I just couldn't give that up," she decided.
"But you do think this is a pretty room?" asked the hostess, her ownsoft eyes embracing affectionately the golden space before them.
"Glorious!" declared Nora rapturously. "And I'm afraid it has beenrather silly to get set on certain things without really knowing aboutthem. Dreams are uncertain, after all."
Jerry was just coming up the rustic stairs.
"But the attic is a real spook parlor," he chimed in, "and I've alwaysloved it myself. I have a corner for my trash, and the sleeping quartersaren't bad. You see this place was built with government money, andthat's always--well, real money," he finished, significantly.
"But Jerry," again came the opposition from Mrs. Manton, "you know wehave scarcely had time to look that attic over since we came here. Itseems perfectly absurd to let Nora go up there," she paused. "I knowit's clean, for Vita takes a pride in fixing attics, but why----"
"Now Ted," the voice was as soft as a boy's, "why not let our littlegirl have her way?"
"I really am not objecting," said the wife with a smile, "I'm justqualifying."
"But who dares qualify day dreams?" asked the man, with a comical twistin his voice.
Nora stood on the threshold, uncertainly. "I guess maybe," she pondered,"we think a lot about dreams when we haven't real things to think about,like playthings, for real," she finished.
"That's exactly it, dear," said Mrs. Manton, "and day dreams are notalways healthy, either."
"All the same," insisted Jerry, "I'm strong for that attic. It smellsjust like the woods after my men have made a good, clean cutting. Comealong, girlie, and let me show it to you."