by L. T. Meade
"Do you think we should wait and do our work for the Red Cross?" askedEdith.
"I realize, of course, how well you girls have already done. MissJames has given me the amount of subscriptions that the Red CrossGirls have been able to obtain. It's truly wonderful. Perhaps we mightturn our efforts toward the Red Cross collections," said Aunt Madge.
"Suppose," Mary Lee suggested, "that we only accept Aunt Madge'sinvitation on condition that we get $16,000 worth of Liberty Bondssold. That means each of us must sell $2,000 worth."
"Good idea, Mary Lee," Dr. Anderson cried enthusiastically.
"We'll do it," said the rest of the girls.
A little later the girls departed. It was a most enjoyable party, theyall agreed.
CHAPTER XXII
WORKING FOR "LIBERTY"
A few days later Mary Lee received a letter from Tom Marshall. He hadreplied at once to her letter. He told her that he had instructed Mr.Saunders to arrange with her to buy his share of Liberty Bonds. Thingswere going along well and the mine was a great success. He also toldher that he had forwarded his name for registration so that he couldbe conscripted when the time came.
"What do you hear of Jim Lee?" he inquired.
Lee had written only once to her, as the girl suddenly realized. Itwas over ten days since she had heard from him.
But the afternoon brought a short note in which he announced that hehad been transferred to the Artillery Division. He was going to seemore active service, he wrote.
When Mr. Saunders came home both Letty and Mary Lee were waiting forhim.
"How many bonds did Mr. Marshall tell you to buy, dad?" asked Letty.
"Why should he tell me to buy any bonds?" her father replied.
"Why, he wrote Mary Lee that he had communicated with you; and we mustget four thousand dollars' worth sold," she added.
"Must?" Mr. Saunders repeated.
"Otherwise--so we have pledged--we cannot go on the Decoration Dayparty with Mrs. Anderson," Mary Lee added.
"You mean that you have set a mark which you must attain in order toallow yourselves to go?"
The girls nodded their heads very vigorously.
"Well, I call that a fine thing," replied Letty's father. "You may putMarshall down for fifteen hundred dollars, and I want to add that ifyou don't make the mark, come to me. I won't buy any more, but I'llsee that you get a chance to sell some. Now, be off with you, while Idress for dinner," and Mr. Saunders chuckled to himself.
"And they worry about this country, when even the little girls are soserious-minded," he remarked to himself.
Mary Lee, together with Letty, called on the Camerons the next day.
"Now," said Mary Lee, "to business, for that is what we came for."
"Has Mr. Cameron bought any Liberty Bonds? Have you? Will Bob buyany?"
"My goodness," replied Mrs. Cameron, "I don't know whether Mr. Camerondid or didn't. I know I did not. I never even thought of it. I don'tthink Bob did, either."
"Well, you should buy some," Mary Lee advised. "You see, the countryneeds the money. Uncle Sam is behind these bonds and he pays three andone-half per cent."
"Three and one-half per cent?" repeated Mrs. Cameron. "My bank and myother bonds pay only three per cent."
MARY LEE WRITES TO BOB]
"And better than that," added Letty, "you don't have to pay taxes onLiberty Bonds."
"It sounds so attractive," said Mrs. Cameron. "But I know very littleof such things. I'll leave it to Mr. Cameron. If I buy any, part ofthem will be bought through you."
"Thank you," the girls replied. They told her about their pledge.
"Better write to Bob and ask him to telegraph you if he will buy twoshares. I think he can buy that many," suggested Mrs. Cameron.
"I'll do it at once," said Mary Lee, and proceeded to suit action towords.
"Here comes Mr. Cameron's car," Letty called.
Mr. Cameron came in almost at once and greeted Mary Lee warmly.
"It's good to see you again," he remarked as he removed his gloves.
Mary Lee did not allow much time to elapse before she stated thepurpose of their call.
"I'm sorry, girls. Of course, I've already bought the bonds. They aretoo good an investment to let pass."
"What's more, I've bought some for Mrs. Cameron, too. However," and hepaused, "between us we should be able to buy forty or fifty bonds.Don't you think so, mother?"
Mrs. Cameron smiling assented.
"Will that do?" he asked.
"Do? Do? Why, you're a dear," Mary Lee replied.
They stayed for tea and had a pleasant visit. The girls promised tocall when they returned from Mount Hope.
"If we go," said Letty. "We may not be successful in getting thesubscriptions."
"We simply must," replied Mary Lee.
"Tell you what I'll do," said Mary Lee. "I feel as if I should go outto see the Quinns. I owe them a call. Perhaps I can make Mr. Quinnunderstand how good these bonds are and if he has any savings he mightwant to buy some of them."
"I'll go with you," Letty replied.
"HELLO, MARY LEE, HAVE YOU COME TO STAY?"]
The call on the Quinns was made the next day. The girls took the trainand walked to the home from the station. Mary Lee was delighted withthe farm; it showed great improvement over the year before.
Mrs. Quinn came to the door, one hand shading her eyes and the otherpartly lifting the apron which she wore while busy in the kitchen.
"Well, if it isn't Mary Lee and Miss Saunders!" she exclaimed.
Hearing the exclamation, two sturdy boys rushed past her and wereshaking hands with the girls before the mother had a chance.
"Hello, Mary Lee," they greeted her joyfully. "Have you come to stay?"
"No, but I'm glad I'm here."
Mrs. Quinn took Mary Lee in her arms. "I'm so glad to see you, dear,so glad."
"I'm going for father," announced Tom. He was off with a rush, theother boy close at his heels.
CHAPTER XXIII
BACK ON THE FARM.
The girls sat on the porch during the entire afternoon. Mr. and Mrs.Quinn were with them.
"It is so comfortable and cheerful out here," Mary Lee remarked.
"It's a wonderful place, isn't it?" added Letty as she looked about.
"Yes, and it will always seem like home to me," Mary Lee replied.
"We had a great summer last year. The farm did very well. This yearpromises to be much better. I tell you, it's a great place," and Mr.Quinn beamed.
"Mr. Quinn has been waiting for Dr. Anderson to come out. He has savedconsiderable money and he wants Dr. Anderson to deposit it for him,"volunteered Mrs. Quinn.
Letty looked at Mary Lee who in turn looked at her.
"That's a queer coincidence," said the girl. "One reason why we cameout was to find out if you and Mr. Quinn didn't want to buy someLiberty Bonds." Mary Lee then went on to explain about them and alsotold about the investments everyone she knew had made. "It pays fairlywell, you see."
"More than that," replied Mr. Quinn, "it's for Uncle Sam. I knowsomething about it, but just hadn't decided that it applied to me.When you get back, Mary Lee," he continued, "will you get Dr.Anderson's consent? I have seven hundred dollars I can put into thesebonds."
"I will ask Dr. Anderson to write you about this investment," Mary Leereadily replied. "He'll probably buy yours with his own."
The important business completed, the girls reluctantly disturbedtheir own comfort to follow the boys about the entire farm. The baby,over three years old now, was awake by this time.
Mary Lee was quite disappointed over the fact that the child did notremember her, but she made friends very quickly with both of them.
When the girls reached home it was close to eight. The next two dayswere hurried ones.
A telegram came for Mary Lee Monday night. At first she was greatlyalarmed.
"It's from Bob, of course," Letty reminded her.
"Why, to be sure."
She tore open the envelope as she spoke.
"He is going to buy three bonds," she cried delightedly as she handedthe telegram to Letty.
"That gives us $850 over," Mary Lee announced after a few seconds'calculation.
"Some of the other girls may not have enough," Letty remarked. "At anyrate, we'll know tomorrow whether we go or not."
The meeting was in the afternoon. Some of the girls had fallen shortin the number they sold, but Edith, alone, had sold four thousanddollars' worth. The total amount--the girls held their breath while itwas being figured--was nineteen thousand.
"So we can all go?" asked Ruth.
"Yes, you can go," replied Aunt Madge. "And to show you how much faithI had in you, I've gotten everything ready. We shall leave tomorrowmorning at ten, from the Grand Central Station."
"Let's not take any more things than we need," said Mary Lee.
"Very well," answered Letty. "We'll use a steamer trunk for both ofus. We simply can't use anything smaller, can we?"
"I thought perhaps we could," replied Mary Lee rather meekly. "Butwe'll compromise on a small trunk, as you say."
The girls were all ready by dinner time. After dinner they visitedRuth, who lived close by.
"I'm so glad you came, for you can help me decide what to take withme."
"Well, if you'll take our advice," said Mary Lee, "you won't takemuch."
"I don't expect to," replied Ruth.
"You don't?" exclaimed the other two girls in amazement. "Look whatyou already have laid out and I suppose you'll declare that youhaven't half your things," said Mary Lee.
"Here, let's show you," added Letty, who forgot that Mary Lee hadearlier in the day urged her to cut down her own luggage.
Despite the excited exclamations of Ruth over things she insisted shemust have, the two other girls determinedly had their way.
"Now, isn't this better?" asked Mary Lee, when they were throughpacking, and her trunk, but half the size of the original, still hadroom for more things. "You mustn't forget you are only going for a fewdays."
"Very well," replied Ruth, "I suppose you're right. But please," shebegged, "just let me include these shoes--just these."
"Shall we, Letty?" asked Mary Lee, pretending to be stern, but theleast bit undecided.
"If it's only these shoes, we will," replied her chum.
"Thank you," Ruth said with mock humility. "Thank you very much."
CHAPTER XXIV
BOUND FOR THE CAMP
Spring was late in the year 1917. The trees were just beginning toshow in full foliage and the grass had the freshness and fragrancethat only the early mornings of spring can give to it.
Mary Lee, Letty and Ruth had awakened and dressed at four o'clock thatmorning. Mary Lee had suggested the night before that they do this andthe two girls had loyally but sleepily carried out the plan.
The party bound for Mount Hope had left on the seven o'clockAdirondack Express, the night before. When the three girls reached theobservation platform, after going through a long line of sleepingcoaches, the train was running parallel with Champlain and was nearingPlattsburg.
It was a gorgeous sight and the three stood for several minutesenwrapped in its splendor.
The lake, with the woods running close to its shore, presented apicture of crystal-like clearness. On the other side of it, the Whiteand Green mountains were beginning to show in more definite outline.The sun, too, began to herald the dawn of the new day, forming a rosypink in the eastern sky, just over the mountain ranges.
"My," said Letty. "I'm glad we did get up."
"We never really saw the Adirondacks before, did we?" added Ruth.
"If Mary Lee had ever been up here before," Letty further remarked,"I'm sure she never would have missed doing this kind of thing. It_took_ her to get us to do it now; without her, I think we would havecome up here again and again and never have summoned sufficient energyto get up so early."
On Mary Lee, the clearing outlines of the towering mountains on bothsides of her, the magnificance of the lake, had all made a tremendousimpression. Never had sunrise meant so much to her.
The girl had never, from that first day, when she was brought to thecity, ever been further away from it than the farm. The beauty of thisnew environment dazzled her. Her two friends, though not nearly soimpressionable, yet found themselves stilled by the majesty of thequiet everywhere.
So engrossed were the girls that they did not notice that Dr. Andersonhad stopped just inside the door and was watching them as well as thedawning day.
He stood there for ten minutes, then came out and joined them.
Mary Lee gave him a brilliant smile. The three girls looked verypretty and attractive in their blouses.
"Isn't it perfect?" she offered with a sigh of pure joy in thesplendor all about her.
The doctor nodded smilingly.
"It certainly is that," he answered.
A little later the train entered Plattsburg.
"There's a two hour wait here, girls," Dr. Anderson informed them."While the sleepy-heads are getting up, let's go up to see the famousPlattsburg camp. Shall we?"
"Splendid," replied Letty enthusiastically, "let's."
"Of course," added the doctor, "we have but little time and so shallnot be able to see very much. But even that little should proveinteresting. Many of our officers for the war will be turned out hereand some of our great men have come here for training."
As the doctor had remarked there was but little time to spend at thecamp. The sergeant on guard showed them all that could be seen at thathour. Both Dr. Anderson and Mary Lee were specially interested in thefirst aid equipment. Although they had to make a hurried departurethey were glad to have had this closer view of a camp destined to makehistory.
It was almost six-thirty when they returned to the train which wasscheduled to leave in twenty minutes. They found Mrs. Anderson and oneor two of the girls already awake.
"We've had a heavenly morning, Aunt Madge," said Mary Lee.
"And I suppose you called the rest of us sleepy-heads for not beingwith you?" Aunt Madge answered.
"I never had any idea it could be so beautiful," Mary Lee said inreply to a question of Mrs. Anderson's.
"Well, dear, you will find it even more so as we climb theAdirondacks. We are to do that from now until we reach our point.Let's all have breakfast, at least all of us who are awake and readyfor it. I suppose you early risers must be starved."
The three chums suddenly realized how hungry they were. It had notoccurred to them until the subject was mentioned.
It was almost nine o'clock when the party reached their station. TheAnderson camp was twelve miles away and the two automobiles waitingfor them took almost an hour to climb to it.
Mary Lee as well as the rest of the girls found the whole trip apanorama of delights.
The country was wild and seemed to have escaped civilization.
"To think," said one of the girls, "that a place as wild as thisshould be so near so big a city. It's hard to imagine, isn't it?"
The camp picked by Dr. Anderson was truly in a wonderful spot. Farfrom human habitation it was hidden from the narrow road up which theautomobiles had come. It was three-quarters of the way to the top ofMount Hope. Nearby Lake Ormond, a small body of water was almosthidden by trees and bushes all about it.
The girls quickly changed to clothes that were comfortable andsuitable. Some of them found hammocks, some walked down to the lake.
Dr. Anderson had told them that there were no fixed plans and thateach one could do the thing that seemed most desirable.
When he went into the house to interview the caretakers, Mrs. Andersonand several of the girls found a comfortable nook. Irma and Clara whowere not inclined to be as strenuous as the rest of the girls joinedher. Mrs. Anderson was doing some sewing. Clara welcomed theopportunity to finish some beautiful tatting and Irma was equallyanxious to finish a story she had begun on the train.
Mary Lee, Letty, Ruth and
Edith had decided on following one of thenarrow foot-paths to the top of Mt. Hope. They stopped for a fewminutes and added to the group about Aunt Madge.
"I'm so glad I came," said Edith. "There never was such a place."
"How did you ever find it?" asked Clara, looking up from her yoke.
"It must have been a wonderful place for your honeymoon," said thesentimental Irma.
"Yes, we think it rather pleasant," replied the hostess. "It would nothave been easy to find, you may be sure. But Dr. Anderson knows thispart of the Adirondacks well and he claims that he picked this spotlong ago for just such a purpose."
"Wasn't that lovely?" Irma remarked, delighted at any promise ofromance.
"It's going to be very dear to us, always," Aunt Madge added. "And ifour dear friends get half the fun and joy out of being here that wedo we shall indeed think they are having a happy visit."
"Well, I for my part feel that I've already had an awful lot crowdedinto my holiday," said Mary Lee. "All the pleasure that's coming is somuch added."
"Be sure to get back for lunch," Aunt Madge cautioned the four girlsas they started off.
"We wouldn't miss it for the world," Letty called back.
CHAPTER XXV
LOST IN THE WOODS
Letty and Edith were soon considerably ahead of Ruth and Mary Lee whostopped often at the many pretty spots along the way.