CHAPTER II THE TRAMPS GUARD THEIR SECRET
Tommy and Margery were the only girls to ran away. Harriet, Jane, Hazeland Miss Elting stood their ground. Hazel for a few seconds was on thepoint of running when she saw that Harriet seemed to understand themeaning of the sudden uproar, which was still going on.
There came a lull in the whooping and the shouting. Harriet spoke then.
"Now that we are properly scared, you may come out, boys," she said.
"Boys? My stars!" muttered Jane. "What boys are you looking for,darlin'?"
"Come out! We know you," commanded Harriet.
Captain George Baker of the Tramp Club stepped out into the light of thecampfire, a little shamefaced and uncertain as to how his attempt tofrighten the Meadow-Brook Girls might be received.
"Mr. Baker!" exclaimed the guardian.
"Yes, ma'am," answered George, twisting his hat nervously in his hands."I--I hope we didn't frighten you too much. I--we--I thought you knew wewere here."
"We certainly did not. We did know that some one was up yonder in thewoods, because Harriet saw and answered signals. Was it you who made thesmoke signals?"
"I and the Pickle," he answered, referring to his friend, Dill Dodd. "Howdo you do, Miss Brown? Why, what has happened? Been hit by a cyclone?"Certainly Margery looked much the worse for her tumble. Her skirt wastorn, and her face and hands were scratched, but her chin was not toomuch injured for her to be able to elevate it.
"I haven't met a cyclone, nor is anything the matter with me, Mr. Baker,"replied Margery, rather haughtily. "When did you come in? Until just nowI didn't know that you were here."
George smiled sheepishly.
"But where are the boys, George?" asked Harriet.
"Out yonder in the bushes," he replied, conscious that his face wasredder than usual.
"That is too bad. I should have thought of them before this. Boys, comeinto camp!" called Harriet. "We wish to see you."
"It's all right, fellows. Hike along!" commanded Captain George.
So one at a time the boys of the Tramp Club filed into the camp of theMeadow-Brook Girls. They tried to look solemn-faced, yet their eyes werefull of merriment. Dill Dodd led the way; then came Fred Avery, SamCrocker, Charlie Mabie, Will Burgess and Davy Dockrill. The boys wereabout the same age as the Meadow-Brook Girls, though taller and ofstronger build.
As the reader of this series knows, this was not the first meeting of thetwo clubs. Harriet and her friends were introduced in the first volume ofthis series, "The Meadow-Brook Girls Under Canvas," which told of theirenjoyable adventures in the Pocono Woods. In that volume the readerbecame acquainted with the grit, zeal and purpose of Harriet Burrell andher chums, and with the fine influence that Miss Elting, theirteacher-guardian, exercised over them.
In the second volume, "The Meadow-Brook Girls across Country," the fivegirls and their guardian were shown on their long "hike" homeward, asthey had elected to go on foot rather than resort to comfortable travelby train. Though at this time the Meadow-Brook Girls met with someunexpected hardships, the pleasant experiences through which they passedrepaid them for their many troubles. In this volume, too, as our readerswill recall, the girls first made the acquaintance of the boys of theTramp Club, who were destined to prove valued friends in many adifficulty. But the pranks of these mischievous lads forced the girls toretaliate in kind, and not only did they pay their score, but provedthemselves the boys' equals in achievement and endurance on the homewardhike.
In "The Meadow-Brook Girls Afloat," as the third volume of the series isentitled, the little company of girls encountered stirring adventures aswell as mirth-provoking incidents during their vacation spent underdecidedly trying circumstances on an old houseboat. With the help of theTramp Club a mysterious enemy, who had caused the Meadow-Brook Girls nolittle annoyance, was captured, but not until he had succeeded in settingfire to and burning their vacation home.
After the destruction of the "Red Rover," their boat, they started atonce for the White Mountains on a long, muscle-trying experiment inmountain-climbing. All that befell them of adventure, mystery androllicking good times is set forth in "The Meadow-Brook Girls in theHills."
Not one of our readers has yet forgotten the great enjoyment furnished bythe fifth volume, "The Meadow-Brook Girls by the Sea." Here Harriet andher friends were found setting forth on an expedition without knowingwhither it led, that secret being in the possession only of Miss Elting,their high school teacher, who accompanied them on all their jaunts.However, the trip proved the most exciting that they had yet had eitherashore or afloat.
And now we return to the Meadow-Brook Girls in camp, to find them at theoutset of still another vacation hike. So far, however, this experiencehad proved anything but exciting. So much adventure on previous tripsmade the present life in the woods seem dull by comparison. So even thecoming of the boys was welcomed as a real event by the Meadow-BrookGirls.
As the boys came one by one into camp they were greeted with smilingfaces and cordial handshakes. There could be no doubting the pleasure ofthe girls. Harriet had promptly suspected the presence of the boys whenshe observed the smoke signals earlier in the evening. She knew of noothers who would understand this ancient method of signaling.
"I should like to know how you found us?" said the guardian.
"We found out at Meadow-Brook where you were. The girls' folks told us,"replied George. "We've a great surprise for you."
"A surprise?" asked the girls in chorus.
"Yes"--George looked wisely at his companions--"the greatest ever. Don'ttry to guess it, for you can't."
"Wath that why you thaw our folkth?" demanded Tommy shrewdly.
Captain George flushed to the roots of his hair. Tommy had come nearerthe mark than she perhaps thought. Even Margery showed her curiosity.
"We are ready to hear about this great surprise," said Miss Eltingsmilingly.
"All right, I'll tell you about it, and----"
"Funny place to pitch a camp, this," observed Sam Crocker, interruptingwhat Captain George was saying.
"Yes, I was thinking about that," declared George. "Whatever induced youto come up to this hole?"
"Thith ithn't a hole, it ith a thide hill," corrected Tommy.
"You didn't finish telling us about the surprise, George," reminded Jane.
"That is so, I didn't, did I? Oh, you will be surprised and delighted,"chuckled George. "It's a dead secret, but I'll tell you about it. As Iwas about to say, this is no sort of place for girls to camp. Now _we_have picked out a much better place."
"Where?" asked the guardian.
"Up yonder in the woods, or thereabouts. You must move up there."
"We are very well satisfied where we are," replied Harriet Burrell,smiling mischievously. "Of course, if you can give us any really goodreason why we should move our camp, we will carefully consider yoursuggestion."
"We have a nice place picked out for you. That's why we want you tomove," declared George bluntly.
"Thay, are you trying to play trickth on uth?" demanded Tommy.
"Not at all. Hope to die, we're not. You'll see that we are not when youget to the camp we have chosen for you. Now, we'll be down here early inthe morning and move you right up to it. You won't have to lift a handtoward making the new camp. But we must be going. It is getting late.You'll surely be ready, won't you? We shall be on hand early," announcedthe captain, rising. "Come along, fellows, we have stayed too longalready. The girls will begin telling us to go home if we don't move."
"Wait! You haven't told us about the great secret," cried Margery, unableto restrain her curiosity any longer. "Tell us now."
"We'll tell you all about it in the morning," called back the captain.
"I want to know now about the great thecret," shouted Tommy.
The boys scrambled up the side of the hill, shouting their good-byes asthey hurried on toward their own camp, leaving the curiosity of theMead
ow-Brook Girls unsatisfied.