The Meadow-Brook Girls by the Sea; Or, The Loss of The Lonesome Bar

by Janet Aldridge

  CHAPTER V

  THE ROCKY ROAD TO WAU-WAU

  "You surely are a loyal little Republican, Tommy. Whether we agreewith you in politics or not, we must respect your loyalty. However, Ithink you had better get up and ride," urged Miss Elting.

  Tommy shook her head, regarding the democrat wagon with a disapprovingsquint. Jane assisted Harriet up over the front wheel, Margery climbedin on the other side, the boy "pushed on the reins," and theprocession moved slowly toward the main road, with Miss Elting, Jane,Hazel and Tommy trudging on ahead. Harriet rode only a short distancebefore she grew weary of it, and, dropping to the ground, ran on andjoined her companions.

  "I shall have nervous prostration if I ride in that wagon," she said."Every minute expecting it to collapse isn't any too good for one whohas just been drowned, and whose nerves are on edge."

  "Promise me that you will not overtax your strength; that if you feelyourself getting weary you _will_ get in and ride," answered theguardian, looking anxiously at Harriet.

  "I promise," was Harriet's laughing rejoinder.

  The sun by this time was high in the heavens and was blazing down onthem hotly. The warmth felt good, especially to those who still worethe clothes in which they had spent so much time in the cold water ofthe pond. To Harriet it was a grateful relief from the chill that hadfollowed her accident. Tommy permitted herself to lag behind, and themoment she was out of ear-shot of her companions she began to quiz thecountry boy to learn where he was taking them.

  "Lonesome Cove," he replied.

  "Where ith that?"

  "On the shore."

  "On what thhore?"

  "The sea shore."

  "Oh! Tho we are going to the thea thhore? I thee," reflected Tommywisely. "Are there lotth of people there?"

  "Isn't nobody there. It's just sea shore, that's all."

  Tommy chuckled and nodded to herself as she increased her pace andjoined her party.

  "When we get to camp I'm going to take a bath in the thea," sheannounced carelessly. Miss Elting regarded her sharply.

  "Camp? Sea?" questioned the guardian.

  "Yeth. I thaid 'camp' and 'thea.'"

  "Where do you think you are going, Grace?"

  "Why, to the thea thhore of courthe. But there ithn't anybody there."

  "Tommy, you've been spying. I am amazed at you."

  "No, I haven't been doing anything of the thort. It ith true, ithn'tit?"

  "I shall not tell you a single thing. You are trying to quiz me. Thatisn't fair, my dear."

  Tommy chuckled and joined Harriet, linking an arm with her andstarting a lively conversation. Harriet, instead of growing weary,appeared to be getting stronger with the moments. Her step was moreand more springy, and her face had resumed its usual healthy color,but this was the longest five miles she remembered to have traveled.The others felt much the same. It must be remembered that they had hadneither supper nor breakfast, except for the cup of coffee that theyhad taken before starting out on their tramp. The guardian had hopedto reach her destination in time for luncheon, when she knew the girlswould have a satisfying meal. However, the hour was near to oneo'clock when finally the boy shouted to them.

  They halted and waited for him.

  "Lonesome Cove down there, 'bout a quarter of a mile," he informedthem, jerking the butt of his whip in the direction of a thin forestof spindling pines to the right of the highway. "Ocean right overthere."

  "I hear it," cried Harriet. "Doesn't it sound glorious?"

  "We thank you. You may unload our equipment and pile it by the side ofthe road. We will carry it down to the beach, and again I thank youvery much."

  Jane and Hazel assisted in the unloading. They would permit neitherHarriet nor Miss Elting to help. The boy was paid and drove awaywhistling. He had made a good deal, and knew very well that the folksat home would find no fault over his delay when they learned that hehad earned two dollars.

  "Now, girls, do you know where you are?" asked the guardian, turningto her charges.

  "Lost in the wilds of New Hampshire," answered Jane dramatically.

  "No, not lost. We shall soon be among friends. I promise you a greatsurprise when we get down so near the sea that you hear the poundingof the breakers on the beach."

  "I gueth you will be thurprithed, too," ventured Tommy.

  "What do you mean, Grace?" demanded Miss Elting.

  "I would suggest that we get started," urged Harriet. "I'm hungry. Iwant my supper, breakfast and luncheon all in one. You forget that Iam a drowned person."

  "We are not likely to forget it," answered the guardian, smilingfaintly. "Yes, we will carry our equipment in. Jane, suppose we breakit into smaller packs, so it can be the more easily carried. I thinkwe are all ready for a good meal, and that is what we are going tohave very shortly now. You know you always get good meals at Wau-Wau."

  "Wau-Wau!" exclaimed the Meadow-Brook Girls in chorus.

  "Why, Wau-Wau is in the Pocono Woods," said Harriet. "We are a longway from there, aren't we?"

  "Oh, yes, yes!" The guardian flushed guiltily. "I spoke withoutthinking."

  No one except Harriet and Tommy gave any special heed to the finalwords of the guardian. The others were busy getting ready to move.They were in something of a hurry for their luncheon. Packs weredivided up among them. Harriet insisted upon carrying one end of thetrunk with Jane, in addition to the pack she had slung over hershoulder. They finally started down a narrow path that led on down tothe shore, leaving some of their equipment behind to be brought lateron in the afternoon. As they neared the shore the boom of the surfgrew louder and louder.

  The girls uttered shouts of delight when finally they staggered outinto the open with their burdens, on a high bluff overlooking the sea.The sea lay sparkling in the sunlight, while almost at their feetgreat white-crested combers were rolling in and breaking against thesandy bluff. The salt spray dashed up into their faces and the odor ofthe salt sea was strong in their nostrils.

  "Isn't this glorious?" cried Harriet, with enthusiasm.

  "I shouldn't think you'd ever want to see water again after whatoccurred this morning," replied Margery Brown.

  "Oh, that! I had forgotten all about it. This is different, Buster.This is the real sea, and it's perfectly wonderful. Isn't it, MissElting?"

  The guardian, thus far, had not spoken a word. There was a look ofpuzzled surprise on her face.

  "What is it, Miss Elting?" questioned Harriet, instantly discoveringthat something was wrong.

  "I--I thought we should find some others here," replied the guardianhesitatingly.

  "I told you there wath no one here," answered Tommy.

  "Whom did you hope to find?" asked Harriet Burrell.

  "Some friends of mine. It has been a rocky road to Wau-Wau, and wehaven't reached it yet," muttered the guardian under her breath.

  "I don't understand this, girls," she continued. "I fear we have madea mistake. This isn't the place I thought we were seeking. I mustconfess that I am lost. But the real place can not be far away. Weshall have to walk from this on. Are you equal to it?"

  "Not till I get thome food," answered Tommy with emphasis. "I'mfamithhed. I want thomething to eat."

  "So do I, darlin'," added Crazy Jane. "But I don't see anythinghereabout that looks like food. Do you?"

  Margery sat down helplessly. Harriet was smiling. She understoodsomething of the plans of the guardian now; yet, like her companions,she was disappointed that the promised meal was not at hand. MissElting recovered her composure quickly.

  "We shall have to cook our own dinner, dears," she said. "Harriet, yousit down in the sun and rest; we will take care of the meal-getting."

  "You treat me as though I were an invalid. I am able to do my share ofthe work, and to eat my share of the food, as you will see when we getsomething cooked."

  Jane already had run back toward the road to bring some dry sticksthat she had discovered when coming in. Miss Elting began opening thepacks.

&nbs
p; "Oh, this is too bad!" she cried. "We must have left that coffee potwith the other things out by the road."

  "I'll get it." Tommy bounded away. Hazel assisted the guardian ingetting the cooking utensils ready, Margery walked about, getting inthe way, but not accomplishing much of anything else. There were coldroast beef, butter and plenty of canned goods. The bread that they hadbrought with them had been dissolved in the water of the ice pond, ashad the sugar and considerable other food stuff.

  Jane came in with an armful of wood and quickly started a fire. Tommyarrived some moments later with the coffee pot and other utensils.While all this was going on Harriet was spreading out their belongingsso these might dry out in the sunlight. But the water for the coffee,secured some distance back, was brackish and poor. They made it do,however, and as quickly as possible had boiled their coffee andwarmed over the beef and canned beans as well. As for drinking water,there was none at hand fit for this purpose. Dishes were somewhatlimited, many of theirs having been lost when the automobile went intothe pond. But they were glad enough to do with what they had, and whenJane sounded the meal call, "Come and get it!" there was not aninstant's hesitation on the part of any member of that little party ofadventurous spirits.

  "Now take your time, girls," warned Miss Elting. "We will not gulp ourfood down, even if we have a walk before us this afternoon. And we mayhave to sleep out-of-doors, but it will not have been the first timefor the Meadow-Brook Girls."

  "Ith thith the thurprithe that you were going to give us?" asked Tommyinnocently.

  "It is a surprise to me, dear. This isn't the place I thought it wasat all. The joke is that I don't know where the right place is."

  "Perhaps, if you would tell us where you wish to go, we might be ofsome assistance to you," suggested Jane McCarthy.

  "You can't get the secret from me, Jane," answered the guardiansmilingly. "I am going to keep that little secret to myself at allcosts. Don't tease me, for I shall not tell you."

  "It hath cotht a good deal already," piped Tommy. "Let me thee. Ithath cotht one automobile, theveral thkirtth, and a girl drowned.Thome cotht that, eh? Pleathe path the beanth."

  "Tommy has a keen appetite for beans this afternoon. Will you pleaseopen another can, Jane?" asked the guardian.

  "Certainly. Will you have them cold this time, Tommy?"

  "I will not, thank you. My father thayth there ith more realnourithhment in beanth than there ith in beeftheak. I gueth he knowth.He wath brought up on a bean farm."

  "Then I'll take the beefsteak and never mind the nourishment,"declared Jane, who was not particularly fond of beans.

  "I'd rather have both," said Margery hungrily.

  "Of courth you would," teased Tommy. "That ith why you--"

  "Oh, say something new," groaned Buster.

  Miss Elting permitted them to jest to their hearts' content. The morethey talked the better was she pleased, because it kept them fromeating too rapidly. Their meal finished and the dishes cleaned in saltwater and sand, the guardian gave thought to their next move. But shewas in no haste. The girls were allowed plenty of time to rest anddigest their hearty meal, which they did by sitting in the sand withthe sun beating down on them. After the lapse of an hour she told thegirls to get ready.

  "I will say to you frankly that I do not know where I am, though I ampositive we are on the right road. Our destination can not be so veryfar from here, and I believe we have ample time to reach it beforedark. However, each of you will put a can of beans in her pocket. Wewill take the coffee, our cups and the coffee pot. Thus equipped, weshall not go hungry in case we are caught out over night. Then, again,there must be houses somewhere along this road. The first one we see Ishall stop and make inquiries."

  "What shall we do with the rest of our things?" questioned Hazel.

  "Make them into packages and hide the lot. You might blaze a tree nearthe road, in case we forget. All parts of the road hereabouts lookvery much alike to me. There is a good place for a _cache_ about halfway between here and the highway. I should go in a few rods, but anyfood that is not in cans we had better throw away."

  "I don't thee why we can't camp right here," said Grace.

  "This is not the place to which we are going," Harriet informed her."I don't know where it is, but, sooner or later, we'll arrive there."

  "If we are lucky," added Tommy under her breath.

  Jane and Harriet Hid the Trunk.]

  Jane had already started for the road. She was called back byHarriet to take hold of one end of the trunk. Together the two girlslugged this to the place on the path that had been indicated by MissElting. By going straight in among the trees a short distance theyfound rocks, under one of which was a hole hollowed out in formertimes by water, and which made an excellent place in which to stowtheir equipment until such time as they might be able to return forit.

  Hazel, Margery and Tommy brought the rest of their belongings from thehighway, Miss Elting and Hazel what had been left at their campingplace, all being neatly packed away in the hollow in the rock. Thisdone, and a mound of small stones built over it, the girls were readyto proceed on their journey.

  The afternoon was now well along, so they started off at a brisk pace,led by the guardian. Harriet appeared to have fully recovered from heraccident. About an hour later they came in sight of a farmhouse. Theguardian directed the girls to sit down and rest while she went up tothe house to make some inquiries. When she returned her face was allsmiles.

  "I know where I am now," she called.

  "How far have we to go?" asked Harriet.

  "About five miles, they say, but one has to make allowances fordistances in the country. It is difficult to find two persons who willagree on the distance to any certain point."

  "Five mileth, did you say?" questioned Tommy.

  "Yes, dear."

  "Thave me!"

  "We shall easily make it in two hours. I don't think we can go astray.So long as we keep within sound of the sea we shall be right. If youare ready, we will move on."

  Once more they set out. They had gone on less than an hour whenMargery began to cry. Tommy regarded her with disapproving eyes.Margery declared that she couldn't walk another step. Inquiry by MissElting developed the fact that Buster had a blister on her right foot.This meant another delay. Miss Elting removed the girl's shoe fromthat foot and treated the blister. Half an hour was lost by thisdelay, but no one except Tommy Thompson complained. Tommy complainedfor the sake of saying something. She teased Margery so unmercifullythat Miss Elting was obliged to rebuke her, after which Tommy went offby herself and sat pensively down by the roadside until the order tomarch was given.

  The afternoon was waning when once more they came in sight of the sea.The setting sun had turned the expanse of ocean into a vast plain ofshimmering, quivering gold. The Meadow-Brook Girls utteredexclamations of delight when they set eyes on the scene. For a fewmoments they stood still, gazing and gazing as if it were not possibleto get enough of the, to most of them, unusual spectacle.

  A full quarter of a mile ahead they observed that the shores a littleback were quite heavily wooded, though the trees were small andslender. This particular spot seemed to have attracted Miss Elting'sattention to the exclusion of all else. As she looked, a smileoverspread her countenance. The girls did not observe it.

  "We are nearly there," she called.

  "Near the camp?" asked Tommy.

  "Yes, the camp, you little tantalizer," chuckled the guardian. "Butyou will not know what camp until you reach it."

  "Oh, yeth I thall. It ith our camp, the Meadow-Brook camp."

  "I hear shouts. I do believe they are girls'," cried Crazy Jane. Sheglanced inquiringly at Miss Elting, but the latter's face now gave nohint as to what was in her mind. "Come on; let's run, girls."

  With one accord they started forward at a brisk trot. This brought awail from the limping Margery.

  "Wait for me," she cried. "I--I can't run."

  To their surprise Tommy halted, waited
for Buster, then, linking anarm within hers, assisted Margery to trot along and keep up with hercompanions. Miss Elting gave Grace an appreciative nod and smile,which amply repaid the little girl for her kindly act. They coveredthe distance to the miniature forest in quick time, impelled by theircuriosity, now realizing that they were to meet with the surprise thattheir guardian had prepared for them. Harriet had a fairly welldefined idea as to what was awaiting them, but even she was to behappily surprised.

  They reached a point opposite the little forest, when, as they lookedtoward the sea, visible in spots between the trees, they discovered arow of tents, and in the center of an open space a flag flutteringfrom a sapling from which the limbs and foliage had been trimmed.

  "It's Camp Wau-Wau!" shouted Crazy Jane. "Come along, darlin's. Let'ssee what else there is to surprise us."

  The girls rushed in among the trees, shouting and laughing. Theybrought up in the middle of the encampment and halted. A middle-aged,pleasant-faced woman stepped from a tent, gazed at them a moment,then opened her arms, into which the Meadow-Brook Girls rushed, fairlysmothering the woman with their affectionate embraces.