“It’s the nicest place!” agreed Margie. She, too, laid down her package of lunch for a moment to open a thermos bottle of lemonade she had brought. The girls were about to eat their lunches when a sudden scream from a group of their chums near the falls made them look up. “Oh, Nellie has fallen in!” some one cried. Margie and Lucy rushed to the scene of the accident. But it was a very slight one. A little girl, leaning over the edge of the stream to wash her hands, had toppled in. The water was shallow and Mrs. Watson, one of the ladies who had accompanied the girls, soon pulled Nellie out. She was wet but not harmed. “You must be more careful, my dear,” said Mrs. Watson. “But I couldn’t help it,” Nellie said. “Something scared me.” “Something scared you! What?” “A big animal right across the brook. He looked at me with such big eyes and then I fell in!” Some of the girls laughed. But Margie and Lucy glanced at one another in a knowing way and Lucy said: “It must have been that deer!” “I believe it was!” agreed Margie. “How queer!” CHAPTER XI HEEL PLATE CLUE Somehow, Margie and Lucy did not speak of the mysterious deer to Nellie, the other girls or to Mrs. Watson. Lucy and Margie hurried away from the scene of the little accident as soon as it was certain Nellie was only wet and frightened but not hurt. “I thought we had better not say anything about it being a deer that might have frightened Nellie,” said Lucy when the two were off by themselves. “I thought the same,” agreed Margie. “Besides, we aren’t positive it was the deer.” “No, but I believe it was,” said Lucy. “Only I didn’t see why we should tell everyone the secret.” “Of course not,” agreed her chum. “The deer sort of belongs to our club. If we can find out about it by ourselves, instead of bringing in a lot of others, it will be more fun.” “That’s what I think,” agreed Lucy. “But I wish I had been there when the deer looked out of the bushes across the brook.” “And scared Nellie so she fell in,” added Margie. “It’s a wonder she didn’t know it was a deer.” “That’s right. She just called it some big animal. But I’m sure the deer was around here. It must be here yet.” “Sure,” agreed Margie. “Do you think, after we eat our lunch, we should try to find the deer? It would be a good joke on the boys if we found it first, wouldn’t it?” “Just scrumptious!” laughed Lucy. “But I think maybe we had better not go off deer hunting by ourselves. That deer has horns and it might be dangerous.” “Besides, we might get lost looking for it,” went on Margie. “The woods are thick and dark once you go a little way from Buttermilk Falls. But we can tell the boys about the deer and they can come here and hunt it.” “Yes. And now let’s eat our lunches. I’m starved!” “So am I!” assented Margie. “I have some lovely chicken sandwiches that mother put up for me.” “I have only ham sandwiches,” said Lucy. “But I have a big piece of chocolate cake.”