“I see no reason for wasting time in teasing Sally. I consider that she has made an extremely agreeable suggestion,” Gill protested. Half an hour later, Peggy Webster, Bettina Graham, Mary Gilchrist, Marguerite Arnot, Sally and Alice Ashton and the small English girl, Chitty, who rarely left Bettina Graham’s side when it was possible to be with her, set out, leaving Vera Lagerloff to entertain Juliet Temple, the girl who had come to the cabin so unexpectedly, but concerning whose history and character they had no knowledge. To Mary Gilchrist’s annoyance Allan Drain had joined their three young men guests, but she need not have troubled. He attached himself to Bettina and Chitty after a polite greeting to her, as soon as they set out on their expedition. In a walk composed of a large group of people, the arrangement in the beginning is apt to be haphazard, controlled more by chance than choice. Personally Bettina was glad that Allan Drain seemed interested to walk beside her, since this left David Hale free to be with Marguerite Arnot. Otherwise his sense of duty might have impelled him to be attentive to her. He had come to the cabin at her mother’s invitation. Bettina was convinced that he would find more pleasure in Marguerite’s company and that they would be glad to talk over the past year in France. The walk was not to be of great length, Mary Gilchrist having proposed that they go to a low, cleared hill about a mile away on the far side of Half Moon Lake for their first toboggan ride. One of Miss Patricia’s gifts, sent down from Canada, had been a toboggan capable of carrying eight persons. But to the Camp Fire girls’ chagrin Mrs. Burton had been unwilling to have them make use of it until they had a masculine escort. Absurd as her point of view appeared to several of the more independent members of her group of Camp Fire girls, no one had appealed from her decision. This afternoon, moving swiftly ahead on snow shoes, Mary Gilchrist and Dan Webster dragged the great sleigh, leaving the others to follow as swiftly as possible. No one of the others had acquired Gill’s skill in the management of snow shoes save Dan Webster who had been brought up on a New Hampshire farm and was a trained athlete. “Gill and Dan look very handsome together, don’t they?” Alice Ashton remarked. Tall and intellectual and not especially good looking, Alice Ashton was far from possessing her younger sister Sally’s popularity with men of all ages. But at present she and Sally were walking with their distant cousin, Philip Stead, between them and, as Sally was not making the faintest effort to entertain him, Alice felt compelled to assume the responsibility.