“Not very often, I’m afraid,” said Marjorie, wondering at the same time whether she might hope to hear from John Hadley soon. “But don’t you worry, Daisy, if there were any news you’d get it by wire.” “I suppose that’s true,” said the girl, thoughtfully. “And that reminds me, I wanted to ask you girls not to say anything about my sister out here. Of course I knew you wouldn’t intentionally, but something might slip out--like it did about that fake lieutenant--if you weren’t on your guard.” The girls laughed at the reference to the joke the boy had tried to play upon them, and assured Daisy that they would be very careful of her confidence. It was half-past five when they finally strolled over to the porch of the big cabin. A large, roomy veranda, with plenty of benches and chairs, it looked most inviting and homelike. The girls approached it with a sensation of pleasure that almost seemed like adventure. All the scouts had put on simple summer dresses, and yet as they saw the only other two girls of the ranch in riding breeches and flannel shirts, they experienced that uncomfortable feeling which comes to a woman when she realizes that she is not appropriately clothed. As they approached the porch Bob Hilton came out of the cabin to introduce them to the others. He did it clumsily, but so informally that they felt immediately at ease. “That bunch in the corner playing fan-tan is the Grimes Academy bunch,” he said, indicating five boys ranging from thirteen to sixteen years of age. “And that’s Pop Welsh, their keeper!” The boys looked up and grinned, and the girls smiled back in return. “Irene and Maud Judson,” continued Bob, nodding in the direction of the two young ladies. “Mike and Tom Melville, here”--he indicated two young men in their early twenties. “And that’s all of us, except Kirk Smith, who happens to be taking a swim. And, of course, Art and me--; now you know where you stand.” “No we don’t!” objected Alice, laughingly. “I don’t remember a single name besides yours and the two young ladies.” “Well, you soon will. And we call each other by our first names entirely. So if you people had any idea of getting ‘Miss,’ you’ll be left!” “We hadn’t--we wouldn’t like it a bit!” Lily reassured them. The girls declined an invitation to join in the games with the boys in the corner of the porch, and seated themselves near the two young women. They were attractive girls, of twenty and twenty-two, of the healthy, athletic type. Their clear complexions and bright eyes proclaimed them living exponents of this simple, out-door life. “We’re awfully glad to have some other girls,” said Irene, the older of the two. “Although it has been fun to be the only ones, in a way, too.” “You’ll love it here!” said Maud. “We wish we could stay the whole summer, but we’ve been here since the first of June, and we have to leave the beginning of August, to join our parents.”