“I’m going to get some more blankets from the boat,” declared Mollie.
“I know we’ll be glad of them before morning. Come along with me,
Grace,” she added, after a moment’s pause, as she took up one of the
lanterns. “You can help carry them.”
“And scare away the——” began Amy.
“Indeed, I wasn’t thinking a thing about it!” insisted Mollie, with
emphasis. “And I’ll thank you to——”
She began in that impetuous style, that usually presaged a burst of
temper, and Betty looked distressed. But Mollie corrected her fault
almost before she had committed it.
“Excuse me, Amy,” she said, contritely. “I know what you mean. Will you
come, Grace?”
“Of course. I’ll be glad of some extra coverings myself.”
The two girls were back in remarkably short time.
“You didn’t stay long,” commented Betty, drily. “it’s only a step to
the dock,” answered Mollie, as she and Grace deposited their arm-loads
of blankets on the cots.
Then after the talk and laughter had died away, quiet gradually settled
down in the camp tent. The Outdoor Girls were trying to go to sleep,
but one and all, afterward, even Aunt Kate, complained that it was
difficult. Whether it was the change from the boat, or the talk of the
ghost, none could say. At any rate there were uneasy turnings from side
to side, and as each cot squeaked in a different key, and as one or the
other was constantly “singing,” the result may be imagined.
“Oh, dear!” exclaimed Grace, impatiently, after a half-hour of
comparative quiet, “I know I’ll never get to sleep. Do you girls mind
if I sit up and read a little? That always makes me drowsy, and I’ve
got a book that needs finishing.” Only Aunt Kate was slumbering.
“Got any chocolates that need eating?” asked Mollie, with a laugh, in
which they all joined, half-hysterically.
“Yes, I have!” with emphasis. “But, just for that you won’t get any.”
“I don’t want them! You couldn’t hire me to eat candy at night,” and
again Mollie flared up.
“Girls, girls!” besought Betty. “This will never do! We will all be
rags in the morning.”
“Polishing rags then, I hope,” murmured Amy. “My hands are black from
the oil stove—it smoked, and I’ll need a cake of sand-soap to get clean
again.”
“Well, I can’t stand this—I’m too fidgety!” declared Grace. “I’m going
to sit up a little while, and read. I’m going to eat a chocolate, too.
I’ll give you some, Mollie, if you like. I bought a fresh box of Mr.
Lagg.
“Chocolates they are nice and sweet,
Good for man and beast to eat.”
“Give me a young lady-like brand,” suggested Amy.
“Why don’t we all of us sit up a while, and—I have it—we’ll make a pot
of chocolate,” exclaimed Mollie. “That will make us all sleep, and warm
us—it is getting real chilly already.”
“Perhaps that will be best,” agreed Betty, as she donned her heavy
dressing gown and warm slippers, for the tent was cool even in July.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account