Campfire Girls in the Allegheny Mountains | Page 9

and
political subjection."
"Where did you learn all that, Helen?" Marion asked wonderingly.
"You are not even studying sociology at school. You talk like a person
of experience."
"My father was a miner," Helen began. Then she stopped, and Marion
saw from the expression in her eyes and the twitch of her mouth that a

big lump in her throat had interrupted her explanation. She seemed to
be making an effort to continue, but was unable to do so.
"Never mind, Helen," said Marion, taking her hand tenderly in her own.
"I am more convinced than ever that I found just the right person to
advise me when I laid this matter before you. We will try to work this
problem out together. Meanwhile we must take Miss Ladd into our
confidence. Why, here she is now."
* * * * *

CHAPTER V.
GIRLS COURAGEOUS.
"What's the matter, girls? You look as if you had the weight of the
world on your shoulders."
Miss Ladd spoke these words lightly as if to pass judgment on the
conference as entirely too serious for a Christmas holiday occasion.
Marion and Helen did not respond in tones of joviality, as might have
been expected. They met her jocular reproach with expressions of such
serious portent that the Guardian of the Fire could no longer look upon
it as calling for words of levity.
"What's the matter, girls?" she repeated more seriously. "You look
worried."
"Sit down, Miss Ladd, and read these letters I received last night," said
Marion without any change of tone or manner. "They will explain the
whole thing. We were just about to call you aside and lay our trouble
before you."
"Trouble," Miss Ladd repeated deprecatingly, "I hope it isn't as bad as
that."
She drew an upholstered armchair close to the girls and began at once

to examine the letters that Marion handed to her. Marion and Helen
watched her closely as she read, but the Guardian of Flamingo Fire
indicated her strength of character by a stern immobility of
countenance until she had finished both letters. Then she looked at
Marion steadily and said inquiringly:
"I suppose you have no idea who wrote these letters?"
"Not the slightest," replied the girl addressed, "unless the shorter one
was written and mailed by some of the Boy Scouts at Spring Lake.
Helen thinks it was, and I am inclined to believe with her that it doesn't
make much difference to us who wrote it. The other letter is the one we
are most interested in."
"I agree with you thoroughly," said Miss Ladd energetically. "And we
have got to do something to prevent him from carrying out his threat."
"Ought we to inform the other girls now?" asked Marion with a sense
of growing courage, for she felt that in the Camp Fire's Guardian she
had found elements of wise counsel extending even beyond that young
woman's experience.
"Why, yes," Miss Ladd replied. "I see no reason for delay. I'd rather tell
them now than just before or after we get to Hollyhill. If we tell them
now they'll have a couple of hours in which to stiffen their courage.
There are eleven girls besides you two. Suppose you call them here in
three lots in succession, four, four, and three, and we'll tell them quietly
what has occurred and give them a little lecture as to how they should
meet this crisis."
"All right," said Marion, rising. "I'll bring the first four and you get
your lecture ready."
"It's ready already," said the guardian reassuringly. "It is so simple that
I have no need of preparation."
"I'm afraid I need some drill in the best means and methods of reading
character," Marion told herself as she walked back to the rear of the car.

"I was really afraid to take the matter up with Helen or Miss Ladd for
fear lest they recommend something foolish. Now it appears that each
of them has a very clever head on her shoulders. Maybe I'll find the
other girls possessed of just as good qualities. If I do, this day will have
brought forth an important revelation to me, that the average girl, after
all, is a pretty level-headed sort of person. Well, here's hoping for the
best."
Marion selected the four girls farthest in front and asked them to
approach the forward end of the car. They did so with some appearance
of apprehension, for by this time all the girls had begun to suspect that
something unusual was doing. This appeared to be evident also to the
half-dozen other passengers in the car, whose curious attention
naturally was directed toward the forward group of girls.
All of the girls received the information relative to the anonymous
letters so calmly that