The Camp Fire Girls at Long Lake | Page 8

girls
to get ready? I'll go and make arrangements, Charlie."
And so, the next day, after lunch, the Camp Fire Girls, waving their
hands to kindly Mrs. Farnham, and making a great fuss over Walter,
who drove them to the station, said good-bye for the time, at least, to
the farm. And Dolly Ransom, Bessie noticed, took pains to be
particularly nice to Walter Stubbs.
CHAPTER III
LONG LAKE
"I love traveling," said Dolly, when they were settled in their places in
the train that was to take them up into the hills and on the first stage of
the journey to Long Lake. "I like to see new places and new people."
"Dolly's never content for very long in one place," said Eleanor Mercer,
who overheard her remark, smiling. "If she had her way she'd be flying
all over the country all the time. Wouldn't you, Dolly?"
"I don't like to know what's going to happen next all the time," said
Dolly.
"I know just how you feel," Bessie surprised her by saying. "I used to
think, sometimes, when I was on Paw Hoover's farm in Hedgeville, that
if only I could go to sleep some night without knowing just what was
going to happen the next day I'd be happy. It was always the same,
too--just the same things to do, and the same places to see--"
"I should think Jake Hoover would have kept you guessing what he was
going to do next," said Dolly, spitefully. "The great big bully! Oh, how
glad I was when Will Burns knocked him down the other day!"
"Yes," admitted Bessie. "I didn't know just what Jake was going to tell
Maw Hoover about me next--but then, you see, I always knew it was
something that would get me into trouble, and that I'd either get beaten
or get a scolding and have to do without my supper. So even about that

it wasn't very difficult to know what was going to happen."
"Heavens--I'd have run away long before you did," said Dolly, with a
shudder. "I don't see how you ever stood it as long as you did, Bessie. It
must have been awful."
"It was, Dolly," said Eleanor, gravely. "I was there, and I made a point
of looking into things, so that if anyone ever blamed me for helping
Bessie and Zara to get away, I could explain that I hadn't just taken
Bessie's word for things. But running away was a pretty hard thing to
do. It's easy to talk about--but where was Bessie to go? She isn't like
you--or she wasn't.
"She didn't have a lot of friends, who would have thought it was just a
fine joke for her to have to run off that way. If you did it, you'd have a
good time, and when you got tired of it, you'd go back to your Aunt
Mabel, and she'd scold you a little, and that would be the end of it. You
must have thought of trying to get away, Bessie, didn't you?"
"Oh, I did, Miss Eleanor, often and often. When Jake was very bad, or
Maw Hoover was meaner than usual. But it's just as you say. I was
afraid that wherever I went it would be, worse than it was there. I didn't
know where to go or what to do."
"Well--that's so," said Dolly. "It has been awfully hard. But then, how
did you ever get the nerve to do it at all, Bessie? That's what I don't
understand. The way you act now, it seems as if you always wanted to
do just as you are told."
"I thought you'd heard all about that, Dolly. You see, when we really
did run away, we couldn't help it, Zara and I. And I don't believe we
really meant to go quite away, the way we did--not at first. You
remember when we saw you girls first--when you were in camp in the
woods?"
"Oh, yes; I remember seeing you, with your head just poking out Of the
door of that funny old hut by the lake. I thought it was awfully funny,
but I didn't know you then, of course."

"I expect you'd have thought it was funny whether you knew us or not,
Dolly. Well, you see, Zara had come over to see me the day it all
happened, and Jake caught her talking with me, and locked her in the
woodshed. Maw Hoover didn't like Zara, because she was a foreigner,
and Maw thought she stole eggs and chickens--but never did such a
thing in her life. So Jake locked her in the woodshed, and said that he
was going to keep her there till Maw Hoover came home. She'd gone to
town."
"Why did he want to do