The Meadow-Brook Girls in the Hills | Page 3

reflectively.
"Lucky for him that I don't. What do you want to do now?"
"Go to the post-office," cried the girls.
"There must be mail for as there," added Hazel. "I'm so anxious to hear
from home."
"Yeth, tho am I," lisped little Grace Thompson.
"You have arranged for us at the hotel for to-night, haven't you?"
demanded Jane McCarthy. "Father said you would look after these
matters for me."
"It's all right, Miss. We'll go to the postoffice now. I'll look after your
baggage when we get you settled for the night. We won't take it away
from the station till we talk over what you want to do. Are you ready?"
They walked down the street, laughing and chatting, a happy lot of girls,
followed by a group of curious villagers, who even accompanied them
into the post-office. It was unusual to see so many pretty girls in
Compton, for summer visitors seldom came to the place. Furthermore,
these were different from any visitors ever seen there, so far as dress
was concerned. While waiting for the mail to be distributed, the girls
laughed and talked, apparently utterly oblivious of the presence of the
staring villagers. Miss Elting inquired for mail for the party as soon as
the wicket was opened.
"Here, Tommy, is a letter for you," she smiled. Grace took the letter
eagerly. "And here are letters for Harriet, Hazel, and Margery. There is
one for me, too. It is from your father, Jane."
"I have a letter here from Dad. I--will you look at that?" Jane stood

staring at the window. For a brief instant she had caught sight of a man
wearing a huge pair of goggles. He was peering through the post-office
window at them. But as she looked, the man disappeared. "It was our
friend with the green goggles again as sure as I'm alive!" she exclaimed.
"He was staring in here for all he was worth, but the minute he saw me
looking at him he vanished."
"I am afraid we are going to have trouble with this mysterious
individual," declared Harriet. "He seems to have developed a peculiar
interest in our affairs that is far from flattering."
"We are not going to be annoyed as we were last year," said Miss
Elting firmly. "Mr. Grubb, there is something very strange in all this. If
for any reason you know this man or have even the slightest idea of his
identity I must ask you to be perfectly frank with me."
Janus Grubb declared solemnly that he had not the least idea who the
man could have been. Nor had he been able to find any person who had
seen the fellow approach them. Miss Elting and the guide stepped out
to the porch, followed by the girls, still chatting over the news from
home contained in their letters.
"Now, where do you want to go first?" asked the guide after they had
reached the porch.
"We will trust to your judgment," answered Miss Elting. "You know
best. We wish to try a little mountain climbing and we wish to see the
larger of the White Mountains. We would like to see everything of
interest in the White Mountain country."
"That's a pretty big contract," chuckled Janus; "but I reckon we can
show you what you want to see. For instance, there's Mt. Chocorua,
Moosilauke, Mt. Washington, Mt. Lafayette and as many more as you
like, all the real thing and offering all the climbing you will care to do,
unless you want to follow the trails that all the visitors take."
"No, we do not. We prefer to blaze our own trails, or, rather, to have
you do so, and the rougher they prove the better, as long as it is safe.

My girls are equal to any sort of rough-and-tumble climbing. How do
we get to the mountains?"
"I've engaged a carry-all to take us out to the foothills. From there you
can walk or ride. If we take the rough trails, of course we'll have to
climb."
"I shall ask you to lay out your route, then arrange to have some of our
baggage shipped on to meet us, say a week from now. Our necessary
equipment we can carry. The girls are used to shouldering heavy packs.
You will provide climbing equipment. I understand from Miss
McCarthy that you are a climber."
"I'm everything and anything in the White Mountain Range," answered
the guide boldly.
"Then, what do you say if we make Mount Chocorua first?"
"Perhaps you had better decide for us."
"This mountain is three thousand five hundred feet high. The way we
shall take you will, I think, find rugged enough to please the young
ladies," added Janus, with a grin behind his whiskers. "What time