The Meadow-Brook Girls in the Hills | Page 5

somewhat downcast and very thoughtful, led the way to the
Compton House, a short distance down the street from the post-office
and grocery store. The girls began talking almost as soon as they had
left the store porch.
"Please, please don't discharge him," begged Hazel. "He is such a nice
man."
"And thuch nithe whithkerth," added Grace Thompson. "He lookth
jutht like an uncle of mine, who----"
"I agree with the girls, Miss Elting," interjected Harriet. "We are able to
take care of ourselves. Perhaps this is simply another crazy man, of
whom we shall be rid as soon as we leave the village for the mountains
in the morning. Please don't dismiss Mr. Grubb."
"I shall have to think this matter over," was the guardian's grave reply.
"We do not care to repeat last summer's experience. You remember
what came of relying on the assurance of a stranger." Miss Elting
referred to the manner in which they had been tricked by the man who
had charge of her brother's houseboat the previous summer, and whose
treachery had caused them so much annoyance.
None of the Meadow-Brook Girls made reply. They were as fully
puzzled in this respect as was their guardian. Miss Elting, however,

pondered over the mystery all the way to the hotel. They found the
Compton House a very comfortable country hotel, rather more so than
some others of which they had had experience during their previous
journeys. Arriving at the hotel, they hurriedly prepared for supper, for
they were late and the other guests of the house had eaten and left the
dining room before the Meadow-Brook Girls had even entered the
hotel.
By the time supper was finished, their luggage had come over from the
station. Janus Grubb, went home, not a little troubled as well as
mystified by the occurrences of the evening. Who the man could
possibly be he had not the remotest idea. He tried to recall who of his
acquaintances might be guilty of playing such a joke on him. To the
mind of Janus the incident could have been only a prank, though he
questioned the good taste of any such interference between himself and
his customers.
On the contrary, Miss Elting and her young charges attached more
serious meaning to the performances of the man who had regarded
them through green goggles. They regarded the incident with suspicion
and agreed to proceed only with the utmost caution.
None of the readers of this series need an introduction to Harriet
Burrell and her three friends, who figured so prominently in "THE
MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS UNDER CANVAS." It was in this
narrative that the four chums made their first expedition into the
Pocono woods and for several happy weeks were members of Camp
Wau-Wau, a campfire association of which the girls became loyal
members. At the end of their stay in camp they decided to walk to their
home town, sending their camping outfit on ahead.
The story of their journey home on foot was told in the second volume,
"THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS ACROSS COUNTRY," in which
an Italian and his dancing bear, a campful of gipsies and a band of
marauding tramps furnished much of the excitement. Then, too, the
friendly aid and rivalries of a camp of boys known as the Tramp Club
furnished many enjoyable situations.

It was in the third volume, "THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS
AFLOAT," that Harriet Burrell and her friends were shown as
encountering a considerable amount of adventure. The girls led an
eventful life on the old houseboat on one of the New Hampshire lakes,
and also encountered a mystery which, with the help of the Tramp Club,
was run to earth, but the solving of it entailed the loss of the "Red
Rover," their houseboat.
And now the Meadow-Brook Girls were about to spend a few weeks
among the "Marvelous Crystal Hills," as the White Mountains in New
Hampshire have been aptly termed.
Much time and thought had been spent in preparing properly for this
long vacation jaunt. Camp equipage had all been overhauled, and much
that would serve excellently where there was transport service had been
discarded for this journey into the hills.
Resting for a while after finishing supper, the girls began to make up
neat packs containing such bare equipment and food supplies as they
believed to be indispensable. Then there were the tent, blankets and
cooking utensils to be looked after. Of course, the guide would carry
much of this dunnage, yet our girls were no weaklings, and no one of
them expected to shirk carrying her fair share of the load.
It was after nine o'clock when Harriet and her chums finished the
making-up of the packs. Soon after a clerk knocked on the door of Miss
Elting's room.
"There's a man