The Outdoor Girls at Bluff Point | Page 2

of
outdoor sports.
The girls, as my old readers will doubtless remember, had helped
establish a Hostess House at Camp Liberty, and since then had given
all their strength and time and youthful enthusiasm to the great work of
cheering our young fighters, entertaining their loved ones, and, in the
end, sending them with fresh courage and happy memories to the "other
side" for the great adventure.
And now the girls, completely worn out in their loving service to others,
had been sent, much against their will, home to Deepdale for a rest that
they sorely needed.
To-day they had gathered in Betty's house to discuss the rather hazy
plans for their brief vacation. And Amy had simply voiced what was in
the thoughts of all the girls. They were, undeniably and heartily,
homesick for Camp Liberty and their work at the Hostess House.
"Lost?" Mollie repeated Amy's expression thoughtfully. "Yes, I guess
that would pretty well describe the feeling I've had for the last few days.
Sort of restless and aimless--wondering what to do next."

"Goodness!" cried Grace whimsically, stretching her arms above her
head and smothering a yawn, "this is terrible, you know. If we don't
look out, we'll be forgetting how to enjoy ourselves."
"That would be queer, wouldn't it?" agreed Mollie, with a chuckle as
she started to resume her reading. "Especially for the Outdoor Girls,
who used to know how to enjoy themselves remarkably well."
A brief silence followed, broken only by the rustle of paper as one of
the girls turned a page. Then, so suddenly that Mollie jumped
nervously and Grace almost upset a box of chocolates at her elbow,
Amy threw down her book and sprang to her feet.
"I can't stand it another minute!" she exclaimed desperately. "Girls, I
must get out and do something--this loafing is getting on my nerves."
"Goodness, the child's mad," declared Mollie, looking at her chum with
a mixture of amusement and sympathy in her eyes. "What do you want
to do, Amy, start a fight, or set the town on fire? Whatever it is, I'm for
you, as Roy would say."
"Oh, I guess I must be crazy," said Amy, subsiding and seeming a little
ashamed of her outburst. "Only, after so much band music and parades
and bugle calls--everything in Deepdale seems so quiet."
"Well, if all you want is noise, we'll easily fix that," said Mollie briskly,
running to the piano and gathering in Grace and Amy on the way.
"Sing," she commanded, "and I'll make as much noise as I can on the
piano."
Half laughing, half protesting, the girls obeyed while Mollie
conscientiously made good her threat with the piano, and it was into
this uproar that Betty Nelson stepped a moment later.
"Have mercy!" she screamed above the noise, both hands clapped over
her ears while she laughed at them. "I thought they had turned the
house into a lunatic asylum or something."

The music, if such it can be called, stopped so suddenly that Betty's last
words rang out with absurd distinctness.
"Or something," Mollie mimicked, whirling around and catching the
newcomer in a bear's embrace. "Come over to the couch, Betty Nelson,
and explain yourself. Where have you been and why did you keep us
waiting?"
Laughingly the Little Captain, as she was often called by the girls
because of her talent for leadership, permitted herself to be dragged
over to the couch by the impulsive Mollie, while Amy and Grace
seated themselves on the arms.
"What would you?" protested Betty, looking from one accusing face to
another. "I said I would meet you here at two-thirty, and it is only
quarter past now."
"Only quarter past!" exclaimed Amy.
"Oh, is that all?" asked Mollie, in astonishment, adding, as Betty lifted
her wrist watch for inspection: "Goodness, I thought we had been
waiting ages."
"I'm glad you wanted to see me so much," chuckled the Little Captain,
adding, with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes: "I imagine you would
have been still more impatient if you had known--" she paused
wickedly and just looked at them.
"Don't tease, Betty! What is it?" they implored in chorus, fairly
pouncing upon her, while Grace added, eagerly:
"Is it possible you have anything really interesting to tell us?"
"I shouldn't wonder if you would think so," Betty teased, adding
quickly to forestall the outburst she saw was coming, "It really isn't
anything at all--only--I met the postman on my way--"
"Betty!" they cried, unable to contain their impatience another moment.

"You have letters! Letters from our soldier boys!"
"How did you guess it?" said Betty, her eyes dancing as she brought
from a convenient pocket three--yes, three--fat letters, each containing
the longed-for foreign postmark.
"How much will you give me?" teased Betty, holding the