The Outdoor Girls at the Hostess House | Page 3

one else--"

"Oh, I guess it isn't that they don't realize it," Grace interrupted
thoughtfully. "You know my father always used to say that a man who
never knew what it was to be afraid wasn't really brave at all. He said it
was the man who was scared to death in his heart, that gritted his teeth
and went ahead and faced things anyway, that deserves all the credit."
"I presume that's right," said the Little Captain, leaning forward
earnestly. "I don't suppose there is any one in the world who really
enjoys the thought of losing an arm or a leg, or being broken in health
for the rest of his life. I think what our boys are doing is just to take the
fear of that with a smile and go ahead gayly to face whatever may come.
Brave--" Her voice trailed off, and for a long time there was silence
while the big car hummed rhythmically along the road and the miles
swept by uncounted.
"Of course, there are lots of people," Betty resumed after a while, "who
say the boys just enlisted for the love of adventure, the love of a good
fight, and I suppose that had something to do with it."
"Of course it had," Mollie agreed. "And that's one thing that makes it
harder for us who have to stay at home and can't have any of the thrill
and excitement that helps to carry the boys through. But it's only one of
a dozen reasons, after all."
"I wish we knew when they were going," said Grace, irrelevantly. "The
suspense is worse than anything else. It's like cutting a dog's tail off an
inch at a time."
"Goodness, isn't she complimentary?" flung back Mollie, laughing.
"You can compare yourself to a four-footed dog, Grace, but please
leave me out of it."
"Did you ever hear of a two-footed dog?" Grace retorted.
"To change the subject," Betty interposed hastily, seeking to avoid a
storm. "Don't you think it's almost time to be turning back? We've gone
farther than--Oh, Mollie! Girls! Look!"

They had rounded a curve in the road at their usual breakneck speed,
and Mollie stopped the car with a jolt that very nearly sent its
occupants flying into the roadway.
Before them, not twenty yards away, a little figure in black lay huddled
in the road while the motorcyclist who had caused the accident, sped by
the girls, exhaust open and head lowered.
Dazedly they gazed after machine and rider for a minute till they
disappeared round a turn in the road. Then, with a cry of dismay, Betty
tumbled out of the car, followed by the other girls.
The prostrate figure in the road lay very, very still.
CHAPTER II
THE ACCIDENT
"Betty, is she dead?"
"Oh, I hope not," said Betty, white-faced and pitying, as she bent over
the little old woman. "That man ought to be hung! I'll loosen her collar.
And, Grace, see if you can find some water. Hurry, dear."
And while the girls are ministering to the poor little victim of the
accident, the opportunity will be taken to tell new readers something
about the Outdoor Girls and their activities and adventures in other
volumes of this series.
Betty Nelson, gay and fun-loving, possessed the natural gift of
leadership which had earned for her the title of "Little Captain." The
girls adored her and followed her unquestioningly wherever she led.
Grace Ford was a graceful, tall, pretty girl with a decided and insatiable
fondness for chocolate candy. At the outbreak of the war, or rather, at
the time of America's entry into the war, her brother Will had caused
her great unhappiness by his failure to enlist with the other boys of her
acquaintance. The mystery had been satisfactorily explained later,

however, and when this story opens, Will was on his way to make a
splendid soldier in America's army of democracy.
There was a bit of French blood in Mollie Billette, or "Billy," as the
girls sometimes called her. Bright black eyes which could, upon
occasion, snap fire and a rather unruly temper attested to this French
ancestry.
The last one of the quartette was Amy Blackford, quiet and retiring, but
given to occasional outbursts which never failed to surprise and delight
the girls. The mystery which at one time had surrounded her origin had
been cleared up some years before by the finding of Henry Blackford,
her long-lost brother.
How the girls formed a camping and tramp club and the fun they had
on their interesting and adventurous tour, has been told in the first
volume of the series, entitled "The Outdoor Girls of Deepdale."
After this the girls had many adventures, first at Rainbow Lake, to
which they went on another tour, this time