The Outdoor Girls in a Winter Camp | Page 5

a walking tour. Incidentally they
solved the mystery of a five hundred dollar bill, and won the lasting
gratitude of a Mr. Henry Blackford, a young business man.
In the second book, "The Outdoor Girls at Rainbow Lake; Or, The
Stirring Cruise of the Motor Boat Gem," there was a queer ghostly
mystery on an island, but the girls were a match for it. As may be
guessed from the title, the story has to do with boating, Betty having
become the proud possessor of a fine craft.
When Mollie Billette got her touring car the girls saw no end of good
times ahead of them, and their hopes were fully realized. The third
volume, named "The Outdoor Girls in a Motor Car; Or, The Haunted
Mansion of Shadow Valley," involved the girls from the very start in a
series of queer happenings. They could not discover, until the very end,
why a certain girl fell out of a tree. And as for the strange
manifestations in the mysterious old mansion--but there, it would not
be fair to betray the secret in such a fashion.

The beautiful Fall weather gave the girls a chance to make long tours in
the car, and they enjoyed every minute spent in the open. And now they
were on the edge of winter.
A cold snap had frozen over the Argono River, on the pleasant banks of
which was located Deepdale, the thriving town where our friends lived.
And they were out enjoying the sport when Amy overheard the cruel
words that sent her off crying.
I might add something about the personal lives of the four chums, by
saying that Betty was an only child, that Grace had a lovable brother
Will, and Mollie a small brother and sister--Paul and Dodo--twins, who
were alternately called the "cutest" and the "most mischievous"
youngsters in existence. Of Amy's mystery I have already hinted.
When Will Ford saw the danger in which his sister's chum was
unconsciously placing herself he fairly raced forward. There was need
to act promptly, and Will did so. Skating in a diagonal direction he
fairly collided with the girl, and forced her out of her course, and away
from the dangerous hole that yawned there just before her.
"Amy!" Will cried. "What is the matter?"
Amy looked up with a start, and Will saw that she had been crying.
"I--I don't know," she stammered. "I guess I wasn't looking where I was
going."
"I should say not!" cried Will. "Look there!" and he pointed to the open
water that seemed so black and ugly in contrast with the pure ice.
"Oh--oh!" she gasped. "Was--was I skating toward that?"
"Right toward it!" exclaimed Will. "I couldn't do anything else than
shove you to one side. I hope I didn't hurt you."
"Oh, no, Will, it was good of you. I--I didn't know what I was doing. I
was thinking--thinking----"

She hesitated, and again tears came into her eyes.
"Can I do anything for you--has anything happened?" he asked, eagerly.
"Has anyone----"
"Oh, no, Will. It is--nothing."
"Then let's go back to the others," he proposed. "They may be getting
anxious about you."
"No, Will, I'd rather not go back--just now. I'll go on--home." Amy
hesitated over the word. "I can take a short cut across the fields."
"Then let me take off your skates," he said, gently. Perhaps he guessed
at something that had occurred. "Come over to shore and I'll have them
off in a jiffy. Then I'll walk home with you."
"No, Will," said Amy, in a low voice. "I had rather go alone, really I
would. Just tell the girls----"
She hesitated again, and seemed unable to speak.
"Tell them I am all right--that I want to be alone. They will
understand."
"Very well." He skated with her to the bank, where she sat on a log.
Then, with her skates dangling over her shoulder, Amy set off across
the snow-covered fields alone--with bowed head--and into her eyes the
tears came again as she thought of what she had heard.
Will watched her, shook his head once or twice, as though puzzled, and
then skated back toward his sister and the others.
"Where's Amy?" Grace demanded, anxiously, as he came in sight.
"Gone home."
"Home? Why didn't you go with her?" asked Mollie, quickly.

"She wouldn't let me. Say, she acted mighty funny. She was skating
along, looking down, and she came within a few feet of going into an
air hole. I had to almost knock her to one side. She seemed dazed. Did
anything happen?"
"Yes, there did," said Grace, promptly. "And the less said about it the
better. It was that horrid Alice Jallow making slurring remarks about
Amy. We won't take any notice of her after this. Oh,