The Outdoor Girls in a Winter Camp | Page 7

Alice Jallow!" exclaimed Mollie. "Excuse me,
Mr. Ford!" she cried, impulsively, "but I just can't help saying it."
"You are excused," he said, smiling.
By turns the girls told what had happened on the ice.
"Humph! Rather strange," mused the lawyer. "Quite a coincidence. I
don't believe I ever told you, Grace," and he looked at his daughter,
"but, as a matter of fact, I am the principal owner of this lumber camp
where you girls may go."
"No, you never told me, Daddy."
"Well, I am. I bought it some time ago as an investment, but things
went wrong. I guess the right men didn't have charge. Neither the
lumber business, nor the leasing of camp sites and bungalows to
Summer vacationists and Fall hunters, paid. The matter got into the
courts and I had myself named as receiver, so I could better look after
my interest. Now I don't know just what I am going to do, except that I
want some one up there to see to things. If I can get Ted Franklin and
his wife I know it will be all right, and you girls will have a fine time
with them.
"You can have a bungalow or a cabin or two to yourselves, if you like,
and lay in enough provisions for all winter. It's on a branch of the

Argono River," he went on, "and you can skate all the way to camp on
the ice, if you like. But we'll discuss the details later."
"What about the complications, Daddy?" asked Grace, laughing.
"I'm coming to them. Mr. Jallow, the father of your friend Alice----"
"She isn't our friend," said Grace, quickly.
"Well, anyhow, her father is mixed up in this lumber camp business.
He owns a lot of property next to mine, and he claims some that I think
should belong to me."
"He does?" cried Mollie. "That's just like the Jallows! Always taking
what doesn't belong to them--even the reputation of other girls. She
borrowed my botany a year ago and never returned it."
Mr. Ford smiled.
"I don't know anything about the girl Alice," he said, "but that Jallow is
certainly a sharper, to be moderate. He and I will have a clash if he
doesn't look out!" and Mr. Ford's hands clenched.
"What about, Daddy?" asked Grace.
"Why, as I said, he claims some land that I think is mine. When I
bought this lumber camp, and formed a company, with myself as the
largest stockholder, I was given to understand that a certain tract,
containing valuable timber, went with my purchase. I had it surveyed,
and I supposed I had title to this big strip, that joins on some land
Jallow owns.
"We didn't cut any trees on this strip for some years, and here this Fall,
when we started in on it, Jallow stopped us by an injunction from the
court."
"By what right?" asked Betty.
"Why, he claimed that valuable strip was his. I contested, of course, but

it seems that there was a mix-up in the landmarks. Those by which I
went, when I had my survey made, had disappeared, and others which
were accepted by the court seemed to indicate that the land was
Jallow's. But I know better. I was there at the survey, and saw the
marks. The trouble is that I couldn't prove it. My word alone was not
enough, and the surveyor, I am sorry to say, is dead."
"Then you can never prove it is your land, Daddy?"
"Well, if I could find an old lumberman--Paddy Malone he called
himself--if I could find him, I might prove my case, for he was with me
at the time, he and a couple of his friends, and he saw where the stakes
and stone piles were. But Paddy seems to have disappeared."
"That's too bad!" exclaimed Mollie, sympathetically.
"Yes. Well, I may be able to do something later. I am sure the
landmarks were changed--if not by Jallow, by some one interested with
him. The strip they claim, and which I say is mine, is the most valuable
in the woods. I wish I could establish title to it, but unless I can find
Paddy, or some of his friends, I'm afraid I'll have to lose.
"That is the complication I spoke of. But it need not hinder you girls
from going to spend the winter in camp--or at least part of the winter."
"Will there be any danger?" asked Grace, rather timidly.
"No, not at all. You won't be mixed up in the legal proceedings.
Nothing will be done, anyhow, until Spring. Then I'll see what can be
accomplished. I only want a legal representative in the camp, in case
Jallow tries any more sharp tricks. He has won the first skirmish,