The Outdoor Girls on Pine Island | Page 7

long?" It was Will's cheery greeting.
"Oh, for hours and hours," said the Little Captain with a sigh. "I'd
begun to think everybody had forgotten all about it. I'm so glad you're
here. You can keep me company anyway."
"Oh, are we the first?" Grace was surprised. "I hurried Will till he
nearly had a fit. Said we would be ahead of everybody else, but I didn't
believe him."
"Some day," said Will in a prophetic voice, "some day, young lady, you
will learn that I do know something."
"Oh, do you really think so?" said Grace, hopefully. "If that day ever
comes, Will, dear, I will be the very first to congratulate you."
"Here come some of the others," Betty cried out. "I can't quite make

them out, but it looks like Roy and Amy and--yes--there's Allen, too.
But who is the other girl? It certainly isn't Mollie. I know her walk too
well."
"No, it isn't Mollie," said Grace, slowly. "Do you know whom it looks
like, Betty?"
"No," said that young person, straining her eyes in the direction of the
newcomers. "Who is it?"
"I'm not sure but it looks like----" Grace paused a moment, then said
with conviction, "I'm right! It's Alice Jallow, and I don't like her very
much. What is she doing in our crowd anyway?"
"That's what I would like to know," growled Will. "We had just enough
before. I don't know who's going to take care of her."
"Will, don't be ungallant," warned his sister. "Play the game. Probably
there's some explanation, anyway."
But to the Little Captain, as she watched the quartette approaching,
there seemed no plausible explanation. Why should Allen be paired off
with "this Jallow girl"? Betty knew very little of the latter except that
she was always trying to get in where she was not wanted. Well, she
certainly was not wanted now. Oh, why did Allen look so happy? If
"this Jallow girl" had her, Betty's, escort, where did she come in? Hot
tears of anger and mortification rose to her eyes, but she drove them
back mercilessly and her greeting to the newcomers was as merry as
ever.
"Hello, everybody!" she called. "You surely took long enough to get
here."
"Hello, Betty! This is----" Amy paused, then went on rather awkwardly.
"You see, Alice happened to be at the house when the boys came
and--well--we brought her along," she finished, lamely.
"And here I am," said Alice effusively. "I do hope I'm not putting any

one out. The idea of visiting the gypsy camp was so fascinating that I
simply couldn't resist the temptation. I think you might have let me in
on it in the first place," and she looked reproachfully at Allen.
That young gentleman had been sending imploring looks in Betty's
direction over Alice Jallow's head, which the former had chosen
absolutely to ignore. Now, being thus appealed to, he smiled down at
Alice.
"It certainly was a grave oversight on our part," he said.
Betty felt as if her little world had been turned upside down and she
wanted to shake somebody--it didn't much matter who it was--but
shake somebody she must, good and hard!
Just at this critical moment up came the two missing ones, Mollie and
Frank--and a third.
"Now, who is that?" thought the poor Little Captain in despair. "If this
keeps on, we shall have the whole town assembled pretty soon. Oh,
dear!"
"Betty, this is a friend of mine, Jack Sanford," Frank introduced him in
his own pleasant way. "He's not such a bad chap when you get to know
him well," he added, while his friend thanked him, ironically.
Betty acknowledged the introduction gaily. If Allen liked "this Jallow
girl," why, he could, that was all! and she was not going to let them
spoil the evening for her. Besides, here was one providentially sent, or
so it seemed to her. And he was nice, too, very nice! He seemed to be
hail-fellow-well-met with the boys. And the girls--well, one could see
that they liked him from the start. But if only Allen would not look so
happy!
"Suppose we start, now we're all here," suggested Roy. "The sooner we
get there the more time we'll have."
"Bright boy," commented Allen. "How did you ever find that out?"

Then, under cover of the laughter and the darkness, he found Betty's
hand and held it for a moment. "Betty," he pleaded, "I----"
"May I, Miss Nelson?" It was Jack Sanford, bowing low before her.
"Sounds like a dance," laughed Betty, and added: "Indeed you may. Oh,
isn't it a wonderful night?"
Allen ground his teeth and once more submitted to the effusive
attentions of Alice Jallow. If Betty could have seen him then she would
have been moved to pity.