in a few days came daniella scott and jo keyes, ready to join forces with the corners. jo was in high spirits. this was her last year at the wadsworth school and she felt free as a bird, she declared. daniella, whose school-days had not begun till she was quite a big girl, was still looking forward to several years of boarding-school life. the prospect of a summer in the woods was perhaps dearer to her than to any of the others.

there was first to be a short railway journey, then a long ride by stage and finally a drive of two or three miles which would bring them to the borders of a lovely lake set in the green-wood, and here they would find the camp.

as they left the train, at a small town, a big old-fashioned stage, swung on leathers, lumbered up. it was drawn by four horses and its driver, a wiry old man, with a tuft of white beard under his chin, called out, “be you a-going to friendship?”

“we are,” replied miss helen.

“how many air ye?”

[70]“eight.”

“got many traps?”

“a small trunk apiece and some hand-luggage.”

the man rubbed his stubbly beard. “wal, i guess i kin stow ye all away and i dunno as we’ll break down. it’s a big passel o’ folk to kerry all to oncet when there’s others wants to go, but git in all of ye, and them as don’t want to set inside kin set out.”

immediately there was a rush of six figures toward the stage.

“here, here,” cried the old man, “ye ain’t every namable one o’ ye going to git on top, air ye? the’ ain’t room for all of ye and the trunks.”

“let some of the trunks go inside, then,” suggested jo; “they are small,” she said, pausing in her act of mounting a wheel in order to clamber on top.

the old man fingered his bit of beard. “wal, i dunno. inside ain’t the place for trunks; it’s for passengers. jest you wait a minute and i’ll see how big them trunks is and how many kin go on the rumble. mebbe we kin make room for everybody. if ye wouldn’t be so everlastingly in a hurry ye’d have steps to climb up; they’ve got ’em up at the hotel.”

“where’s the hotel?”

[71]“right ahead.” he pointed with his whip to a long white house, on the porch of which several persons were standing waiting for the stage.

“it’s more fun to climb up this way,” said jack clinging to the side of the coach and feeling for the high step with her toe. “may i sit by you?” she asked over her shoulder.

the driver chuckled. “what ye want to do that fur? i ain’t so pretty.”

“oh, but i’d like to talk to you.”

“i’ll be bound ye would. all right; you’ve spoke first. up ye go,” and he gave her a boost which sent her to a footing by which she could reach the seat.

“there’s room for you, too, jean,” said jack reaching down her hands, and with the help of the others jean was able to find a place by the side of her twin.

the driver, meanwhile, had gone to gather up the trunks, which he brought one by one, and managed to get the greater number strapped on behind; the rest he found room for on top. “there,” he said, “i dunno as we shan’t make it. ef them folks at the hotel ain’t got a lot of big stuff, i guess we kin. the rest of you gals git up here. ye kin ride as fur as the hotel anyway, and ef ye have to git inside then don’t say i ain’t give ye a ride on top.”

[72]thus adjured, the four remaining girls mounted to the top and they started off after a loud “git ap!” to the horses from the driver.

fortunately the passengers next gathered up were not many: a meek looking woman with a little girl, and a man, whose only luggage consisted of that in their hands except a suit case which was taken inside. with a mighty crack of the whip and another “git ap!” off they started again past green farms, low white houses, tranquil ponds and running streams, once in a while clattering through the long street of a quiet village where a stop would be made, the mail delivered, a passenger taken up or set down, and then off again.

whatever the passengers inside may have felt, to the company of six girls on top it was a journey of delight. the two on the front seat with the driver were in a constant state of giggle, while the four who sat a-row behind them were scarcely less mirthful. the driver informed them his name was noahdiah peakes. “named after my two grandfathers; one was noah, t’ other obadiah, so they jest combined ’em and give me the two names in one. i git noey, gin’rally, though some calls me no,—ole no peakes. i made up a conundrum ’bout my name. want to hear it?” of course they did[73] and were asked, “why am i like a table-land when i’m to hum?”

“something about no peakes,” whispered jean to jack, but they could not guess exactly and the answer was given: “becuz there’s no peaks there,” given with a big laugh and a slap of the thigh, followed by an immediate relapse into entire gravity and a “git ap” to the horses.

noahdiah was fond of riddles, they discovered before they had gone far. his stock of them lasted all the way to friendship. every now and then he would turn his head over his shoulder and offer the girls behind him one of his conundrums such as: “what does a lawyer do when he’s dead? he lies still. git ap!” or “why is my head like the artic regions? becuz it’s a great white bare place. git ap!” conundrums which touched upon his name, his personal appearance, his dwelling place, were the favorites, they discovered, and he was pleased to boisterousness when jo made up a new one at which nan and mary lee groaned, “why should we depend upon you in an accident? because you are our maine chance.” he chuckled and sputtered over this for some time, forgetting to say “git ap!” for at least a quarter of a mile.

at last they were set down at friendship[74] which they discovered consisted of scarce more than a farmhouse and a country store. a wagon would carry them the rest of the way. the new driver, who, they learned, was the man about camp, had driven over for them, but looked a little dubious when he saw the size of the party. “guess i’ll have to leave their traps, noey,” he said.

“wal,” answered noahdiah, “i’d fetch ’em along myself but i’ve got to git back, and moreover the stage couldn’t travel them rough roads. ain’t al got no kinder buggy or nothin’ he kin take some of ’em in? the mother and the aunt?”

“i’ll go in and see what al kin do,” responded the man entering the little store.

“wisht i could go all the way with ye. i’d like first-rate to see ye sot down comfortable before i left ye,” said noahdiah confidentially. “i dunno as i ever see a likelier set o’ young misses come to camp and i’ve fetched over quite a few. ye’re real friendly and sociable and that’s what i like. some o’ these here prim old maid schoolmarmy kind don’t open their lips from cross roads to friendship. you’d think they was struck dumb, er ef they do speak it’s like their mouths was one of these here medicine-droppers; the words come out jest as though they was squeezed from a rubber bulb[75] t’ other end. here comes al and ’lish; now we’ll see.”

after a short conference it was proposed that mrs. corner and miss helen should wait till the buggy could be made ready when they and their luggage could follow the wagon, ’lish declaring that “six women folks even if they wasn’t full growed, with luggage” he “cal’lated,” would about fill a wagon.

“the buggy’ll be more comfortable, marm,” said noahdiah, addressing mrs. corner, “and i guess you’ll have the best of it.”

“but three of us in one buggy,” she returned.

“wal, it’s good and wide, and ye ain’t so fleshy, neither of ye, and ye kin set clost.” so there was nothing to do but make the best of it and either remain till the next day when the wagon could return for them, or forge ahead in the manner proposed. the latter course was finally decided upon and they set out, bumping over a rough road for three miles before the camp was reached.

miss marshall and miss lloyd gave them a hearty welcome and they sought their quarters to prepare for supper which they were ready enough for, after the long drive in the stage and the added one from the country store.

“real tents,” cried jack. “won’t it be fun?[76] i never did sleep in a real tent, nan. aren’t they cozy?”

two tents, side by side, were given up to the party of girls, a little log cabin being provided for mrs. corner and miss helen. this consisted of two rooms, one with a fireplace where mrs. corner could have a fire on damp days, a thing which she felt would be very necessary. there was another cabin, a larger one, in the centre of the camp, where the campers could congregate around a huge log fire on cool evenings or could sit on wet days. it was really a charming place with plenty of comfortable chairs, a big table piled with books and magazines, rugs on the floor, and at the windows pretty chintz curtains. a porch ran around on all sides, and here those who had already arrived were congregated.

“oh, i am so hungry,” said jean when they had stowed away a few of their belongings. “i wonder when we shall have supper.”

“suppose you and jack go and find out,” proposed nan.

this was a mission highly relished by the twins, who after a few minutes came back gleefully. “supper in fifteen minutes, and we’re going to have flapjacks and maple syrup,” cried jean.

“yes, and ham and eggs and fried potatoes.[77] there’s a colored cook and she knows just how to cook the kind of things we all like; we asked her.” jack gave this information.

“and we eat out-of-doors on the verandah of the big cabin. we saw the tables all set,” said jean.

“lights are out at nine,” jack went on, “so we can all go to bed at the same time. we get up real early; no one wants to sit up late because they are so healthy tired.”

nan laughed. “if they are all as healthy tired as i am i don’t blame them.”

“there are such funny-looking people here,” jean continued; “you can’t tell what they really look like. i saw two or three coming along from the lake; they had on great big farm hats and bloomers. they had oars or something over their shoulders and they looked like huntresses or amazons or some such thing.”

“we’ll look just the same ourselves once we get going,” mary lee told her. “it must be time for supper, girls. let’s go over.”

the summons came before they were all fairly ready and one need not doubt that full justice was done to the ham and eggs, the flapjacks, the draughts of country milk and the delicious strawberries and cream.

after supper the new arrivals strolled down to the lake to see the sun set behind the mountains,[78] and to watch the colors of the sunset sky reflected in the still waters. then there was a little talk in the big living-room but one by one lapsed into silence, and finally all confessed that nothing seemed so desirable as the thought of going to bed, so off they went before nine o’clock saw the lights all out.

the girls were all up betimes the next morning. there was so much to do, so many places to explore, so much to learn.

“i must find some one willing to teach me to paddle, first thing i do,” announced nan, “for i can see that canoeing is going to be the principal amusement.”

“that’s what i want to do, too,” jack decided.

“i’ll wait for a day or two before i try my hand,” mary lee resolved. “by that time some of you all will have learned and can coach me; meanwhile i will look up the birds; there must be a great many in so wild a place.”

“that’s just what i will do, too,” jean decided. she generally adopted mary lee’s suggestions.

so the party divided, mary lee, jean and daniella joining in a tramp through the woods, jo, nan and jack starting forth to take their first lesson in paddling a canoe; some of the girls, already old stagers, good-naturedly offering[79] to teach them. it is not the easiest thing in the world to learn, and certainly not a thing to be acquired in one short day, but nan went into raptures over the exercise, and went at it heart and soul, so that before so very long she could force her canoe forward a short distance without its turning around and around, and could manage to get the stroke at least once out of half a dozen times, so by noon they returned hungry and elated. a little later came the second division of the party. these had discovered a beaver’s dam and were quite delighted with their morning’s explorations.

“sometimes the girls take supper down on the rocks, build a fire and have a jolly time,” the girls informed mrs. corner.

“let’s do that this evening,” suggested jack.

“don’t use up all your resources the first day,” warned miss helen. “there is still novelty in eating out-of-doors on the verandah, and in living in a tent. wait till those things begin to pall upon you.”

“there is the excursion to the mountain; we must take that while the weather is good.”

“but i would not undertake it right away. remember you have several weeks to employ; i should scatter the novelties at due distances along the way.”

acting upon this advice they restrained their[80] ardor and spent the remainder of the day in reverse order; those who had devoted the morning to the lake, spending the afternoon in the woods and vice versa, so that it was a tired lot of girls who were very ready for bed when nine o’clock came. mrs. corner and miss helen had been wise enough not to overfatigue themselves and had simply rested after their tiring journey of the day before.

“those are two right nice girls who were with us this morning,” nan told mary lee as they were on their way to the tents.

“and i liked those who were with us this afternoon,” returned mary lee.

nan laughed. “so we shall not want for company if we get mad with one another. there will be no flocking by one’s self and sulking this trip. there is just a pleasant number in the camp. we can become acquainted with them all, and yet there are enough of us to feel perfectly independent if we want to go by ourselves. how did you get along with your paddling?”

“only fairly well,” returned mary lee somewhat dubiously. “i suppose one can’t expect perfection at first. daniella took to it like a duck. she always does such things well.”

“she is in her element, and doesn’t she look great in this rough costume?”

[81]“yes, you see she was born a maid of the woods. she is never much of a talker, but any one can see how happy she is.”

“yet she can talk, and interestingly, too, when you get her started.”

“oh, to be sure, but i fancy she will always be a little shy.”

they were not up so early the next morning but that daniella was before them and out on the lake practicing with her canoe. she did indeed look a picture as she stood up in her short skirt, her big hat shading her radiant face, her cheeks glowing, and her lovely golden brown hair gleaming in the sun. “if i were an artist,” cried nan, “i would say: kindly keep that pose, miss scott.”

“being the next best thing to an artist i will say it,” said jo bringing her camera into focus. “there, i have immortalized you, daniella.”

then jack declared she wanted jo to take a photograph of her in a canoe to send mr. st. nick. of course jean could not let this go by without demanding one of herself in the same attitude. mary lee would like one for miss dolores and daniella wanted one of nan for her own collection, so it ended in various cameras being brought forth and a series of pictures being taken; no one was ready to stop[82] till her first roll of films was exhausted. by this time they had gone rather far afield.

“it must be getting on,” said mary lee, looking at her watch. “dear, oh, me, girls. i should say so. come to breakfast. don’t you smell the delicious fumes of coffee?”

unencumbered by long skirts, and free of limb in jumpers and leggings the girls darted off, racing back to camp full tilt, jean, though the most eager as to appetite, the least fleet of foot, and therefore bringing up the rear.