THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES THE NOWADAYS GIRLS IN THE ADIRONDACKS "LOOK! LOOK !" SYLVIA WHISPERED (Page 293) THE NOWADAYS GIRLS IN THE ADIRONDACKS OR THE DESERTED BUNGALOW ON SARANAC LAKE BY GERTRUDE CALVERT HALL ILLUSTRATED BY E. C. CASWELL COPTKIOHT, 1915, IT DODD. MEAD AND COMPANY PS CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I THE NOWADAYS CLUB ... 1 II A TELEGRAM 9 III PREPARATIONS ..... 18 IV " WATCH YOUR STEP ! " . . . 27 V IN SYRACUSE 37 VI THE MISSING EMERALD ... 44$ VII OVERBOARD 53 VIII THE GOLF BALL .... 65 IX ONWARD 72 . X A NIGHT OUT 79 XI TROUBLE '89 XII THE MOTOR BOAT . . . .94 XIII BY THEMSELVES . . . 106 XIV A DISMAL PROSPECT .... 113 XV A LONELY NIGHT . . . .120 XVI THE LOON 127 XVII IN CAMP 137 XVIII CANOEING 145 XIX THE MASQUERADE . . . .151 XX THE MYSTIC MOON . . . . 163 XXI THE MYSTERY DEEPENS . . . 170 XXH BAD NEWS . 177 vi CONTENTS CHAPTER XXIII AT SARANAC . XXIV WORRIMENT XXV MAKING PLANS XXVI A LONELY PLACE . XXVII THE DESERTED BUNGALOW XXVin MISSING .... XXIX A SLEEPLESS NIGHT XXX A GENEEAL ALARM XXXI THE SEARCH . XXXII LOST .... XXXIII UNEXPECTED HELP XXXIV FOUND .... XXXV RECOVERY PAGB 185 191 199 207 223 234 241 249 256 274 281 294 ILLUSTRATIONS " Look ! Look ! " Sylvia whispered . Frontispiece (Page 293) FACING PAGE " We certainly are doing it in style ! " mur mured Hazel 34 Sylvia presently found herself whirling through it with a Spaniard who danced wonder fully well 166 Sylvia and her chums were all in better spirits now that they were actually on their way to see Roy 212 THE NOWADAYS GIRLS IN THE ADIRONDACKS CHAPTER I THE NOWADAYS CLUB THE chugging taxicab stopped in front of the apart ment on Central Park, West, and the uniformed door attendant bowed out of it, and into the marble vesti bule, a demure girl with rosy cheeks. " Miss Pursell? " she asked, and there was that in her voice which made the elevator boy look a second time ; and he was not unused to seeing pretty girls and hearing them speak. " Third floor, miss," he said, with a quick touch of his hand to his much-gold-braided cap. Then, as he clanged the steel-grilled door shut, he favored the hall-man with a distinct wink, which Rose Bancroft did not see. But had she seen it she would, perhaps, have given it little consideration, since it did not con cern her. What did concern her was reaching her friend Sylvia Pursell as soon as possible. There were more reasons than one for this, but perhaps the one with which we may now concern ourselves was that Rose had been travelling since early morning, having but just arrived at the Grand Central Terminal from Syracuse. Travelling in even the best-portered Pullman, in the 2 THE NOWADAYS GIRLS middle of the " Chicago Special," is very apt to grime one up, especially if the aforesaid one be wearing a particularly light and dainty dress. So Rose, as she was shot upward in the smooth-running elevator, wondered whether the coloured maid at the Grand Central had made sure that there was no cinder dust on the end of her nose. " For," reflected Rose to herself, " if there is one thing more than another, that makes a girl lose her smartness and dignity, it is a black spot on the end of her nose." And Rose had her special reasons for wanting to look at least " smart " when she reached Sylvia's apartment. I'll tell you why later. She ventured to glance into the bevelled mirror which made up the whole back of the car, but the electric bulb was shaded with a rose-tinted glass, and while it made a very pretty effect, still it was not conducive to illumina tion. " I'm almost sure there's a spot," thought Rose, but she dared not raise her veil to make sure. And just then the elevator lad, who had been favouring his solitary passenger with more than one surrepti tious glance, called out, in a most respectful tone of voice, a voice not at all in keeping with his previous facetious wink: " Your floor ! Miss Pursell's ! " " Thank you," said Rose, quietly, and stepped out. A few moments later, Rose having been ushered into a pretty reception hall, and thence to the drawing- IN THE ADIRONDACKS 3 room, she and Sylvia had their arms around each other, and Sylvia was kissing her friend, regardless of whether or not there was a spot on Rose's face her nose or anywhere else. " It was so sweet of you to come down from Syracuse, my dear ! " " Nonsense, it was just perfectly lovely of you to ask me. I am so interested ! " " I thought you'd be ! Did you have a tiresome trip?" " Oh, not especially so. We were a little late, but made it up. Mrs. Blake, mamma's friend, you know, came part way with me." " That was nice. Janet, take Miss Bancroft's things, and then tell Perkins we'll have tea in here." " Yes, Miss Pursell." "Are the other girls here? "asked Rose, as she made sure this time, by a hasty glance in a well- lighted mirror, that there was not a spot on her nose. " No, they're coming to-night, I presume. Hazel was away when my telegram reached her, but she left Chicago last night, and ought to be here now. I'm not so sure when Alice will arrive. You know her style." " Indeed I do. If she doesn't arrive to-day, next week will do. But are you really going to carry out your plan ? " " I most certainly am, my dear ! I don't plan things and then not do them," 4 THE NOWADAYS GIRLS "Yes. I know, Sylvia, but this going off to the Adironmfcks, all by ourselves ' " But we'll not be by ourselves. Aunt Theodora Leigh Brownley will chaperon us, and " You didn't leave out any of her name ; did you ? " and Rose laughed a merry laugh, that sounded like the tinkle of ice in a strawberry-tinted pitcher of \ lemonade on a hot day. " She rather likes her whole title," answered Sylvia. " But you knew she was going with us ; didn't you ? " " I wasn't sure," and Rose turned at the entrance of the butler with the tray of tea things as though she expected to see some one else. " Oh, indeed mamma wouldn't consent to my mak ing up the party at all until I had arranged for a chaperon. Of course Aunt Theodora Leigh Brown- ley is rather a handicap in ways, but she is so good, and she doesn't mind sitting up until all hours at a dance." " Oh, then we are going to dance ! " and the eyes of Rose glistened, while her breath seemed to come faster between her parted lips. " Of course, my dear ! There will be some men up there, I hope! " " Oh, won't it be just perfectly all right! " " I hope you'll find it so. Let me see you take lemon ? " and Sylvia paused questioningly with a slice held over Rose's cup. " Lemon, yes. And two lumps, please." The tinkle of silver on eggshell china filled a pause. IN THE ADIRONDACKS 5 and then the girls looked into each other's eyes. In Rose's was a question she wanted to ask, but hardly dared. Several times it was at her lips, but somehow she forced it back. And when she had made up her mind to ask it there came a ring of the bell. " Telephone ? " questioned Rose. " No, the entrance hall. I wonder " Sylvia paused, listening, and when she heard the unseen caller ask for her she started at the sound of a drawling voice a voice of Southern unctuousness and richness. Then she arose from the little table, so precipitately as almost to overturn it, though Rose saved it in time. " Sylvia ! " gasped Rose. " You " " It's Alice," was the excuse offered. " Here we are, Alice ! " she went on, and a girl a tall, slender girl, with dark eyes, that sparkled from underneath dark brows, and lighted up a face of pure olive-brown tint fairly swept into the apartment. " Alice ! " cried Sylvia, as she kissed her and then passed her on to Rose for a like ceremony. " How ever did you get here ? " " Why, yo'all seem surprised," was the retort in that slow, unctuous, Southern voice. " I hope I didn't arrive too early," and Alice Harrow flung, rather than " draped " herself, as Sylvia would have done, into a chair. " Early ! It's early for you," commented Rose. " I did get here sooner than I expected," Alice went on. " But I made up my mind, if we were to 6 THE NOWADAYS GIRLS carry out the rules of our club, that being ahead of time was better than being late." "Good for you!" cried Sylvia. "Tea?" she asked, indicating the little table. " Land, no ! It's too hot ! Lemonade if you have it, with a bit of mint crushed in it not too much crushed, and a slice of real lemon floating on top. Then just a suggestion of nutmeg. But if you haven't it, ice water will do as well," and she sud denly switched off, as she saw Rose gazing at her with rather open-mouthed wonder. " No, indeed. Janet shall make it at once ! " ex claimed Sylvia. "Well, are you surprised to see me?" demanded Alice, a moment later, when the maid had left the room. " Surprised isn't the word for it ! " Sylvia said. " We were just talking about you : " I wondered why my ears burned ! " laughingly broke in Alice, who seemed unusually bright and crisp for a native of the Southern clime. " We were just saying that we feared you would be the last to arrive," went on Sylvia, with a smile. " As it is you have reached here before Baby ! " " No ! You don't mean it ! " " But I do, my dear ! " " To think of besting Hazel Reed ! Oh, that's just splendid. I " Alice arose and was about to execute a few steps of a new dance, but, at that moment, the maid came IN THE ADIRONDACKS 7 with the elaborately ordered glass of lemonade on a little silver tray, and it was only by the most skilful turn, as though extricating herself and her partner from a crowded corner of the ballroom floor, that Alice saved herself from an accident. " Oh, that's delicious ! " she murmured, as she sipped the spiced, icy drink. " Your butler must be a Southerner, Sylvia." " We never knew it. But I'm glad you like it. Yes, you are here before Hazel, though she may arrive any minute." " And when she comes," said Rose, " the Nowadays Club will have a full membership present. Then, I suppose, Sylvia will condescend to give a more de tailed explanation of the mysterious telegrams she sent us. All I know is that we're going to spend the summer in the Adirondacks." " Isn't that enough to know? " asked Alice. " Why seek to force the hands of Fate? " and she reclined lazily in her chair, and languidly closed her eyes. She opened them a moment later, however, and a bright, vivacious look came over her dark face. She clapped her hands and cried out : " Oh, girls, I must tell you ! It's the greatest sur prise. You know -. Minnie Reynolds, that demure, mouse-like girl that was in our class? " " You mean, Cheese? " asked Rose. " Yes, that's what we called her she reminded one so of a mouse, and cheese always has that asso ciation for me. Well, Minnie has ' done gone an' got 8 THE NOWADAYS GIRLS he'se'f engaged,' as my old coloured mammy would say." " Who's the fellow ? " asked Sylvia. " Any one we know?" Alice took a long breath, preparatory to answer ing, but just then the bell rang again. " Oh, if that sJiould be Baby ! " murmured Sylvia. " It is Baby ! " called out a breezy voice in answer, for the pretty hostess had spoken even as the maid opened the door. " It is Baby ! Who all's in there? " she went on, eagerly, joyously. " Hazel Reed ! " murmured Alice. " She'll be furi ous when she finds I'm here ahead of her. She can't call me the late Miss Harrow now." " Oh, you're all here ! " gasped the newcomer, as she swept into the room literally swept in, for her dress caught in a light chair that she dragged after her. " Hello, girls ! " she went on. " Oh, Sylvia ! Such r. trip. Two accidents; the taxicab driver nearly ran over an old man, I lost my purse found it again though, thank goodness. Mislaid your address and I've been telephoning all over for two mortal hours. But here I am. Kiss me, everybody! Oh, but it's good to see you all again." There was a little cyclone of laughter, and then Sylvia, tinkling a spoon against a cup to attract at tention, called out : " Girls, the Nowadays Club will come to order ! " v CHAPTER II A TELEGRAM HUSHED voices voices that had been exchanging greetings and telling experiences followed the dra matic announcement of Sylvia Pursell. She gazed at her trio of chums, who had seated themselves about the room, in various positions of comfort. " Pardon me, Madam President." Alice was on her feet. " But is this a regular meeting, or a special session? I rise to a point of order." " I rule that your point of order is not well taken, and for your information I will say that it is a ses sion most extraordinary, for we have to talk over our plans for going to the mountains. That is if you girls are going? " and she looked around at them, pausing at each face in turn. " Going ! " echoed Hazel, otherwise known as Baby, on account of her rather diminutive size. But she was a lovely dancer. " I should like to see any one try to keep me at home," Hazel went on, with that breezy Chicago manner of hers that always made the boys look at her a second time, first with surprise, and secondly with admiration. And then they kept on looking, as often as they dared. 9 10 THE NOWADAYS GIRLS " Indeed we are going," declared Alice. " I have heard so much about those wild and rugged moun tains, and their grand scenery and " " The lakes don't forget the lakes ! " interrupted Rose. " I am just dying for a chance in a canoe with " " * A book of verses underneath a bough,' " quoted Sylvia. " She wants what goes with the book a young man," declared Hazel. " I do not! " stormed Rose, blushing so that her cheeks, which usually held a most charming centre- tint, were now suffused with carmine. " Oh, of course she doesn't," soothed Alice. " We forgot about Roy, and " " Alice Harrow, if you- " Don't mind them," advised Sylvia, but at the mention of the name Roy a shadow seemed to pass over her face. " Let's get on with the meeting. The Nowadays Club will kindly come to extraordinary order and we'll talk about this Adirondack trip. I'm so glad you can all go. Now, first of all I want to speak of " " Dresses ! What about them ? " broke in Hazel. " I simply must have some new ones." " New York is the best place in the world to get them, and in a hurry, too," said Rose. " I was going to have my dressmaker in Syracuse turn me out some, but I decided to wait. We have a week or so ; haven't we, Sylvia? " IN THE ADIRONDACKS 11 " About that, my dear. And I'm counting on showing you everything worth seeing in Manhattan in that time. You can order your gowns the very newest of the new " " Which just perfectly describes our club," mur mured Hazel. And since, perhaps, a little description of the club will aid my readers in understanding the object of the four girls, I can find no better opportunity than now of making them acquainted with it. Sylvia Pursell, whose home was in New York City ; Rose Bancroft, of Syracuse; Alice Harrow, who came from an old Southern family, whose estate was in the vicinity of Baltimore, and Hazel Reed, of breezy Chicago, had been chums, roommates, class mates and various other sort of mates at the fashion able boarding school of Miss Stevenson. They had " finished " there, which means they had just begun, and during their final year they had formed the " Nowadays Club." It was unlike any other organisation, as far as the girls knew. There were no dues, no initiation fees, no set or formal meetings, and no officers. Every one was a president, and whoever cared to do so presided. Usually it was Sylvia, but that was as circumstances dictated. The object of the club was expressed in the name. The girls were " up-to-the-minute " damsels, and they were devotees of the nowadays idea. That is, they went in for all that was best of such of the 12 THE NOWADAYS GIRLS newest matters as came to their attention. As Sylvia said: " We don't want to get into a rut ! " And most assuredly they were not in any danger of doing so. They at least investigated everything new, from the latest dance to the newest motor cars. For the girls were all of well-to-do, not to say wealthy, families. They had formed the little club membership strictly restricted to four on the spur of the mo ment, and it had interested them more than they had expected it would. During the dance craze they in vented new steps, some of which were adopted by the dancing class which they attended. If the girls had been in any other position in life than school if, for instance, they had been young business men they would have succeeded admirably in at least inves tigating all the newest fads and fancies, from efficiency and system, to conservation and " turning around on a smaller margin," as the trade papers call it. But, as it was, the girls resolved that they would be real " nowadays M girls. Of them it must not be said, " Oh, that's the way they used to do it." Rather the tribute must be paid them that : " Well, that's the way it's being done nowadays, but I suppose in a week or so something new will crop up, and >f Well, when it did Sylvia, Rose, Hazel and Alice would not only be ready for it, but waiting impa tiently. IN THE ADIRONDACKS 13 And so, during their last year in the boarding school, they had formed the little club. It looked for a time, when they had definitely decided on different colleges, that the organisation would die a natural death. But it only goes to show that real, vital things never die. They may change their form, but they never wholly expire. They still exist. So it was with the Nowadays Girls. Sylvia was to go to Wellesley, Rose to Smith, Alice to Bryn Mawr, and Hazel to Vassar. That much had been decided on, the parents having some thing to say in each case. At first, when the girls found they were to be sep arated, there were tears, sighs and protestations. It seemed that they were to go on long journeys to far countries. Then vivacious Sylvia came to the rescue. " Look here, girls ! " she declaimed at a session of the club held in her room one night, " this college life is only for four years, and there are vacations. Besides, the long-distance telephone is available. We may be separated in body but we must not be in spirit. We must still be up-to-date to the minute and a few seconds past it. We won't give up our club. It shall be all the stronger. " And we must here and now resolve " " Hear ! Hear ! " half -grunted Hazel, in imitation of an Englishman, " highly excited," at a banquet. "Hear! Hear!" " We must now resolve " " Not to cast our ballots ! " broke in Alice. 14 THE NOWADAYS GIRLS " This isn't a suffragist meeting," was Rose's re buke. " We must resolve," continued Sylvia, whom little could distract, " we must resolve not to give up the spirit we have evolved for ourselves. We will meet and get together whenever we can, after leaving here. We'll have sessions in summer, of course, and spend all our vacations together, if possible. The Christmas Holidays we may except, but the long vacation will give the Nowadays Club even a better chance than we have had here. Now what do you say? Shall we make it a promise? " She paused to look at her chums. The idea seemed to fill them with enthusiasm. " I'm for it ! " declared Alice. " It's perfectly fine ! " exclaimed Hazel. " I'm just in love with the idea," Rose said. " I almost cried when I found we were to go to different colleges." " But it will be all the better for us," declared Sylvia. " For we can absorb all that is best at each institution, bring it away with us, and pass it on to one another. In that way we will each broaden " " I don't want to do any broadening," broke in Alice. " I'm getting too stout as it is. I'll have to pick up a new step in the hesitation waltz, to make it more difficult." " I meant broaden our minds," Sylvia said, point edly. IN THE ADIRONDACKS 15 " Oh, that's all right," assented Alice. " Go on." " That's all there is to it," Sylvia said. " We'll just resolve to meet as often as we can, and be real nowadays girls. Separating now is only a preparation for a newer form of life and healthy activity." And so it had been decided. The pleasant days at Miss Stevenson's school came to an end in the glories of commencement, with " sweet girl grad uates " galore. This was in late May, for as there were repairs to be made on the buildings the term was somewhat shortened. The Nowadays Girls had separated, with no definite plans for the summer until Sylvia evolved those which, as our story opens, brought the four chums together once more Rose from Syracuse, Alice from Baltimore, and Hazel from Chicago, she being the last to arrive, much to her chagrin, for she upheld the liveliness of her own town as against Gotham. In brief the plan was this. Sylvia had proposed a tour of the Adirondacks for that summer, and there was an indefinite understanding that at each succeeding vacation other famous American resorts would be visited. But the Adirondacks was to be the beginning. The girls were to go to Fulton Chain, in the lower Adirondacks, and progress as they pleased, and when they pleased, stopping where fancy dictated, until they reached Saranac. The four were to be accompanied by Mrs. Theo dora Leigh Brownley, a widow, whose husband had 16 THE NOWADAYS GIRLS been a noted Confederate soldier. A small property brought her in such a meagre income that she was forced to adopt her young-womanhood occupation of teaching school, and she was one of the best-beloved instructresses at Miss Stevenson's establishment. Mrs. Brownley was called " Aunt " not only by cour tesy, but through love, for she was a charming char acter, and the girls were very fond of her, especially our four. So much did they love her that when Sylvia had proposed the Adirondack tour, and a chaperon had been decreed by Mrs. Pursell as absolutely neces sary, Aunt Theodora had been selected. Mrs. Brownley had served as such before. In fact she made it a sort of business to escort parties of young ladies from the school on summer outings. She had made several trips to Europe as such a conductor, and while rather grave and dignified, she could very easily adapt herself to circumstances. Then, too, she was very glad of the added income which this chaperoning provided. So every one was satisfied. The trip had practically been decided on before Sylvia's friends had reached New York, but after she had summoned them by telegraph, she wanted to make sure that none of them had changed her plans. " And I'm glad none of you have," she said, as the maid came in to clear away the tea service, Hazel having been refreshed with a specially-brewed cup. " I think we shall have a lovely summer." " I'm positive of it ! " declared Rose, with convic tion. Again she looked around, half expectantly, as IN THE ADIRONDACKS 17 a masculine step was heard in the hall. It was only the butler, however. " Miss Pursell," he said, in a low voice. " Yes, James." " A telegram." Sylvia caught her breath rather sharply. " Did any of you girls wire ? Could it have been delayed and reached here after you? " she asked, as she paused, hand outstretched, to take the telegram from the silver server. " I didn't," declared Rose, and the others shook their heads in negation. With fingers that trembled Sylvia tore open the yellow envelope. Her eyes rapidly scanned the few typewritten words on the sheet, and once more her breath came in a gasp. " No bad news, I hope," said Hazel, as she glided across the room and put her arms about her chum. "It it isn't good!" faltered Sylvia. "It's Roy my brother he he's worse ! " A startled cry came from Rose, who turned pale, so that only a small tinted spot glowed in either cheek. " Roy ill ! " she whispered. CHAPTER III PREPARATIONS SOMETHING like a portentous influence seemed to have fallen suddenly over the little party of girls that had been making so merry but a moment before. Sylvia read the telegram again. " Any answer, Miss Pursell? " asked the butler. " I told the boy to wait." " No, James. At least not now. I must talk with mother. This came to me I wonder why ? " " Perhaps your brother did not want to alarm your mother," suggested Alice. " I suppose so but " I didn't know Roy was ill," said Rose, and there was that in her tone which showed that she had a good right to know a right that Sylvia seemed to acknowledge, for she answered: " We didn't write and tell you, dear, for we kept hoping that it would pass, and that he would be all right. But it hasn't, and oh, dear ! " For a mo ment Sylvia seemed about to give way, and Hazel tightened her clasp about her chum. " I I'll be all right in in a moment," said Sylvia. " It was just just the disappointment. I did hope he was going to get along at the sanitarium." 18 IN THE ADIRONDACKS 19 " Sanitarium ! " fairly gasped Rose. " Is he has he " " It isn't any real disease," Sylvia made haste to say. " Why, he didn't even hint anything to me the last time he wrote," said Rose, the colour gradually com ing back to her cheeks. That she and Sylvia's big brother, Roy, corresponded was no secret, since it was generally accepted that they would become engaged some day. Just now the little affair was in that most delightful of all states, one of perfect under standing. " No, I fancy he didn't want you to know, my dear," replied Sylvia, gently. " It was, at first, just a breakdown from overwork. You know," she went on to the other girls, " after Roy graduated from Yale he was given a fine position with the Hosmore Chemical Company, here in New York. " Roy was just in love with his work, and so en thusiastic. I fear his very enthusiasm told against him, for he had worked hard at college, and really overtrained on the football eleven. But he was get ting along splendidly, until the breakdown came." " A breakdown," murmured Rose. " He only wrote me that he was tired, and wanted a rest, but that he would not take it until he had completed his discovery." " That's what did it the discovery," sighed Rose. " Roy had some ideas about a new chemical combina tion that was destined to work wonders. It had 20 THE NOWADAYS GIRLS something to do with colouring fabrics, I believe. He told me the details, but I have forgotten."" " It was for dyeing silk," explained Rose. " You know since the European war chemicals and dye- stuffs from Germany, the centre of the trade, have been dreadfully hard to get over here. So Roy dis covered a new way of utilising some of the coal-tar products, and he hoped to make a big thing of it." " You know more than I do," said Sylvia, but there was not the least hint of sisterly jealousy in her voice. " I believe it was that, though, which Roy was working on. Well, he made his discovery " " How nice ! " murmured Alice. " No ! It wasn't at all nice ! " and Sylvia's voice took on rather a fierce and indignant tone. " For poor Roy worked so hard over it that he suffered a mental breakdown. It was complete, added to a sort of physical going to pieces, and he couldn't remember the proper chemical combination the one he worked so hard over. It went from his mind completely and was as lost to him as though he had never worked it out during long nights of study. He tried and tried to recall it, and I suppose that did him no good, mentally or physically. Then he gave up, and broke down completely. It was terrible, but we hoped for the best. Then he went away " " Went away ? " echoed Rose. " Well, rather, he was sent. His firm was very nice to him, granted him a leave of absence and all that, and even sent one of their young men from IN THE ADIRONDACKS 21 the office away with Roy. Mother wanted to go her self, but the doctor said she had better not." " She must have felt that terribly," commented Hazel. " She was so chummy with Roy, and he with her." " Yes," assented Sylvia. " It was terrible. But mamma saw that it was for the best. Papa simply could not leave. His business is so complicated since the war, that he fairly lives at the office. So Roy went off with Harry Montray, and he was more than kind to my brother and all of us." " Harry Montray ? " murmured Alice, question- " I don't believe you know him," Sylvia said. " He was a Stevens boy, and he and Roy were real chums. I grew to like Harry very much in the short time I knew him. He went away with my brother." "But where?" asked Rose. "You haven't told me where yet ? " You notice she did not say " us." But the reason is not far to seek. " Oh, I thought I mentioned it," said Sylvia. " Pardon me. Roy is at Loneberg Camp, Saranac Lake." "Saranac Lake!" cried Rose. "Why, that's where we - " " Yes, that's where we are going," Sylvia took up the remark. " That was one reason that made me keep to my original resolution to make the Adiron- dacks our first outing objective. For a time, after 22 THE NOWADAYS GIRLS we tentatively selected that, I was inclined to change to Bar Harbor, or Martha's Vineyard, but when I learned Roy had to go to the mountains for a com plete rest and cure, I was glad I had not made other plans. We can see him there, and we may do him good." " I am not so sure that, collectively, we shall help him to improve, as I am that, individually, we may," murmured Alice. " What do you mean ? " asked Sylvia, her eyes opening wide. " Say, rather, whom do I mean," retorted Alice, nodding at Rose, who was reading the telegram Sylvia had handed her. " Why," said Rose, not hearing, or perhaps not heeding, the remark made about herself, " this mes sage is from that Harry Montray." " Yes," assented Sylvia. " He is looking after Roy. He promised to wire every day as to how my brother was. Up to now Roy has been very well, considering. He showed little improvement, to be sure, and worrying over the forgotten chemical for mula was not beneficial. But this is the first time we have had really unpleasant news concerning him. I suppose that is why Harry sent the wire to me. I think I must tell mother : " Don't ! " interrupted Alice. " At least not yet awhile," she went on. " Your mother will have enough to worry about, with a house full of company, and this will only add to it. As long as it isn't danger- IN THE ADIRONDACKS 23 ous, and as long as nothing can be done right away, wait until to-morrow to tell her, Sylvia." " I wonder if I ought ? " " I think so," agreed Rose. " We may have better news to-morrow. If we don't, well, there will be time enough to get up there in a hurry, even if it is necessary." " I suppose so," assented Sylvia. " Yes, I'll not say anything to her about it. I must bring her in to meet you. She is anxious to know you all, for she has heard so much about you, and she has only seen your pictures. I'll just keep the unpleasant news from her. I'll see if she is in her room," and Sylvia lost no time in stepping to the private telephone with which the large apartment was equipped. " Will this make any change in our plans ? " asked Hazel. " If it does " " Not in the least, my dear," answered Sylvia, as she was making the necessary connection, a central being dispensed with. " We may go a bit earlier, that is all." " Couldn't we go direct to Saranac Lake ? " asked Rose. " We can, if we find it necessary," answered her hostess. " But it will rather spoil our plans, and can do no good, I fear. The doctor said it would take time for Roy to get strong enough physically so that his mental powers would return. But if we get any more disquieting news we will go direct to 24 THE NOWADAYS GIRLS Saranac, and not make tours and trips along the route, as I planned. Hello ! " she interrupted, to speak into the telephone. Mrs. Pursell was in her room, and said she would be in directly to meet her daughter's girl chums. " Hadn't you better tell your butler not to men tion the telegram? " suggested Rose. " Perhaps I had," agreed Sylvia, slipping out, but returning in time to present the three girls to her mother. Mrs. Pursell greeted them warmly. " You are all just as I pictured you," she said. " Of course I have seen your photographs. But I think I expected Hazel to be just a trifle smaller. I think she isn't such a baby ! " " Well, that's what they all call me," sighed Hazel of the brown eyes. " I wear high-heeled shoes, and everything to make me look larger, but I'm in despair of growing taller." " Never mind, my dear," Sylvia consoled her, " you are perfectly all right and charming as you are. Mother, you will go with us to-night; will you not?" "Where, daughter; to another dance? I think not." " No, the theatre. I planned to have the girls see that new Shaw play." " Oh, I adore Bernard Shaw ! " exclaimed Alice. " He is so sarcastic when you least expect it. He wakes you up like a dash of cold water in your face." IN THE ADIRONDACKS 25 " And about as unpleasantly, at times," commented Rose. " I like a different sort of alarm clock." " We can pick some other play," Sylvia said. " Oh, no indeed ! I like Shaw. It gives you some thing to think about afterward, and that's what we need nowadays." " Quite an idea, calling your club that," com mented Mrs. Pursell. " But don't count on me for the theatre, daughter mine. Go and enjoy your selves. Father will be home to dinner, so he tele phoned." " That's so nice of him. It's quite a concession on father's part to dine with us these days," Sylvia went on. " So you girls must sufficiently express yourselves as honoured. He'll probably lose I don't know how many thousand dollars by being away from the office for even a little while at least he'll say so, anyhow," and she laughed. The girls went to the play, and had supper at Sherry's afterward, Mr. Pursell allowing himself to be made a member of the merry little party, that attracted more than passing glances, for each of the four girls was distractingly pretty. " And now to pack and pack and then pack some more," said Sylvia, gaily, the next day. " Oh, I forgot, you girls want to see about gowns. But you won't need such elaborate ones. A couple for dances at the hotels, and the rest well, we're going to rough it, rather than otherwise. Now then " The butler knocked and entered. 26 THE NOWADAYS GIRLS " Excuse me, Miss Pursell," he said, " but you are wanted at the telephone. It's long-distance." " Long-distance," faltered Sylvia. At once the same thought came to all the girls Roy up in the Adirondack woods. CHAPTER IV "WATCH YOUR STEP !" ROSE caught her breath sharply, as Sylvia swept, with a slithering of her silken skirts, to the extension telephone in the reception hall. And even as she prepared to listen and speak over the wire, the girl had a cautioning thought. "You didn't tell mother; did you, James?" she asked, in a whisper. " No, Miss Pursell. The message was for you." "I know. That's right. Still I thought Hello ! " she interrupted herself to speak into the transmitter. " Yes, this is Miss Pursell. Oh, it's you, Mr. Montray. Oh, yes, I " The door swung shut, closing Sylvia away from her chums, and they only heard the murmur of her voice as she talked. Rose arose and paced nervously to and from a certain window. She wondered if the message concerned her. Presently Sylvia rejoined her friends. There was a glow on her face, a happy glint in her eyes, and something in her whole bearing that told them it was good news, and not bad, even before she spoke. Gaily she cried: " Roy is much better ! " 27 28 THE NOWADAYS GIRLS " Oh, I'm so glad ! " breathed Rose, and her com plexion vied with her name. " Were you talking to him ? " asked Alice, as she turned an emerald ring on her finger an emerald that caused much wonder among strangers as to where she had obtained it, for it was a most beautiful stone. But, perhaps unromantically enough, a ma ternal aunt had bequeathed it to Alice. " No, I wasn't talking to Roy, but to his friend, Harry Montray," replied Sylvia. " He said he knew we would be anxious after the telegram of yesterday, so, as he happened to be near a long-distance tele phone, he called up, instead of telegraphing. He wanted to explain certain things." " About Roy? " asked Hazel. "Of course, Baby! What else?" Sylvia's eyes opened wide. " Oh, I didn't know," and she tried to seem indif ferent. " But tell us the news ! " begged Rose. " That's so. Don't keep her in suspense," sug gested Alice, as she held the cool emerald against her cheek, as Nero is said to have held one against his eye, perhaps better to see, or, perhaps, to make him more dissatisfied with life by imparting a green tint to the complexions of his flatterers. " Yes, Roy is much better," went on his sister. " That little depression of the day before seemed to be but a passing nervous spell." " But is he better all well? " asked Hazel. IN THE ADIRONDACKS 29 " Oh, no, indeed, and he won't be for some time. But he is in no immediate danger. Had he been, either mamma or papa would have gone up at once. What he needs is complete rest and change, and he is getting both. It is only that he cannot make his mind do what he wants it to, and bring back the memory of that forgotten chemical combination. That is what is worrying him, for there is a com paratively large fortune in it, both for himself and for his firm. " It is too bad he lost all memory of it, but it may come back to him. Until it does, though, he will worry and fret, and that will retard his recovery, Harry says. But he is growing stronger physically, and in another month or so there may be a big change." " That's good," murmured Alice, with a sympa thetic glance at Rose. " Perhaps when we go to see him that will at least cheer him up," said Hazel. " I am hoping so," Sylvia agreed. " Poor Roy ! he isn't having a very good time. He just loves the woods, to hunt and fish and camp, but I imagine he can't do many of those things now. Taking a rest cure is so " " Unrestful," put in Alice, as she caught Hazel by the shoulders and whirled her a*bout, forcing her over toward the piano. " Come ! " she cried. " Away with gloomy thoughts, since Sylvia has had good news ! Let's try that new whirl in the onestep. Don't you 30 THE NOWADAYS GIRLS remember the step backward, then forward, a halt and a whirl this way ! " Humming to herself she glided gracefully about the room. " Oh, if you want to dance," said Sylvia, " let's go out to the library and take up the rugs. We can start the * canned music,' as Roy calls the phono graph, and have some good practice. But really, though I hate to begin, I ought to be packing ! " and she sighed. " And I ought to be shopping ! " added Hazel. " But we've time enough. I am easy to fit, and not fussy. On with the dance. Come, Rose, I'll lead you." But Rose rather hung back, and there was a far-off look in her eyes. " Are you worried, dear? " asked Sylvia, in a whis per, as Alice and Hazel led the way to the library for dance practice. " A little yes." Sylvia pressed her chum's hand. " Don't be," she said. " I'm sure he will be all right." " I hope so. But " The music of a catchy onestep floated in to them, and soon the girls were gliding about the unrugged floor. " Do the aeroplane," suggested Sylvia. " You know, the one with four steps on one side, four on the other, then the walk-about and " IN THE ADIRONDACKS 31 " Oh, yes, I just love that. It's so restful! " cried Hazel. The merry impromptu dance went on, and then Sylvia bethought herself that she had not given to her mother the good news that had come by tele phone. When she came back, after having done this, the girls were waltzing, Alice with a large vase as a partner, while Hazel had taken Rose. " I want to get that * marcel wave ' down more smoothly," explained Alice. " I'm sure they'll be doing that at all the hotels this summer." They shopped that afternoon and the next and for several successive days. Rush orders were given dressmakers. The town car was in constant demand for visits to shops, and the apartment looked like " a May morning cyclone," as Sylvia expressed it, for there were gowns and hats on every chair and in every corner. " I thought you girls were going to do this thing simply, and rough it in the mountains," said Mr. Pursell, as he " waded through " the filled-up hall one evening. " We are, Daddy mine ! " laughingly answered Sylvia. " This doesn't look like it." " Oh, but you know nowadays, Daddy, it's awfully hard to be simple." " Like being good, I suppose," he chuckled. " Well, I'm glad you're going I mean I'm sorry to lose the jolly company of you young ladies," he hast- 32 THE NOWADAYS GIRLS ened to add, " but I'm glad you're going up to see Roy. He needs it. I'd go myself only I can't possi bly leave. What was the report to-day, Sylvia ? " " Just about the same. He is fretting a little." " Well, perhaps that's a good sign. They say when a sick person frets he's getting better. Now, Sylvia, how about your trip? Have you it all planned out? When does Aunt Theodora-and-all-the-rest-of-it ar rive?" " Don't let her hear you say that ! " cautioned his daughter, raising an admonishing finger. " She is very dignified at times, but jolly enough when she wants to be. She'll be with us to-morrow, and we will start two days after that. She may want to do a little shopping in New York, since she won't get to Paris this year." " Have you the train schedule ? " asked Mr. Pursell. " All complete," replied Sylvia, tapping a bundle of time-tables and railroad folders. " We leave the Grand Central Terminal at 12:25, and we can reach Fulton Chain at 11:05 the next day; that is if we don't stop off anywhere." " Were you thinking of that? " asked Mr. Pursell. " I wanted them to stop off at Syracuse," put in Rose. " And we may," half-promised Sylvia. " Do you know any of the University fellows ? " Hazel wanted to know. " Of course she does scores of them," declared Sylvia. IN THE ADIRONDACKS 33 " Then we stop off," decided Alice. " That set tles it ! " and the others laughed at her vehemence. Aunt Theodora Leigh Brownley arrived, and was made welcome by Mr. and Mrs. Pursell. They made the gentle, dignified Southern lady feel at home at once, and when Mrs. Brownley discovered, wholly by accident, that there was living in the same apartment a member of an old and distinguished family of Fair fax County, Virginia, the little reserve she had shown melted at once. " I can be quite reconciled to New York, and even to these semi-barbarous apartment houses, if a Ran dolph can be comfortable here," said Mrs. Brownley. " It is much nicer than I thought." Then began a busy time, with the town car working veritably night and day, taking the girls here and there, to fill engagements with dressmakers and mil liners, to shop, attend teas and what not. But slowly the pile of pretty things in the various rooms was reduced. Trunks began to fill, and finally came the day when the Nowadays Club held a last informal meeting in the home of Sylvia. " We leave to-morrow," was the announcement of the president pro tern. " Now don't any of you forget anything." "Have you the tickets, Sylvia?" asked Mrs. Brownley. " Indeed we have, Aunt Theodora." " And you have definitely decided to stop off at Syracuse ? " 34 THE NOWADAYS GIRLS " Yes, Rose wants us to, and we may not get an other chance soon to meet her people." " Very well then, my dear, I shall take my after noon nap, something I deprive myself of when school is in session." Aunt Theodora Leigh Brownley had a very com fortable habit of indulging in a siesta when acting as chaperon. Perhaps she emulated those paragons of chaperons, the Spanish duennas. After a light and rather " flighty " lunch next day, the girls motored to the Grand Central Terminal, and even in that vast extent of station with its marble, its tiles, its hurrying, bustling throngs, its red-capped porters, and its general air of caring for nothing and no one, the girls created no little stir, as they marched in, two by two, with Aunt Theodora in the lead and several porters bringing up the rear with handbags. "We certainly are doing it in style!" murmured Hazel, to whom attention was as the breath of life. "Of course! Why not?" demanded Alice. " After all, there is no place just like New York for cutting a dash ! " " Well, don't cut up too much," advised Hazel. Their train was being announced as they entered, and they passed out through the iron-grilled gates to the parlour car, which glowed with many electric lights, for it was dark out on that labyrinth of tracks. The porters were tipped most graciously by Aunt Theodora, who received the homage of doffed caps 'WE CERTAINLY ARE DOING IT IN STYLE !" MURMURED HAZEL IN THE ADIRONDACKS 35 as only a Southern woman can, and then the girls settled themselves comfortably for a long ride. " Well, we are starting," said Sylvia, with a little sigh, as a gentle motion was imparted to the long, heavy train. " We are off to the Adirondacks, girls." " And I wonder what we shall find there ? " mur mured Alice. " Find ? What do you mean ? " asked Hazel. " Oh, I don't know exactly." " I hope we find Roy better," voiced Sylvia. " So do I," echoed Rose. But she smiled, for the early morning telegram, in the form of a night-letter this time, had brought good news ere they had left for the station. But though Rose smiled, somehow, and in a manner for which she could not account, she had a feeling of vague apprehension. And that this apprehension had to do with Roy need not be doubted. It was a feeling as though " something were going to happen," as we often tell ourselves. That was as much of it as Rose could define. But she managed to shake off a little of the feeling as the train came out of the gloomy line of tunnel- walls and, beyond One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Street, emerged into the open. True there was not much to see, but it was better than nothing, or the stone walls. Hazel went to the end of the swaying car for a drink of water a thirst having been engendered by an indulgence in candy and on her way back a 36 THE NOWADAYS GIRLS sudden swaying of the coach threw her off her balance. " Watch your step ! " called out a young man, near whose chair she was struggling. Hazel tried to, but could not, and the next moment she was neatly de posited on the arm of not the young man, but the arm of the chair in which he sat. He put up his hand to Hazel's back to prevent her toppling completely over, murmuring again : " Watch your step ! " CHAPTER V IN SYRACUSE " BEG your pardon ! Hope you're not hurt? " It was the young man standing before Hazel, and bowing as he assisted her in getting to her feet from her seat on the arm of his chair. " I beg your pardon," murmured Hazel, her face suffused with the blushes that she could not keep back. " It was it was " " I know, the train ! They run a bit unevenly at times with these electric locomotives. Perfectly ex cusable. Are you sure you're not hurt sprained ankle, or anything like that ? " he asked, anxiously. " Of course not," murmured Baby. She could see a changed look come over the young man's face. He had taken her for a little girl, and he had found on looking into her eyes that she could not be so classed, though she was " Baby." By this time Aunt Theodora had become aware of the little accident and was walking down the aisle. " Is anything " she began. " Nothing at all ! " cried Hazel, quickly, and she gently disengaged her hand from the rather too warm and ardent one of the young man. He had taken her hand in assisting her to arise, and he seemed very 37 38 THE NOWADAYS GIRLS willing to repeat the ceremony. But Hazel knew how to put up the barriers, though she smiled innocently enough at the youth. " Why why ! " began Aunt Theodora, and Sylvia began to fear that something unpleasant was about to transpire. But certainly it was not Hazel's fault that a lurch of the train nearly threw her into the grasp of a good-looking young man. And he had behaved very nicely about it, too. All the girls agreed on that point when they talked the matter over among themselves afterward. "It's Jack Benton, isn't it?" demanded Aunt Theodora, as she extended her hand to the young man in question. Hazel gasped. This was condescension indeed on the part of their chaperon. But, somehow or other, Hazel was very glad. She had evidently " fallen in " with one of Aunt Theodora's acquaintances, and, in spite of her rather conservative ways, Mrs. Brownley was quite cosmopolitan in many respects, and had numerous acquaintances in various queer corners of the earth. " I'm Jack Benton yes'm," and he clipped the last word with just the proper accent to prevent it degenerating broadly into " ma'am." " You don't know me, but your sister Ruth " " Oh, of course Miss Stevenson's school you're Mrs. Brownley I met you at the commencement. But er I didn't know you with your hat on, I sup pose at least, that is I er " IN THE ADIRONDACKS 39 " Poor fellow ! " murmured Sylvia, trying her best not to laugh, for Jack was certainly embarrassed and making a " mess of it." " Is this er your ? " Clearly he was at a loss how to classify Hazel. And she, little minx that she was, said not a word to give him an inkling. She might, indeed, have been Mrs. Brownley's daughter or granddaughter. " But how could I speak, except to say ' beg par don ! ' when I hadn't been introduced? " Hazel asked the girls afterward. " You couldn't of course not with Aunt Theodora there," was the decision of Alice, after a long dis cussion of the point in question, and you may be sure the girls missed nothing in discussing the matter from all its angles. " Sylvia Hazel all of you you must remember Ruth Benton," said Mrs. Brownley. " And to think of meeting you here. Is your sister with you? " " No, I am travelling alone, though I expect a party of friends to meet me at Albany. Some Yale fellows and I are going on a little trip up-state." " How nice ! I'm so glad to meet you again, Jack. These are some of my girls. They know your sister slightly, though they were not in her class. Sylvia Miss Pursell this is Jack Benton Miss Hazel Reed " " We have met before," and Jack, of the laughing eyes, smiled at Hazel of the brown orbs. The others were presented. 40 THE NOWADAYS GIRLS " I wonder if we are to call him Jack? " murmured Sylvia. " I wish you would ! " he said, quickly. She blushed vividly not thinking he had heard her. " It's so much nicer," he went on. " Please, Mrs. Brownley Aunt Theodora tell them to ! " " To what, Jack? " The chaperon had been speak ing to one of the porters about getting her a has sock. " Tell them to call me Jack. Let's not be con ventional at least not on this trip. Let's pretend it's a sea-voyage, and that this is a steamer. You know," he went on, speaking to Hazel, but for the benefit of all, " that acquaintances on shipboard don't count for anything that is, I don't mean that I er I mean oh, call me Jack ! " he finished, as the only way out of the tangle. " I don't see why they shouldn't," declared Aunt Theodora. " I intend to call you that, as I call your sister Ruth. The young ladies have my permission. Won't you join us in a cup of tea? We had a very early lunch." Jack winced a little at the mention of tea. Sylvia could see that, and it became another subject for discussion later. " Delighted, I'm sure," he, however, murmured submissively. " They're going to put up one of the little tables near our chairs," went on Mrs. Brownley. " You IN THE ADIRONDACKS 41 can move down there. The car isn't crowded, and there are some vacant places near us." ** Of course," he assented. " Then it's to be Jack and er Hazel? " he ventured, with another laughing-eyed glance at her. " I I suppose so," she murmured, though she did not seem much abashed. " That's what Chicago will do for one," said Syl via afterward. " Oh, it's nothing of the sort ! " cried Hazel, defend ing herself. But they all ended by calling him Jack, and he addressed them by their first names. After all they were but girls and a boy. " Very nice people," said Mrs. Brownley, in an aside to Sylvia. " I have visited them. Very cultured and all that. Nice to know." Sylvia was sure of it, as she glanced at Jack. He was a clean-cut youth, with perfect even and white teeth that made his smile most charming. Soon they were merrily gathered about the tea table, sipping the fragrant beverage, and nibbling toast and cakes. The girls had better appetites than Jack Benton evinced, but then they had been so ex cited at the prospect of starting that they had done little justice to the early luncheon Mrs. Pursell had had prepared for them. " You certainly have a fine trip ahead of you," Jack said, when the objective of the Nowadays Girls had been revealed to him. " I was up in the Adiron- 48 THE NOWADAYS GIRLS dacks last fall, hunting, and it was delightful then. It must be more so now, with the lakes, the fishing, the boating and all that. Wish I were going along." " Yes, it would be nice," murmured Hazel. " I suppose you think he'll be there to pick you up every time you stumble on the trail," whispered Alice. Hazel did not answer, save by a look. At Albany a group of college boys joined Jack. He introduced them to his new friends, and there was a merry party that enlivened the coach for part of the remaining distance. The boys left the party at Herkimer, and there was where the girls would have gone on to their trip to the Adirondacks had not they voted to visit Rose at Syracuse. I have spoken of " stopping off " at the Salt City, but it really was a going on, since they would have to come back to get on the railroad line that would take them to Fulton Chain. But they were in no haste, and, as Sylvia said, they might not be up that way again, so it was only fair to take advantage of this opportunity of stopping at the home of Rose. " I hope I see you all again," Jack Bcnton had said, on leaving the party, but, though he included all, he had looked last at Hazel, and had shaken hands with her finally. The girls, naturally, teased her about this after ward. But she only said : " I don't care ! He was awfully nice ! " IN THE ADI-RONDACKS 43 And that was her only excuse. Slowly the train rolled through the streets of Syracuse. Slowly because there were so many grade crossings, and then came a whirling taxicab trip to the home of Rose, where a warm welcome was extended to the Nowadays Girls. They remained in Syracuse for a week, paying a visit out to the salt works, where the brine is pumped up from the depths of the earth, spread out in shal low vats to be evaporated, leaving behind the saline crystals which, after being treated, to clarify them, are ready for the market. The girls secured some of the peculiar, brown crystals left in the bottoms of the kettles. Sawed into blocks, they made odd and excellent paper weights. It was a round of gaiety in Syracuse, for the Uni versity had not yet closed, and Rose knew many young people. So they had all the dances they wished for, with teas, theatre parties and other like forms of entertainment. " And now really for the Adirondacks ! " exclaimed Sylvia, when they were again ready to make a start. She had received word that her brother was doing as well as could be expected, though his fretfulness over his inability to recall the chemical secret was having no very good effect. CHAPTER VI THE MISSING EMERALD THE NOWADAYS GIRLS arrived at Fulton Chain at 11 :05 in the morning, and stopped for lunch in a little restaurant before taking the branch train that went to Old Forge. Their trip had been a pleasant one, though a trifle tiresome toward the end. But al ready they were beginning to feel the invigorating mountain air, and it seemed to bring new life to them. They had been mounting steadily upward, and now were about eighteen hundred feet above sea level. All about them, save for the little settlements, and the open spaces where the blue-tinted lakes broke the con tinuity, was the vast forest. " Oh, can't you just smell the balsam ! " cried Sylvia, as she breathed in deep of the sweetly scented air. " They say it makes one sleep," said Rose. " But who would want to sleep up here ? " " No one," assented Hazel. " I just want to get out in the woods, or in a boat, and live! " " It is glorious ! " declared Alice. " Just per fectly glorious ! " From Fulton Chain a little railroad ran the two miles, more or less, to Old Forge. This was a village 44 IN THE ADIRONDACKS 45 with a summer population of about two thousand, and it was more up-to-date than the girls had ex pected to find it. The stores were well stocked, and they learned that there was an ever-increasing trade with summer campers and hotel folk. All about the vicinity were many small lakes, the restaurant keeper told the girls, and on the shores were many camping parties. There would be more as the season advanced. " What are we going to do when we get to Old Forge? " asked Rose. " Well, that's where we can have a choice of doing several things," Sylvia explained. " You know Old Forge is the gateway, so to speak, to eight small lakes, and they are numbered instead of being named. We can go by canoe or guide-boat, through the eight lakes to Raquette, and so on, travelling any way that suits us, to Saranac. What do you say to canoeing and carrying? " " The canoeing sounds all right, but what is this carrying ? " asked Hazel. " Is it carrying-on ? " " That means you have to carry your canoe," an swered Sylvia, with a laugh. " Why can't you ride in it? " " Because there isn't any water." "But you just said there were eight lakes " " I know, but look here ! " Sylvia spread out a railroad map on the now cleared restaurant table. " This is how it is," Sylvia explained, for she had made a study of it before proposing the Adirondack trip. " From Old Forge, where we'll go soon, and 46 THE NOWADAYS GIRLS spend the night, we can canoe through the first four lakes, which are in a sort of chain like beads, I sup pose. Or we can go on a steamer, or in a guide- boat?" " What's a guide-boat ? " asked Rose. " A boat with a guide in it, of course," declared Hazel. " Not exactly," explained Sylvia. " It's a sort of boat designed by the guides up here. It's a little safer than a canoe, but almost as light, and you can row it or paddle it, and it will stand pretty rough water." " Well, that sounds interesting," observed Alice. " I'm rather inclined to a guide-boat myself." " The steamer seems rather attractive," suggested Mrs. Brownley, " but you girls do just as you please. I've been in gondolas on the Grand Canal of Venice, and I'm not going to hold back when it comes to an Adirondack guide-boat ! " " Suppose we leave that question until we get to Old Forge, and look the ground or, rather, the water over," suggested Sylvia. " Good ! " assented Hazel. " It's twelve miles through the first four lakes," went on Sylvia, " and a steamer doesn't seem neces sary. Then, after we get to the end of the fourth lake there is a carry of one mile to the sixth lake." " Just what is a carry ? " asked Rose. " It's where you have to carry your boat, and everything in it, over dry land, from one body of water to another," said Sylvia. IN THE ADIRONDACKS 47 " Do they actually carry the boats I mean would we have to? " Hazel wanted to know. " We wouldn't. The guides, or boatmen, would do that, and they'd carry all our luggage," Sylvia ex plained. " That's why they use canoes, and very light boats, so they can easily be transported over the land trails. Well, as I said, it's a one-mile carry from the fourth to the sixth lake." " My, she's a regular guide-book," mocked Alice. " What about the fifth lake? " asked Rose. " The carry is around that. It's winding and twisting, and one can make better time going on land. Besides, that little lake may be filled with stumps and alligators for all I know." " Alligators ugh ! " exclaimed Hazel.