"Oh, mercy! We never could sell them for meat!" cried Joan.

"I shall never eat another mouthful of veal or pork," added Betty,
fervently.

"None of us will ever eat meat again!" declared the others.

"But that doesn't answer this letter," the Captain reminded them.

"The man offers a good price, girls, and having so much capital
invested, he will surely take care of the investment," said Mr. Gilroy.

"Y-e-s, that's so! Well, I'll tell you what, girls," said Julie. "Let's
make him double his offer, and that will make him still more
appreciative of Julia and Anty. If he takes it, all right. If he
doesn't, we can write to some other Zoo trainer, now that we know we
have two fine trained pets."

But the animal trainer expected a "come-back," and was only too glad to
secure Julia and Anty at the price the scouts mentioned. And that added
materially to the fund for the next summer's outing--wherever it was to
be.

The day the trainer came to take possession of his newly acquired pets,
the girls felt blue over saying good-by to them. Anty had been so
thoroughly scrubbed that she glistened, and Julia had been brushed and
currycombed until she looked like satin.

"Oh, Anty! Shake hands just once more," wailed Judith, as she held out
her hand to the pig.

Anty immediately stood upon her hind legs and held out a hoof that had
made such distracting imprints for the scouts early in the summer.

"I'll buy the little bark shed, too. I know that all pets love their own
little sleeping-places and get so used to them they never feel at home
in new quarters. I'll take the pen with me," said the trainer.

So Anty was the means of adding to the coffer of gold the scouts were
now dreaming of. And the artistic little bark house was taken away for
Anty's especial use thereafter.

After the departure of Julia and Antoinette, the scouts felt lonely, and
the camp was soon dismantled of all the exhibits that had been used for
decorations that summer. Everything was packed and shipped back home,
and then came the day when Mr. Bentley came in his touring car to assist
in the transportation of the campers to their old homes and families.

As they all stood on the verandah of the bungalow shaking hands with Mr.
Gilroy and telling him what a precious old dear he was to have bothered
with them all summer, he said:

"But you haven't asked me for the itinerary for next year."

"We have, again and again, but you said it was not yet time f