her gaze, and Julie said: "See all the blue
sky! Enough to make the proverbial 'night-cap'."

In case the reader has not yet met the four girls who had such a
thrilling time while at camp the previous summer, it will be best to
make their acquaintance now.

As stated before, Juliet and Elizabeth Lee were the two sisters who
planned having a scout troop for girls in Elmertown. Joan Allison and
Ruth Bentley, both schoolmates of the Lee girls, eagerly agreed to add
their efforts to the others' and secure the interest of enough girls for
them to be able to apply for a charter from the Girl Scout Headquarters
in New York City.

Before they closed their camp on "Verny's Mountain" that summer, five
other girls had been admitted to membership in the young Patrol, namely:
Hester Wynant, fourteen; Anne Bailey, fourteen; Judith Blake, thirteen;
her sister, Edith Blake, twelve; and Amy Ward, thirteen.

Then during the winter, other girls who had heard of the good times the
scouts had had in camp that past summer became so insistent to mothers
at home that permission to join the organization was granted them.

Having nine girls in their original Patrol, with Julie as Leader, and
Joan for Corporal, the scouts now felt experienced enough to pass all
the tests required to apply for a Troop Charter. The young scouts were
an active group and when the Charter arrived from National Headquarters
the same day the girls had planned to start for camp, there was great
rejoicing.

True to his promise given the Girl Scouts the summer previous, Mr.
Gilroy had sent word to Mrs. Vernon when the camp in the Adirondacks was
ready for them. When the girls found that Mrs. Vernon planned to use her
large touring car for half of the number in the Troop to go in, and Ruth
Bentley's father had offered his car for the other half, thus saving
them great expense for railroad tickets, and giving them the pleasure of
autoing the whole long distance, the excitement rose and would not be
calmed down again.

So it was not only a happy Troop that shouted good-by to relatives, but
also a flushed, merry group of nine girls who could not keep silent for
long.

Ruth was in the rear seat of her father's car, which Jim was driving,
when she suddenly sat up and called out to the chauffeur:

"I'm sure one of our suitcases on the trunk-rack at the back must be
loose, Jim. I hear it bump about every time you go over a rough place in
the road."

"It can't be, Miss