s? All right, give her the welcome!"

Instantly the girls raised a chorus:

"_Do_ we want her!
_Do_ we want her!
Yes, we _do, do, do_!"

This cheering call echoed through the woods and it filled the heart of
the little mountain girl with happiness.

It seemed to be Kit's unlucky day, for as she climbed down the wall her
skirt caught once more on the wire and completed its destruction.

"Now that dress is done for! What a clumsy colt I am! You'd think I'd
never been broken to saddle!" exclaimed Kit as her brown eyes snapped.
"Don't I look a sight?"

The three girls were fascinated by the stranger. She walked with long
swinging strides that she had learned in climbing hills from babyhood.
Even the way she expressed herself was different from the girls in the
village.

"What a pity you've spoiled your dress," said Bet. "I'll have that
wire taken off immediately!" she exclaimed in indignation. "That's for
tramps too, but I've told Dad more than once that the wire must go.
Now I'll just have to insist."

It was Kit's turn to stare in amazement, for Bet's face was stern and
reproving as she spoke of her father, much as if he were a small boy
who had to be punished.

"Now where I come from, fathers say what's what, and not daughters,"
laughed Kit. Dad Patten was a pleasant man, quiet and given to few
words, but he was the one who ruled, and no one else gave orders.

"Bet is a lucky girl, Kit. She's an only child and I'll tell you a
secret, she's frightfully spoiled. She does just as she pleases all
the time." This was from Shirley, who had scarcely spoken before. She
was not less friendly than the others but found it harder to express
herself freely.

"Don't believe her, Kit," laughed Bet Baxter. "There are lots of
things I'm not allowed to do. Dad is one of the best and most
understanding Dads but I always do exactly as he tells me."

"That's the joke," laughed Shirley. "Her father never tells her to do
_anything_!"

CHAPTER II

THE PICNIC

"Let's eat!" exclaimed Joy. "I'm almost starved!" She was twirling on
tiptoe on the top of a flat stone. "Do let's unpack the basket!"

"And I must go. I told Mrs. Stacey I'd be back soon. If you'll just
tell me which way to start out. I'm lost!" laughed Kit.

"Oh you can't get lost in Lynnwood if you'd try. All roads lead to
Main Street," declared Bet.

"Or away from Main Street, as I've found out this morning!"

"Oh but you