bel.

"A whole lot," put in Grace. "We met five girls last summer who had just
been on a trip through the White Mountains. They called themselves the
'Meadow-Brook Girls,' but they were real Campfire girls. They had spent
a summer in camp and had won whole strings of beads for their
achievements."

"They spent a day or two in Oakdale," explained Miriam. "One of them, a
funny little girl who lisped, was a cousin of Hippy Wingate. Her name
was Grace Thompson, but her three chums called her Tommy. They had a
guardian with them, too, a Miss Elting."

"I liked the tall one, Miss Burrell, best," continued Grace, "but they
were all interesting. The girl who owned the car was a Miss McCarthy, a
true Irish colleen and awfully witty. She and Nora O'Malley swore
friendship on sight. Then there was a stout girl whose nickname was
'Buster,' and a quiet, brown-eyed girl named Hazel Holland. They write
to me occasionally and they are all going to Overton when they have
finished high school."

"Why did they call themselves the 'Meadow-Brook Girls'?"

"Oh, that was the name of their home town."

"What good times they must have had," commented Mabel.

"They did, and all sorts of hairbreadth escapes as well. They won ever
so many honor beads for bravery and prompt action in time of danger. But
to return to the subject of our council. Don't you think we had better
put our wraps away and convene? That's what councils do, isn't it?"

"Convene is correct," Elfreda assured her gravely. "Allow me to head the
procession upstairs. The sooner we go up the sooner we shall come down."

A little later they clustered about the cheerful open fireplace in the
library. Mabel, who was seated on a stool at one side of the fire,
reached forward for the poker and prodded the half-burnt log
energetically. The others watched her in silence until she laid down the
poker with a suddenness that caused them all to start, and turning about
said almost brusquely: "I wish you girls to tell me frankly everything
about Kathleen West. Until that 'Larry, the Locksmith' story came out I
hadn't the slightest idea that there was anything save the pleasantest
relations between her and Grace. That story set me to thinking. I knew
something was wrong, for Grace had told me the Oakdale part of it in
strict confidence. When I received a cold little note from Miss West
declining my invitation, I was sure of it. Whatever it is, I feel
responsible, for I asked you to look