nd up wound the trail.

The Meadow-Brook Girls in the Hills

CHAPTER I

THE MAN WITH GREEN GOGGLES

"I hear that Janus Grubb is going to take a passel of gals on a tramp
over the hills," observed the postmaster, helping himself to a cracker
from the grocer's barrel.

"Gals?" questioned the storekeeper.

"Yes. There's a lot of mail here for the parties, mostly postals.
Can't make much out of the postals, but some of the letters I can read
through the envelopes by holding them against the window."

"Lemme have a look," urged the grocer eagerly.

"Not by a hatful. I'm an officer of the government. The secrets of
the government must be guarded, I tell ye. There's six of them----"

"You don't say! Six letters?" interrupted the grocer.

"No, gals. One's name is Elting. She's what they call a chaperon.
Another is Jane McCarthy--I reckon some relation of the party who wrote
me a letter asking what I knew about Jan. I reckon Jan got the job on
my recommendation."

"Who are these girls, and what do they think they're goin' to do up
here?"

"Call themselves 'The Meadow-Brook Gals.' Funny name, eh?" grinned the
postmaster, balancing a soda cracker on the tip of his forefinger, then
deftly tossing it edgewise into his open mouth. "They pay Janus ten
dollars a week for toting them around," he chuckled. "Read it in the
McCarthy party's letter to Jan."

"What are they going to do up in the hills?"

"Climb over the rocks for their health," grinned the postmaster.

"Huh! When they coming to town?"

"On the evening mail train to-day. Hello! There's Jan now on his way
to meet them. Say! Will you look at him! Jan's had his whiskers
pruned. And, I swum, if he hasn't got on a new pair of boots. Git
them of you?"

The storekeeper nodded.

"How much?" demanded the postmaster.

"Four seventy-three. Knocked down from five dollars. Wish I'd known
he was going to draw down ten dollars a week for this job. I'd have
got four seventy-five at least for the boots."

"Never mind, you can let Jan make it up on something else," comforted
the postmaster. "Reckon I'll go down to the station to see the folks
come in."

"I was going to ask you to look after the store while I went down,"
returned the grocer.

The postmaster decided that he wouldn't go. The other man hurried out,
while the government employe helped himself not only to another handful
of crackers, but to a liberal slice of cheese as we