dare, of course."

"Well, I'll have to take the dare," said Molly. "That village is too
far for me to-day."

"Why, it's only a short way down the valley," Dorothy protested.

"It's several miles, at least," said Jim.

"Oh, come!"

"Why, yes; distances are very deceptive in this part of the country."

Dorothy could not be convinced, so the others decided to keep on
until the girl realized that she had misjudged the distance, and
asked to turn back.

They did not know Dorothy Calvert.

The path led down the mountainside and into a broad road which
followed the bank of a stream. Somehow, when this point was reached,
the village seemed no nearer.

Dorothy uttered no protest, however. But the others exchanged
glances, as if to say:

"Well, I wonder will she ever get enough?"

On they went till at last, at a great bend in the road, where lay a
fallen log, Molly stopped for a rest.

"You folks can go on," said she, seating herself on the fallen tree.
"I'll wait here and go back with you."

"And I," said Aurora, dropping down beside her.

"Guess those are my sentiments, too," drawled Jim, as he languidly
sat down beside the girls.

"Well," said Gerald, "after our journey this morning, and the work I
did in camp, I don't believe I want any village in mine, either."

And he, too, sat down.

Dorothy stood gazing at her friends, an amused expression on her
face.

"I suppose if the majority vote is to be listened to, I lose," she
said. "I thought you all were mountain climbers, and great believers
in exercise on a large scale. But I see I was mistaken. I yield to
the rule of the majority; we will not go to the village to-day."

Dorothy sat down. As she did so, the others burst into a roar of
laughter.

"Well, I don't see anything so funny," she said. "But perhaps that is
because I am lacking a sense of humor."

"No, it's not that," said Gerald. "We are laughing to see how
stubbornly you give up a little whim. Nobody wanted to go to the
village but you, yet you insisted that everyone go."

"Oh, I didn't mean that like you took it, at all, Gerald," protested
the girl, a slight flush creeping over her face.

"We felt that, hence, knowing it could give you no real pleasure to
go farther, and tire yourself and ourselves completely out, so that
we would have to hire a conveyance to get back to camp, we decided to
rebel, and stay here."

"I imagine the fishing is good in this neighborhood," said Molly, who