member the rule: no one is ever
to go unless I'm right at hand, and there must always be someone in a
boat, ready to help if a girl gets a cramp or any other sort of
trouble."

"Oh, are there boats?" cried Dolly. "That's fine! Where are they, Miss
Eleanor?"

"You shall see them after we've cleared away the breakfast things and
washed up. But there's a rule about the boats, too: no one is to go out
in them except in bathing suits. And remember this, when you're out on
the lake. It's very narrow, and it looks very calm and safe, now.

"But at this time of the year there are often severe squalls up here,
and they come over the hills so quickly that it's easy to get caught
unless you're very careful. I think there had better always be two girls
in each boat. We don't want any accidents."

"Can we go for walks through the woods, Miss Eleanor?"

"Oh, yes; that's the most beautiful part of being up here. But it's easy
to get lost. When you start on a trail always stick to it. Don't be
tempted to go off exploring. I'm going to give you all some lessons in
finding your way in the woods. You know, the moss is always on the south
side of a tree, and there are other ways of telling direction, by the
leaves. I expect you all to be regular woodsmen when we go away from
here, and I'm sure you'll learn things about the woods that will give
you a good many pleasant times in the future"

"Isn't there anyone else at all up here, Miss Eleanor? I should think
there'd be a hotel or something like that here."

"No, not yet; not right near here. This lake is part of a big preserve
that is owned by a lot of men in the city. My father is one of them, and
they have tried to keep all this part of the woods just as nature left
it. There are a lot of deer here, and in the fall, when hunters come
into the woods, they have to keep out of this part of them. A few deer
are shot here, because if only a few are taken each year, it's all
right. But there will be no hotels in this tract. Hotels mean the end of
the real woods life. There are half a dozen lakes in the preserve, and
each of the families that owns a share in it has a camp at one of the
lakes. I mean a regular camp, with wooden buildings, where one can stay
in the winter, even. But this lake was set apart for trips like this,
where people can get right back to nature, and sleep in tents."

"Then we can go over and see some of the other lakes?"

"Yes; I don't know whether we'll find any