, I can almost feel it!"

"Let's run," suggested Mollie. "Somehow to-day I can't be sedate. I'll
race everybody to the bank."

[Illustration: THEY RAN OUT INTO THE TEPID WATER.

_The Outdoor Girls on Pine Island._ _Page 158_]

She broke into a run, and the others followed--bringing up at the edge
of the water a moment later, breathless but glowing. This time no one
hesitated, not even Amy. They ran out into the tepid water, then plunged
in, swimming with strong, even, steady strokes.

It had been decided that all were to take part in the race--consequently
all were bent on losing not one moment of practice. They swam, off and
on, for the whole morning--occasionally throwing themselves upon the
mossy bank, to rest and get their breath, then going at it again with
renewed vigor and resolve.

It was only when the position of the sun and acute pangs of hunger
warned them that it was long past their luncheon hour, that they decided
it was time to turn their attention to other things.

"I left the basket back at the house," said Mollie, when they had come
to this conclusion. "I thought probably we would like to get dressed
before we ate."

"Oh, why?" Will protested. "It's a scorching hot day, and we'll probably
want to go in for a swim later on, anyway."

"Why not slip a skirt and middy over our bathing suits?" Betty
suggested. "By the time we reach the house, our suits will be dry. Mine
is almost, now."

"Good!" said Grace. "We'll feel more respectable, and if we do want to
go in for a swim later it won't be any trouble at all to take them off."

So it was decided, and they all tramped off through the woods, laughing,
merry, and friends with the world.

CHAPTER XIX

A MARVELOUS DISCOVERY

Upon reaching the house the Outdoor Girls ran upstairs while the boys
went back to camp to get some things they thought they might need. A few
moments later the girls rejoined them.

"Where shall we go?" Roy, who was leading the van, paused and looked
behind him. "Let's take some different part of the wood--some place we
haven't explored yet."

"If there is any," Allen agreed.

"There is some place, for we have not yet found the gypsies Mollie's old
store-keeper told her about," put in Betty.

"Very well, then, trot ahead, Roy, we'll follow you."

"All right, but don't blame me if we are lost."

"Oh, if there is any danger of that," said Amy, pulling away and looking
back longingly, "perhaps we better stick