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The Outdoor Girls At Ocean View
OR
THE BOX THAT WAS FOUND IN THE SAND
BY LAURA LEE HOPE
AUTHOR OF "THE OUTDOOR GIRLS OF DEEPDALE," "THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS,"
"THE BOBBSEY TWINS," ETC.
_ILLUSTRATED_
NEW YORK
GROSSET & DUNLAP
PUBLISHERS
BOOKS FOR GIRLS
BY LAURA LEE HOPE
* * * * *
12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume.
50 cents, postpaid.
=THE OUTDOOR GIRLS SERIES=
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS OF DEEPDALE
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT RAINBOW LAKE
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN A MOTOR CAR
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN A WINTER CAMP
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN FLORIDA
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT OCEAN VIEW
=THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS SERIES=
THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS AT OAK FARM
THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS SNOW BOUND
THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS UNDER THE PALMS
THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS AT ROCKY RANCH
THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS AT SEA
=THE BOBBSEY TWINS SERIES=
For Little Men and Women
THE BOBBSEY TWINS
THE BOBBSEY TWINS IN THE COUNTRY
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE SEASHORE
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SCHOOL
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGE
THE BOBBSEY TWINS ON A HOUSEBOAT
THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT MEADOWBROOK
GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK
COPYRIGHT, 1915, BY
GROSSET & DUNLAP.
* * * * *
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT OCEAN VIEW
[Illustration: MOLLIE BROUGHT UP OUT OF THE HOLE A CURIOUS IRON
BOX.--_Page 74._
_The Outdoor Girls at Ocean View._]
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I ANTICIPATIONS 1
II INTERRUPTIONS 9
III PREPARATIONS 17
IV OFF FOR OCEAN VIEW 26
V OLD TIN-BACK 36
VI THE BOYS 44
VII THE STORM 53
VIII THE MEN IN THE BOAT 61
IX THE BOX IN THE SAND 69
X CONJECTURES 75
XI THE CIPHER 81
XII THE FALSE BOTTOM 89
XIII THE DIAMOND TREASURE 95
XIV SEEKING CLUES 101
XV A NIGHT ALARM 109
XVI ON THE BEACH 118
XVII ANOTHER ALARM 126
XVIII ANXIOUS DAYS 135
XIX THE PICNIC 146
XX CAUGHT 154
XXI ON THE SCHOONER 163
XXII THE SEARCH 172
XXIII SMUGGLED DIAMONDS 181
XXIV TO THE RESCUE 190
XXV ALL'S WELL--CONCLUSION 199
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT OCEAN VIEW
CHAPTER I
ANTICIPATIONS
Three girls were strolling down the street, and, as on the occasion when
the three fishermen once sailed out to sea, the sun was going down. The
golden rays, slanting in from over the western hills that stood back of
the little town of Deepdale, struck full in the faces of the maids as
they turned a corner, and so bright was the glare that one of them--a
tall, willowy lass, with a wealth of fluffy, light hair, turned aside
with a cry of annoyance.
"Oh, why can't the sun be nice!" she exclaimed, half-petulantly.
"What do you want it to do, Grace?" asked a vivacious, dark-complexioned
sprite next to the complaining one. "Go under a cloud just to suit you?"
"No, my dear, I'm not as fussy as that!"
"Indeed not!" chimed in the third member of the trio, a quiet girl, with
thoughtful eyes. "What Grace wants is some nice young fellow to come
along with an umbrella, hoist it over her, and invite her in to have--a
chocolate soda!"
"Why, Amy Blackford! I'll never speak to you again!" gasped the accused
one, blushing vividly, the more so as the rays of the setting sun fell
upon her face. "All I said was----"
"Look!" suddenly interrupted the vivacious member of the small party--a
party that attracted no little attention, for at the sight of the three
pretty girls, strolling arm in arm down the main thoroughfare of the
town, more than one person turned for a second look.
"Gracious! What is it?" demanded Grace. "Did you see--some one, Billy?"
"No--something," came the answer from the dark girl with the boyish
name, and at a glance you could understand why she was called so. There
was such a wholesome, frank and comrade-like quality about her, though
she was not at all masculine, that "Billy" just suited.
"Look," she went on. "Isn't that a perfectly gorgeous display of
chocolates!" and she indicated the window of a confectionery store just
in front of them.
"Oh, I _must_ have some of those!" cried Grace Ford. "Come on in, girls!
I'll treat. They're those new bitter-sweet chocolates. I didn't know
Borker kept them. I'm simply dying for some!" and with this rather
exaggerated statement she fairly pulled her two chums after her into the
store.
"Look!" Grace went on, pausing a moment when inside the shop to glance
at the chocolate display in the show-window. "Did you ever see anything
so--so appetizing?"
"It looks like a display at a picnic candy kitchen," murmured she who
had been called Billy.
"Why, Mollie Billette!" reproached Grace Ford. "I think it's perfectly
splendid."
"But not appetizing," declared Amy Blackford. "I don't see how you can
think of eating any, when it's so near dinner time, Grace."
"We don't have dinner until seven, and it's only five. Besides, I'm not
going to eat many--now."
"No, she'll take a box home, and keep them in bed, under her pillow--I
know her," put in Mollie, alias Billy. "I slept with her one night and I
wondered whether she had lumps of coal, or some kitchen kindling wood
between the sheets. But it wasn't--it was chocolates! The box had worked
out from under her pillow in the night and----"
"Mollie Billette! You promised never to tell that!" pouted Grace. "I
don't care. They were hard chocolates, and didn't do any damage."
"No, and they weren't damaged, either," laughed Mollie. "I know we sat
up eating them until your mother came in and made us go to sleep. Oh,
Grace, you certainly are hopeless when it comes to chocolates!"
A smiling clerk came up to wait on the girls, and while Grace was
pointing out what she wanted, the two friends stood aside, talking in
low tones.
"Where are you going this summer?" asked Mollie, of Amy.
"I don't know. Henry isn't just sure what he will do--at least, he
wasn't the last I talked with him about it. I suppose, though, I shall
go wherever Mr. and Mrs. Stonington go, and that is likely to be the
mountains, I heard them say. What are your plans, Mollie?"
"About as unsettled as yours. I did want to go to the seashore, but
mamma is _so_ afraid of the water for Paul and Dodo. Those children
never seem to grow, and half my pleasure is spoiled giving way to them."
"Oh, but they are such sweet dears!" protested Amy.
"Yes, I know, but you ought to live with them a year or so. Did I tell
you Paul's latest?"
"I think not."
"Well, he has a rocking-horse, you know, and the other day----"
"Have some," interrupted Grace, thrusting her bag of chocolates between
her two girl chums, and thus interrupting Mollie's story. "Don't you
want a soda? I've enough change left."
"Soda? Indeed not!" cried Mollie. "And I don't want more than one or two
candies, either!" she went on, as she tried to prevent Grace from
generously emptying half the bag into her small, gloved hands.
The three girls were laughing and--yes, truth compels me to say they
were giggling--when the door of the shop swung open, a girl entered and
at the sight of the newcomer the three burst out with:
"Betty!"
"The Little Captain!"
"Betty Nelson, where were you? We've been looking _all over_ for you!"
"Yes, so I heard," was the calm response of the fourth girl, who swung
in with a certain vigor and lithesomeness as though she had just come
from a game of tennis or basketball. There was a wholesome air of good
health about her, a sparkle in her eyes, and a glow in her cheeks that
told of life in the open.
"I saw you turn in here," she went on, "and I knew I had plenty of time,
as long as I saw Grace with you, so I didn't hurry."
"Oh, I haven't bought so much," declared Grace, with an injured air.
"Just because I want some chocolates now and then----"
"Now--and--_then_!" mocked Betty Nelson, with a laugh. "Better say
_now_--and--_always_. No, thank you," and with a shake of her head she
declined some candy from the bag. "Just had lunch a little while ago.
Mother and I ate on the train."
"Where were you?" demanded Mollie. "At the house they said you were out
of town, and we thought it strange, as you hadn't said anything about
going away, especially as we so recently came back from Florida."
"It was just a little trip, suddenly taken," Betty explained. "Mother
and I went down to the shore to select our summer cottage."
"And did you?" asked Mollie, with sparkling eyes.
"We did, and, oh, it's such a darling place!"
"Where?" came the question in a chorus.
"At Ocean View, the prettiest place on the New England coast, I think.
Of course it's small, and old fashioned, and all that, but----"
"Oh, how I wish _we_ were going to some place like that!" exclaimed
Mollie.
"So do I," chimed in Grace. "Father talks of Lake Champlain again, and I
detest it."
"How about you, Amy?" asked the Little Captain, turning to the quiet
girl.
"I haven't heard where we are going."
"Good!" cried Betty. "This is just what I expected. If you haven't any
plans, none will have to be--un-made. It makes it so much easier."
"Makes what easier?" demanded Mollie.
"My plan, my dear! Listen, I think it's just the loveliest idea. Mother
and I looked at two cottages. One was almost too small, and the other
was much too large, until I unfolded my plan to her. Then she saw that
it was just right."
"Just right for what?" asked Grace.
"Just right for all us girls to go there and spend the summer. Now don't
say a word until you have heard it _all_!" cautioned Betty, as she saw
signs of protest on Amy's face. "You must agree with me--at least for
once."
"As if she didn't always have her way!" remarked Mollie.
"We four--the Outdoor Girls--are going to Ocean View for the summer!"
went on Betty. "We'll have the loveliest, gayest times, for it's the
most beautiful beach! And the cottage is a perfect dear--it's just
charming. Mother has agreed, so it's all settled. All that remains is to
tell your people, and we'll do that right away. Come on!" and leading
her friends forth from the candy-shop, Betty really seemed like some
little captain marshaling her pretty forces.
"The seashore!" repeated Amy. "Oh, I'm sure I should love it!"
"Of course you would, dear!" exclaimed Betty. "And that's where you--and
all of us--are going!"
"Oh, but you are so _sure_!" exclaimed Mollie, in accented tones.
"Oh, but you are so--Frenchy!" half-mocked Betty, with a laugh.
"There! It is all settled! We will spend the Summer at Ocean View! And
now come down to my house and we'll talk about it!"
And, filled with delightful anticipations, the four girls strolled down
the sun-lit street.