Meanwhile the hikers were having a good time of it. Scattered in little
groups of two or three or more, they were steadily advancing over hill
and dale in the beautiful country surrounding the city, striking through
in a direction not so closely built up in suburbs, for the high school
was one in an outlying suburb, where beautiful homes and large estates
were the rule as soon as one passed beyond its center.
The country was in its handsomest fall attire. Leaves of all colors
attracted the girls who were interested in trees and learning to know
them by their leaves, as well as those who, with no knowledge of this
sort at all, could still appreciate the beauty of color with which the
woods were alive.
This hike, naturally, was not confined to sophomores, though that class
had been charged with the duty of serving the breakfast this time; and a
good breakfast it should be, thought the sophomores.
Lucia Coletti had fallen into conversation with Carolyn Gwynn before the
start and asked if she might walk along with her and Peggy Pollard, who
was with Carolyn. "Indeed you may," said cordial Carolyn, looking
admiringly at Lucia, for she was a slender, pretty figure in a costume
that had seen use in Switzerland, it was evident, and was different from
what the other girls wore in the style of its short coat, the knickers,
stockings and strong shoes. She carried, moreover, an alpenstock, for
which she apologized when she saw that the other girls did not carry
them.
"I should not have brought this, I think," she said, her dark eyes very
serious.
"Why not?" asked Carolyn. "I think that's great."
"But you girls do not carry them. I suppose the hills are not very
steep, but it seemed hilly when we were driving with my uncle."
"It is. Sometimes we girls cut sticks to use on hikes or when we are
camping in the mountains. Mother uses one all the time in the summer at
our camp. We go to the mountains, you know."
"So do we," said Lucia, apparently relieved over the idea of being
different. She was beginning to care now. These were fine girls and this
was a good school.
Mathilde, late, came hurrying up from a car which had deposited her at
the school. "Oh, here you are, Lucia. How charming you look! Do you do
any mountain climbing in the Alps?"
"Some," answered Lucia, more annoyed than pleased with the compliment.
Already she sensed that these girls were not warmly attached to
Mathilde. What was the trouble? It must be that Mathilde was too proud
with them. She herself must not be so.
Other girls noticed Lucia, though she was not known to them. She swung
along gracefully and easily, accustomed to such trips, that is, to
walking and climbing. Her alpenstock was brought into play in more than
one little leap over the hilly way with its ravines, now more or less
slippery with its damp leaves. The other girls who had thought to take
Lucia more or less under their wing, were put to it to keep up with her,
and Carolyn frankly laughed over that fact, when Lucia waited for them
at the top of one high hill.
"We thought that we'd be so good to you, Lucia, and show the stranger
the way and help her over the worst places. Now here you are the
champion hiker of us all!"
"Oh, I ought not to do it, I think! Do you care? I forget, and I like to
see how quickly I can reach a certain place."
"Of course we do not care!"
But there was one who did. Poor Mathilde had been quite forgotten by
Lucia in her quick advance. Now, as the girls sat down to rest for five
minutes or more, Mathilde came toiling up the hill, almost exhausted.
Within she was cross at the girls, Lucia included. It certainly wasn't
nice of them to leave her behind! And the girls were unconscious of
offense, for they had started in a large group, many of whom had fallen
behind or gone in a different direction to reach a given point.
"I'm all out of practice walking," gasped Mathilde as she threw herself
on the ground, "and I'm a little lost right here. I'm so used to the
car, you know. I suppose we must be nearly there now."
"No, indeed," said Peggy, who had her opinion of Mathilde but was sorry
for her at this juncture. "We have come about half way, Mathilde; but
there is an easier way, without so much climbing, if you'd rather take
it. See that little dirt road down there? Well, if you'll follow that,
it skirts the hills and you can't miss the way. Besides, there were
several girls that wanted to come that haven't been well and can't climb
the hills or aren't supposed to. You'll have company, I'm sure, for it
is a bit longer, and I think they would walk more slowly."
Mathilde, who had groaned aloud at the statement that they were only
half way there, now glanced where Peggy pointed and felt that it was
probably the only possible thing to do. Perhaps some car would come
along, dirt road though it was. Somebody with a Ford would live on it.
Her feet were nearly killing her and she knew they were blistered! She
looked at Lucia, to find her looking off at the pretty view,
uninterested in Mathilde's decision.
But now she turned her head and looked at Mathilde kindly. "I would, if
I were you, Mathilde. There's no use suffering when you haven't been
walking much. You ought to take it more gradually. You might injure
yourself if you overdo."
Mathilde felt better at that speech. "You ought to know, Lucia, with all
your experience in mountain climbing. I will take your advice, I think,
and see you at the breakfast."
With this Mathilde stiffly rose and looked at the thickets between her
and the little road which wound below. "Can you make it, do you think?"
asked Peggy. "Take it on the bias, Mathilde. Don't try to go straight
down."
"There isn't any good trail, Peggy, but it's no worse than some we've
been through already. Going on yourself now?" Mathilde was thinking that
she would not start first. They'd watch her go down, of course.
"Yes. We might as well." Carolyn answered Mathilde, rising as she spoke,
though without the effort which had characterized Mathilde's movement.
Carolyn had been in many trails that summer, though that was because of
opportunity as well as because of her own volition. "Come on, Mathilde.
I'll go down half way with you. I know how hard it is to start after a
body hasn't been hiking. After I was sick a while last summer--a year
ago, I mean, I thought I'd never get limbered up."
"Thanks, Carolyn," airily replied Mathilde. "I think I can go _down_
hill, at least!" And off she started, to be tripped by a treacherous
root and fall ignominiously, rolling into some bushes which checked
further descent.
"Mercy, how she'll hate that!" exclaimed Peggy, starting toward Mathilde
with both Carolyn and Lucia.
Lucia reached Mathilde first and reached a hand to her as Mathilde,
flushed and annoyed, sat up and brushed away leaves and dirt from hands
and face. "No, I didn't bruise my face at all," she said in answer to
Lucia's question. "My foot caught in a trailing vine, I think. That's
what it felt like."
"I'll just go down with you," said Lucia. "You need my old stock,
Mathilde. It will swing us over bad places. Go ahead, girls, I'll join
you around the next hill. You said over there, didn't you?" Lucia was
pointing as she spoke.
"Yes, Lucia," answered Carolyn, noting how Mathilde's face brightened.
"All right, you go down with Mathilde and see if some of the other girls
are coming along. Don't get lost yourself, though. We'll saunter along
and you won't have much woods to get through over there."
The girls watched Lucia and Mathilde as the light-footed Italian girl
took Mathilde's arm and with a laugh started down hill, instinctively
choosing the easiest descent.
"This was a mean hill, Carolyn," said Peggy, "but how Mathilde hates it
not to appear 'it' in any way. Have you noticed how she's really
studying some and getting her lessons now?"
"Yes," thoughtfully replied Carolyn. "Maybe she really does like Lucia
and it isn't just wanting to stand in with a title. That was good of
Lucia, wasn't it? She seemed so indifferent at first, but now she's
interested in things."
"Mathilde doesn't 'really like' Lucia much, Carolyn; but she ought to
now. Isn't this the prettiest part of the trail--don't you think, so
wild and lovely? You can't even see a house from here. Look at those
girls across there. This was the best way to come. They're having a
great time getting across that little branch of the run. Maybe the rain
carried away that big log we used to cross on."
Lucia appeared at the appointed place without her alpenstock. She had a
few blossoms to show the girls and asked them what they were. "We have
ever so many of the same trees and flowers that you do," she said, "but
there are some of these fall wild flowers that I never heard of."
The girls discussed the flowers and then asked for Mathilde. "Oh,
Mathilde's in a good humor now," smiled Lucia. "A truck came along with
two girls sitting behind and dangling over the rear. I left Mathilde
sitting beside them, but as she seemed to like my cane, I let her take
it. It will help her when she walks again. The truck was going only a
little way. The girls were laughing and having a great time of it."
The rest of the trip was made in good time by the three girls, joined by
others at different points; and when they came into the temporary camp,
with its fires and moving figures of the committee and boys, to say
nothing of the fresh arrivals--though Carolyn, Peggy and Lucia were
among the first, oh, what enticing odors of cocoa and of bacon frying
met them.
Betty, wearing her cotton crown with its "G. A. A." came running up for
a moment or two with the girls, answering their questions with, "Oh,
everything is going off wonderfully. As soon as the girls all get here
we'll scramble the eggs and be ready. No, there isn't a thing for
anybody to do, only to see that no girl is too timid to get all she
ought to have to eat. Carolyn, you're great on looking up the girls with
a timidity complex, so do your stuff, as Dick would say."
"Note how Betty keeps on quoting from her brother," laughed Peggy.
"It's very convenient," laughed Betty. "By the way, have you seen our
boys? Do take Lucia over to where they are sometime when it seems
appropriate, or drag them over to her, to meet her."
"So your boys have to be dragged to meet me?" queried Lucia, but with a
smile and a comical lifting of her brows.
"I'm not so sure," said Betty, "but they are keeping in the background
at present, for fear that Miss Fox's cordiality will wax cool."
"I see. Well, don't let us keep you, Betty, but do come and sit by me
when you eat your breakfast," said Lucia.
"If any," added Betty. "I'm going to see that the great Sophomore Class
of Lyon High serves enough to make this hike something to be
remembered!"
"Hear, hear!" cried Peggy. "It smells like a million dollars, Betty!"
But it was not long before the fifty and a few more of the guest hikers
were seated here and there and everywhere it was convenient or
attractive. Mathilde was in good humor as she sat with a full plate
right next to Lucia, contemplating with satisfaction her own new
elk-skin shoes, laced high, in contrast with Lucia's similar footgear,
much the worse for wear. Lucia did look pretty and romantic, she
thought; but her own outfit was much more in the latest style, which for
Mathilde was the criterion of worth, along with the impression of
expense.
"Oh, it wasn't any trouble to finish the hike," said she. "My fall only
jolted me and the rest on that funny truck fixed me all right. And your
alpenstock was a great help, Lucia. I shall have one myself if we go
abroad next summer."
"You could probably get the same thing in this country," said Lucia.
Had Peggy been there she would have rolled her eyes at Carolyn, perhaps,
at Mathilde's mention of going abroad, but Peggy was at some distance
with another group and this was one of older girls for the most part,
girls who had their eye on Lucia for their sorority. When Carolyn and
Peggy saw the move on the part of the older girls, they withdrew, though
it might not have been necessary, and were sitting on an uneven log with
Dotty Bradshaw, Mary Emma Howland and Selma Rardon. They, too, noted the
junior girls with Mathilde and Lucia, but made no comment.
"Say, Carolyn," said Dotty in a low tone, "did you notice Louise Madison
and a lot of the University girls at the little skit and pep meeting of
the Dramatic Club the other night? I heard Louise say they came over to
help root for old Lyon High. And there was Ted Dorrance, big as life,
joking with them in the hall before it began. Have he and Louise made
up, do you think? I heard that they had a terrible break-up this
summer."
"Oh, a body can hear 'most anything, Dotty. I'm glad Louise and the
other girls haven't forgotten high school days. She's only a freshman at
the University, of course; and that isn't as thrilling, I imagine, as
being a senior at Lyon High."
"It wouldn't be, would it?" thoughtfully returned Dotty, while Peggy,
who was more interested than she would admit in Ted and Louise,
considered Dotty's bit of news. But here came Betty with her plate piled
full.
"Is the last egg scrambled, Betty?" asked Dotty. "Come on, we've saved
room enough for you on this log. We spread out, kind of, to keep it. It
isn't as soft as the ground, but easier to sit on with a plate. I
considered getting down with my plate and a cup full of chocolate and
gave it up."
"I will, too," assented Betty, carefully balancing her plate as she
cautiously sat down on the big log and the others adjusted themselves
after their move. "I'm lucky to have such a good place. You must have
reserved your seat early."
"We did. Look at Lucia with the juniors, Kiddie."
"I noticed. I looked for her because she spoke of wanting to be with
us." Betty said "us" instead of "me." "It is good for Lucia to get
acquainted," she added, but Betty pursed up her lips as she made that
remark.
"Q. E. D. sororities," said Peggy apropos of the geometry which the
sophomores were just beginning.
"Yes," said Carolyn, "but the less said about them right now the better.
By the way, Louise Madison is being rushed by the Kappa--oh, now I've
forgotten the rest of it, but it's one of the best in the University."
"Well, ask what Louise thinks of sororities," said Betty, "if you ever
see her. Doesn't she come to see your sister, Carolyn?"
"Yes."
"Did Louise belong to a high school sorority, Carolyn?" asked Dotty.
"No, she didn't but I never dared ask her why."
"She _must_ have been asked," said Betty, "because she was so prominent
in everything."
"That isn't a sign. Look at that silly Rose--I can't think of her name
right now. She wasn't in anything, but she was the High Mogul in her
sorority."
"Social stuff," said Peggy Pollard. "That is a good line, Betty. Don't
think that scholarship is the only thing."
Betty looked at Peggy to see if she were serious or joking, but saw that
Peggy was serious.
"Maybe you're right, Peggy. Perhaps doing the things you are expected to
do in school isn't all there is. Still, I have a prejudice in favor of
getting your lessons, or rather for girls that do it or do something
else at any rate."
"Social stuff keeps them very busy, Betty," said Peggy, laughing now.
"And if you want to get married--well, just watch that kind of a girl."
"Peggy's getting too sophisticated," said Carolyn. "That is what my
sister would call it. But I'd like to combine the 'social line' with
good sense and 'doing something' as Betty means it. About Louise,
remember that with possibly one or two exceptions, sororities are new in
Lyon High. Of course, I don't really know how many may have flourished
without anybody's knowing a thing about it. There always are little
cliques, I guess. But let's talk about Hallowe'en. How about a sophomore
party that night, or a smaller one anyway?"
"That would be great, Carolyn," said Dotty, "though I'm afraid we
haven't time to get up a class party. Betty, can I get you another bun?"
"No thanks. I've eaten two."
"That is nothing. The rest of us had three. I insist. Hand me your
plate, please. No one shall say that the chairman of the sophomore
refreshment committee didn't have enough to eat. There are loads left
and I see that Chet Dorrance is cooking some more bacon, just in time
for Betty's last sandwich!"
Without protest Betty handed her plate to Dotty. She was tired and
"ought to have strength for the hike back," as Peggy suggested. And when
Dotty came back, didn't the three boys come with her, to stand in front
of the five upon the log and suggest a sophomore class yell.
"It's too much mixed up, Chet," said Carolyn, "and we'll let the others
tell how good the sophomore committee was. Aren't you a reporter for the
Lyon paper, Chet? Write up Betty as chairman."
"I will. Betty, may I hike home with the chairman and her friends?"
"Of course, unless Chauncey wants you in the car."
"What Chauncey wants is not the question, ladies, and there are almost
no supplies to go back. I speak for a hot dog to eat on the way."
"Make as many 'hot dogs' as you want, Chet," laughed Betty, taking a
good bite from her own sandwich just brought. "You boys ought to have
all you want for helping us out. Please see that Miss Fox is looked
after."
"Miss Fox has had every attention, and we hope that this is not the last
time we go on a oust--I mean a picnic--with the G. A. A. girls."
"Hear, hear," said Dotty, widely grinning.