OTHER SURPRISES
It was not merely a matter of packing up and starting for the East. It
would be a week still before the party would separate--some of the
Westerners starting for California and the great moving picture studios
there, while Ruth and her friends with Mr. Hammond and his personal
staff would go eastward.
It had been arranged that Wonota should return to the Osage Agency for a
short time. Meanwhile Ruth had promised to try to do another scenario in
which the young Indian girl would have an important part.
Mr. Hammond was enthusiastic, having seen some of the principal scenes
of "Brighteyes" projected. He declared to Ruth:
"She is going to be what our friend the camera man calls 'a knock-out.'
There is a charm about Wonota--a wistfulness and naturalness--that I
believe will catch the movie fans. Maybe, Miss Fielding, we are on the
verge of making one of the few really big hits in the game."
"I think she is quite worthy of training, Mr. Hammond," agreed the girl
of the Red Mill. "When I get to work on the new picture I shall want
Wonota with me. Can it be arranged?"
"Surely. Her contract takes that into consideration. Unless her father
appears on the scene, for the next two years Wonota is to be as much
under your instruction as though she were an apprentice," and he
laughed.
Mention of Chief Totantora did not warn Ruth of any pending event. The
thing which happened was quite unexpected as far as she was concerned.
The westbound train halted at Clearwater one afternoon, while the three
white girls were sitting on the rear platform of their car busy with
certain necessary needlework--for there were no maids in the party. Ruth
idly raised her eyes to see who got off the train, for the station was
in plain view.
"There are two soldiers," she said. "Look! Boys coming home from 'over
there,' I do believe. See! They have their trench helmets slung behind
them with their other duffle. Why----"
She halted. Helen had looked up lazily, but it was Jennie who first
exclaimed in rejoinder to Ruth's observation:
"Dear me, it surely isn't my Henri!"
"No," said Ruth slowly, but still staring, "there is no horizon blue
uniform in sight."
"Don't remind us of such possibilities," complained Helen Cameron with a
deep sigh. "If Tom--"
"It _is_!" gasped Ruth, under her breath, and suddenly the other girls
looked at her to observe an almost beatific expression spread over the
features of the girl of the Red Mill.
"Ruthie!" cried Helen, and jumped up from her seat.
"My aunt!" murmured Jennie, and stared as hard as she could along the
beaten path toward the station.
The two figures in uniform strode toward the special car. One straight
and youthful figure came ahead, while the other soldier, as though in a
subservient position, followed in the first one's footsteps.
Wonota was coming across the street toward the railroad. She, too, saw
the pair of uniformed men. For an instant the Indian girl halted. Then
she bounded toward the pair, her light feet fairly spurning the ground.
"My father! Chief Totantora!" the white girls heard her cry.
The leading soldier halted, swung about to look at her, and said
something to his companion. Not until this order was given him did the
second man even look in the direction of the flying Indian maid.
Ruth and her friends then saw that he was a man past middle age, that
his face was that of an Indian, and that his expression was quite as
stoical as the countenances of Indians are usually presumed to be.
But Wonota had learned of late to give way to her feelings. No white
girl could have flung herself into the arms of her long-lost parent with
more abandon than did Wonota. And that not-withstanding the costume she
wore--the very pretty one sent West from the Fifth Avenue modiste's
shop!
Perhaps the change in his lovely daughter shocked Totantora at first, He
seemed not at all sure that this was really his Wonota. Nor did he put
his arms about her as a white father would have done. But he patted her
shoulder, and then her cheek, and in earnest gutturals he conversed a
long time with the Indian maid.
Meanwhile the three white girls had their own special surprise. The
white soldier, who was plainly an officer, advanced toward the special
car. His bronzed and smiling face was not to be mistaken even at that
distance. Helen suddenly cried:
"Hold me, somebody! I know I'm going to faint! That's Tommy-boy."
Ruth, however, gave no sign of fainting. She dashed off the steps of the
car and ran several yards to meet the handsome soldier. Then she halted,
blushing to think of the appearance she made. Suppose members of the
company should see her?
"Well, Ruth," cried the broadly smiling Tom, "is that the way you greet
your best chum's brother? Say! You girls ought to be kinder than this to
us. Why! when we paraded in New York an old lady ran right out into the
street and kissed me."
"And how many pretty girls did the same, Captain Tom?" Ruth wanted to
know sedately.
"Nobody as pretty as you, Ruth," he whispered, seizing both her hands
and kissing her just as his sister and Jennie reached the spot. He let
Helen--and even Jennie---kiss him also.
"You know how it is, Tommy," the latter explained. "If I can't kiss my
own soldier, why shouldn't I practise on you?"
"No reason at all, Jennie," he declared. "But let me tell the good news.
By the time you get back to New York a certain major in the French
forces expects to be relieved and to be on his way to the States again.
He tells me that you are soon going to become a French citizeness, _ma
cherie."_
It was a very gay party that sat for the remainder of that afternoon on
the observation platform of the special car. There was so much to say
on both sides.
"So the appearance of Wonota's father was the great surprise you had in
store for us, Tom?" Ruth said at one point.
"That's it. And some story that old fellow can tell his daughter--if he
warms up enough to do it. These Indians certainly are funny people. He
seems to have taken a shine to me and follows me around a good deal as
though he were my servant. Yet I understand that he belongs to the very
rich Osage tribe, and is really one of the big men of it."
"Quite true," Ruth said.
The story of Totantora's adventures in Germany was a thrilling one. But
only by hearsay had Tom got the details. The Indians and other
performers put in confinement by the Germans when the war began, had all
suffered more or less. Twice Chief Totantora had escaped and tried to
make his way out of the country. Each time he had been caught, and more
severely treated.
The third time he had succeeded in breaking through into neutral
territory. Even there, in a strange land, amid unfamiliar customs and
people talking an unknown language, he had made his way alone and
without help till he had reached the American lines. Perhaps one less
stoical, with less endurance, than an Indian, and an Indian, like Chief
Totantora, trained in an earlier, hardier day, could not have done it.
But Wonota's father did succeed, and after he reached the American lines
he became attached in some indefinite capacity to Captain Tom Cameron's
regiment.
"When I first saw the poor old chap he was little more than a skeleton.
But the life Indians lead certainly makes them tough and enduring. He
stood starvation and confinement better than the white men. Some of the
ex-show people died in that influenza epidemic the second year of the
war. But old Totantora was pretty husky, in spite of having all the
appearance of a professional living skeleton," explained Tom.
Whether Totantora told Wonota the details of his imprisonment or not,
the white girls never knew. Wonota, too, was inclined to be very
secretive. But she was supremely happy.
She was to have a recess from work, and when the special car started
East with Ruth and her chums, Wonota and her father accompanied them to
Kansas City. Then the Osages went south to the reservation.
Totantora had heard all about his daughter's work in the moving picture
before the party separated, and he put his mark on Mr. Hammond's
contract binding himself to allow the girl to go on as already agreed.
Totantora had possibly some old-fashioned Indian ideas about the
treatment of squaws; but he knew the value of money. The sums Wonota
had already been paid were very satisfactory to the chief of the Osages.
In Ruth's mind, the money part of the contract was the smallest part.
She desired greatly to see Wonota develop and grow in her chosen
profession. To see the Indian maid become a popular screen star was
going to delight the girl of the Red Mill, and she was frank in saying
so.
"See here," Tom Cameron said when they were alone together. "I can see
very well, Ruthie, that you are even more enamored of your profession
than you were before I left for Europe. How long is this going to last?"
"How long is what going to last?" she asked him, her frank gaze finding
his.
"You know what I mean," said the young man boyishly. "Gee, Ruth! the war
is over. You know what I want. And I feel as though I deserved some
consideration after what I have been through."
She smiled, but still looked at him levelly.
"Well, how about it?" he demanded.
"Do you think we know our own minds? Altogether, I mean?" asked the
girl. "You are in a dreadfully unsettled state. I can see that, Tom. And
I have only just begun with Wonota. I could not stop now."
"I don't ask you to stop a single, solitary thing!" he cried with
sudden heat. "I expect to get to work myself--at something. I feel a lot
of energy boiling up in me," and he laughed.
"But, say, Ruth, I want to know just what I am going to work for? Is it
all right with you? Haven't found anybody else you like better than your
old chum, have you?"
Ruth laughed, too. Yet she was serious when she gave him both her hands.
"I am very sure, Tom, dear, that that could never be. You will always be
the best beloved of all boys----"
"Great Scott, Ruth!" he interrupted. "When do you think I am going to be
a man?"
THE END
THE RUTH FIELDING SERIES
By ALICE B. EMERSON
_12mo. Illustrated. Jacket in full colors._
_Price 50 cents per volume. Postage 10 cents additional._
Ruth Fielding was an orphan and came to live with her miserly uncle. Her
adventures and travels make stories that will hold the interest of every
reader.
Ruth Fielding is a character that will live in juvenile fiction.
1. RUTH FIELDING OF THE RED MILL
2. RUTH FIELDING AT BRIARWOOD HALL
3. RUTH FIELDING AT SNOW CAMP
4. RUTH FIELDING AT LIGHTHOUSE POINT
5. RUTH FIELDING AT SILVER RANCH
6. RUTH FIELDING ON CLIFF ISLAND
7. RUTH FIELDING AT SUNRISE FARM
8. RUTH FIELDING AND THE GYPSIES
9. RUTH FIELDING IN MOVING PICTURES
10. RUTH FIELDING DOWN IN DIXIE
11. RUTH FIELDING AT COLLEGE
12. RUTH FIELDING IN THE SADDLE
13. RUTH FIELDING IN THE RED CROSS
14. RUTH FIELDING AT THE WAR FRONT
15. RUTH FIELDING HOMEWARD BOUND
16. RUTH FIELDING DOWN EAST
17. RUTH FIELDING IN THE GREAT NORTHWEST
18. RUTH FIELDING ON THE ST. LAWRENCE
19. RUTH FIELDING TREASURE HUNTING
20. RUTH FIELDING IN THE FAR NORTH
21. RUTH FIELDING AT GOLDEN PASS
22. RUTH FIELDING IN ALASKA
23. RUTH FIELDING AND HER GREAT SCENARIO
24. RUTH FIELDING AT CAMERON HALL
25. RUTH FIELDING CLEARING HER NAME
CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers New York
THE LINGER-NOT SERIES
By AGNES MILLER
_12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Jacket in full colors. Price per volume, 50
cents. Postage 10 cents additional._
_This new series of girls' books is in a new, style of story writing.
The interest is in knowing the girls and seeing them solve the problems
that develop their character. Incidentally, a great deal of historical
information is imparted._
[Illustration]
1. THE LINGER-NOTS AND THE MYSTERY HOUSE _or The Story of Nine
Adventurous Girls_
How the Linger-Not girls met and formed their club seems commonplace,
but this writer makes it fascinating, and how they made their club serve
a great purpose continues the interest to the end, and introduces a new
type of girlhood.
2. THE LINGER-NOTS AND THE VALLEY FEUD _or the Great West Point Chain_
The Linger-Not girls had no thought of becoming mixed up with feuds or
mysteries, but their habit of being useful soon entangled them in some
surprising adventures that turned out happily for all, and made the
valley better because of their visit.
3. THE LINGER-NOTS AND THEIR GOLDEN QUEST _or The Log of the Ocean
Monarch_
For a club of girls to become involved in a mystery leading back into
the times of the California gold-rush, seems unnatural until the reader
sees how it happened, and how the girls helped one of their friends to
come into her rightful name and inheritance, forms a fine story.
4. THE LINGER-NOTS AND THE WHISPERING CHARM
_or The Secret from Old Alaska_
Whether engrossed in thrilling adventures in the Far North or occupied
with quiet home duties, the Linger-Not girls could work unitedly to
solve a colorful mystery in a way that interpreted American freedom to a
sad young stranger, and brought happiness to her and to themselves.
_Send for Our Free Illustrated Catalogue._
CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers New York
THE BARTON BOOKS FOR GIRLS
By MAY HOLLIS BARTON
_12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. With colored jacket._
_Price 50 cents per volume. Postage 10 cents additional._
_May Hollis Barton is a new writer for girls who is bound to win instant
popularity. Her style is somewhat of a reminder of that of Louisa M.
Alcott, but thoroughly up-to-date in plot and action. Clean tales that
all the girls will enjoy reading._
[Illustration]
1. THE GIRL FROM THE COUNTRY _or Laura Mayford's City Experiences_
2. THREE GIRL CHUMS AT LAUREL HALL _or The Mystery of the School by
the Lake_
3. NELL GRAYSON'S RANCHING DAYS _or A City Girl in the Great West_
4. FOUR LITTLE WOMEN OF ROXBY _or The Queer Old Lady Who Lost Her Way_
5. PLAIN JANE AND PRETTY BETTY _or The Girl Who Won Out_
6. LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE _or The Old Bachelor's Ward_
7. HAZEL HOOD'S STRANGE DISCOVERY _or The Old Scientist's Treasure
Box_
8. TWO GIRLS AND A MYSTERY _or The Old House in the Glen_
9. THE GIRLS OF LIGHTHOUSE ISLAND _or The Strange Sea Chest_
10. KATE MARTIN'S PROBLEM _or Facing the Wide World_
_Send for Our Free Illustrated Catalogue._
CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers New York
THE GIRL SCOUT SERIES
By LILIAN GARIS
_12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Jacket in full colors Price per volume, 50
cents. Postage 10 cents additional._
[Illustration]
_The highest ideals of girlhood as advocated by the foremost
organisations of America form the background for these stories and while
unobtrusive there is a message in every volume._
1. THE GIRL SCOUT PIONEERS _or Winning the First B.C._
A story of the True Tred Troop in a Pennsylvania town. Two runaway
girls, who want to see the city, are reclaimed through troop influence.
The story is correct in scout detail.
2. THE GIRL SCOUTS AT BELLAIRE _or Maid Marys Awakening_
The story of a timid little maid who is afraid to take part in other
girls' activities, while working nobly alone for high ideals. How she
was discovered by the Bellaire Troop and came into her own as "Maid
Mary" makes a fascinating story.
3. THE GIRL SCOUTS AT SEA CREST _or the Wig Wag Rescue_
Luna Land, a little island by the sea, is wrapt in a mysterious
seclusion, and Kitty Scuttle, a grotesque figure, succeeds in keeping
all others at bay until the Girl Scouts come.
4. THE GIRL SCOUTS AT CAMP COMALONG _or Peg of Tamarack Hills_
The girls of Bobolink Troop spend their summer on the shores of Lake
Hocomo. Their discovery of Peg, the mysterious rider, and the clearing
up of her remarkable adventures afford a vigorous plot.
5. THE GIRL SCOUTS AT ROCKY LEDGE _or Nora's Real Vacation_
Nora Blair is the pampered daughter of a frivolous mother. Her dislike
for the rugged life of Girl Scouts is eventually changed to
appreciation, when the rescue of little Lucia, a woodland waif, becomes
a problem for the girls to solve.
_Send for Our Free Illustrated Catalogue._
CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers New York
THE BETTY GORDON SERIES
BY ALICE B. EMERSON
_12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Jacket in full colors_
_Price per volume, 65 cents, postpaid_
[Illustration: ]
1. BETTY GORDON AT BRAMBLE FARM _or The Mystery of a Nobody_ At twelve
Betty is left an orphan.
2. BETTY GORDON IN WASHINGTON _or Strange Adventures in a Great City_
Betty goes to the National Capitol to find her uncle and has several
unusual adventures.
3. BETTY GORDON IN THE LAND OF OIL _or The Farm That Was Worth a
Fortune_ From Washington the scene is shifted to the great oil fields of
our country. A splendid picture of the oil field operations of today.
4. BETTY GORDON AT BOARDING SCHOOL _or The Treasure of Indian Chasm_
Seeking treasures of Indian Chasm makes interesting reading.
5. BETTY GORDON AT MOUNTAIN CAMP _or The Mystery of Ida Bellethorne_
At Mountain Camp Betty found herself in the midst of a mystery.
6. BETTY GORDON AT OCEAN PARK _or School Chums on the Boardwalk_ A
glorious outing that Betty and her chums never forgot.
7. BETTY GORDON AND HER SCHOOL CHUMS _or Bringing the Rebels to Terms_
Rebellious students, disliked teachers and mysterious robberies.
8. BETTY GORDON AT RAINBOW RANCH _or Cowboy Joe's Secret_ Betty and
her chums have a grand time in the saddle.
9. BETTY GORDON IN MEXICAN WILDS _or The Secret of the Mountains_
Betty receives a fake telegram and finds both Bob and herself held for
ransom in a mountain cave.
10. BETTY GORDON AND THE LOST PEARLS _or A Mystery of The Seaside_
Betty and her chums go to the ocean shore for a vacation and Betty
becomes involved in the disappearance of a string of pearls.
11. BETTY GORDON ON THE CAMPUS _or The Secret of the Trunk Room_ An
up-to-date college story with a strange mystery that is bound to
fascinate any girl reader.
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CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY. Publishers New York.
BILLIE BRADLEY SERIES
BY JANET D. WHEELER
_12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Jacket in full colors Price per volume, 65
cents, postpaid_
[Illustration]
1. BILLIE BRADLEY AND HER INHERITANCE _or The Queer Homestead at
Cherry Corners_ Billie Bradley fell heir to an old homestead that was
unoccupied and located far away in a lonely section of the country. How
Billie went there, accompanied by some of her chums, and what queer
things happened, go to make up a story no girl will want to miss.
2. BILLIE BRADLEY AT THREE-TOWERS HALL _or Leading a Needed Rebellion_
Three-Towers Hall was a boarding school for girls. For a short time
after Billie arrived there all went well. But then the head of the
school had to go on a long journey and she left the girls in charge of
two teachers, sisters, who believed in severe discipline and in very,
very plain food and little of it--and then there was a row!
3. BILLIE BRADLEY ON LIGHTHOUSE ISLAND _or The Mystery of the Wreck_
One of Billie's friends owned a summer bungalow on Lighthouse Island,
near the coast. The school girls made up a party and visited the Island.
There was a storm and a wreck, and three little children were washed
ashore.
4. BILLIE BRADLEY AND HER CLASSMATES _or The Secret of the Locked
Tower_ Billie and her chums come to the rescue of several little
children who had broken through the ice. There is the mystery of a lost
invention, and also the dreaded mystery of the locked school tower.
5. BILLIE BRADLEY AT TWIN LAKES _or Jolly Schoolgirls Afloat and
Ashore_ A tale of outdoor adventure in which Billie and her chums have a
great variety of adventures. They visit an artists' colony and there
fall in with a strange girl living with an old boatman who abuses her
constantly.
6. BILLIE BRADLEY AT TREASURE COVE _or The Old Sailor's Secret_ A
lively story of school girl doings. How Billie heard of the treasure and
how she and her chums went in quest of the same is told in a peculiarly
absorbing manner.
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CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers New York