AS TOLD BY BETTY
Dearest Polly and Juliet:
You can’t imagine how we girls enjoyed your combination letter in
reply to the little card we sent,—just to tell you where we were and
to let you know that we are thinking of you. It is fine, Polly, that
Juliet is with you on the ranch this summer. Maybe she will look
like more than your “shadow” by the time she leaves the ranch. In my
“mind’s eye” I see you both tearing around on horseback,—or is it
bronco-back?
We appreciate all the more your writing to us because you have been
so busy with the summer’s work. We all went out on the rocks, Patty,
too, and sat there eating blueberries while Cathalina read the
letter to us. You have already received her letter, of course. She
said that she tried to give you a general idea of the camp and told
you about some of the good times we’ve had, and they have been going
on steadily since. It would take pages and pages to tell about them.
The August tournaments are on now. We have been playing off tennis
and trying hard to have our team win in the other games. Since
Cathalina wrote, we have had some fine trips, too. One was our
second trip to Popham Beach for surf bathing. That was the real salt
water, you know, sandy beach and everything. The water was cold, but
you feel so fine, all in a glow afterwards. Those big waves,—I just
love them. There is a place to buy ice-cream and other things, and
we are always hungry, you know. We go to a house not far from the
beach to change to bathing suits, and after the swim we have a hot
lunch on the shore, hot beans and bacon or “wieners” and sandwiches,
pickles, cake, different good things, and my, how we eat! This last
time it took a good while to eat our lunch and then we shopped a
little in Bay Point, which is the name of the little town, and all
this made us late starting home. It is a three hours’ ride, anyway,
and you may imagine that we were late getting home, and hungry
again. We had to stop at Bath for errands and to pick up a visitor
who was coming up to camp, then had to “buck tide” all the way up.
The smaller boat got in while the folks were eating supper, but our
big boat was heavier, with more passengers, couldn’t get through the
Burnt Jackets and went around the longer way. The folks saw us turn
around and go back and were worried, I guess, for one of the other
boats came to meet us, but developed engine trouble and we beat it
home! The girls pretended to be starving, and went up the rise to
the dining-room saying, “We want food! We want food!” and two or
three of the councillors who came out to meet us answered, “We want
our children! We want our children!”
As we have been having good weather right along, it was decided to
have the deep sea fishing trip this week, too. We go to the same
beach, but go out to sea and fish. Last year they had rough weather
and some of the girls had a hard time to stand it, after they
anchored and were tossed around and up and down and back and forth!
But this time it wasn’t rough at all. O, we rode some nice big
waves, but that was fun. Our two boats caught forty fish. We had so
much fun through it all. Evelyn Calvert caught the biggest fish of
all and was so excited and even scared over it. Eloise and Helen are
a “perfect scream” when they are together, say the funniest things
with the most sober faces, and keep us laughing half the time. We
have met so many interesting girls up here, too, besides the
Greycliffers. Frances Anderson is a peach and Marion Thurman is a
dear,—but Cathalina said that she told you all about Squirrels’ Inn.
Virgie is having a great time with Isabel, who keeps her down
somewhat. Can you imagine Isabel’s keeping anybody down? Virginia is
all right, but after being bottled up so long she sometimes wants to
try all sorts of things. I heard Isabel telling her the other day
that she wanted to get back to school alive anyhow.
O, I must tell you about the scare we had. You know how noises do
sound in the night. At first whenever a squirrel would run over the
roof somebody would squeal, but we are used to that now. Once a
mouse ran around the big room, and must have been scared to death, I
judge, when we all jumped up on our cots and shrieked. Anyway we did
not see him again.
This time it was moonlight and we were all asleep, our shutters
opened as usual, the big doors “bolted and barred”. The windows are
all screened and rather high from the ground. Cathalina sleeps just
across from me, and when I suddenly woke up that night I saw her
sitting up in bed, rubbing her eyes and looking startled. “What was
that?” she whispered over to me. We listened and heard the bushes
rustle and crackle and it seemed as if a stone rolled down the bank.
Then we imagined that some one was coming up the steps in front. By
this time nearly all the girls were sitting up to listen, and Patty
woke up too.
“What are you all awake for, girls?” she asked.
“Just listen,” several of us whispered, and put our fingers on our
lips to warn her. Just then came a terrible bump on the door. Marion
screamed and ducked down in bed. Cathalina flew over to Lilian,
whose cot is not far from hers. Patty jumped up as if she were shot,
and went toward the door, putting on her bath robe, while Hilary
picked up a baseball bat that was standing in a corner and joined
Patty. She tried to laugh, and said, “I will protect you or perish,
Miss West,” but I’m sure her teeth were chattering.
“Sh-sh,” said Patty.
Next we all flew to our windows and looked out. They’re screened
tight, so we couldn’t lean out. Not a thing could we see but
moonlight on the bushes and trees.
“Open the back door and look, girls,” said somebody. “Not on your
life,” said Nora.
“Nobody could get up there.”
“Yes they could; they could climb!”
“Somebody go to the club house!”
“Yes, and get murdered on the way!”
“I wonder if it could be a bear.”
“No bears here now.”
“Get your revolver, Hilary.”
“Haven’t got any.”
“Sh-sh. I just said that for the benefit of the burglar.”
“Could it be the boys trying to scare us?”
“They wouldn’t do such a thing, besides they couldn’t get up here
without being found out.”
By this time it began to be a lark to some of us, and we got over
being so frightened. Then there was a rubbing sound against the
klondike. Patty was puzzled, we could see, but she said, “I think
that it must be some animal, probably a loose horse.” Then she told
us to keep still so she could listen, and we all got scared again.
Lilian whispered that she heard breathing, and when Nora said,
“Course you do, it’s me,” everybody laughed.
Patty began to get tired of our nonsense and said, “Girls! No
burglar would try to get in here after all that shrieking! It is a
wonder that the people at the club house haven’t been roused before
this!”
Just then somebody did run up the steps and knocked on the door. A
most welcome voice called, “What’s the matter, girls?” Patty
unfastened the door in a jiffy and there were the councillor and one
of the girls from the nearest cabin. They had heard the commotion
and finally decided to come over. Patty told them, and the girls
just stood aside and pointed at two stray cows that by this time
were some little distance away, over where the bushes grow thickly
at the top of the bank.
We all settled down then and went to sleep after a while, but we
nearly collapsed with merriment the next morning going over it
again,—the way the girls looked and what they said and how
ridiculous it all was! One would remember one thing that was said
and another something else, till Patty said that we might “use the
occurrence” in a “stunt” if we chose. Maybe we shall, but there was
another cow episode that was a little more wildly exciting, perhaps,
when we were on a six point hike from North Bath, through the woods
on the mainland opposite. One of the girls threw some sticks as they
passed some cows, and the cows chased them. They were not “dumb
driven cattle,” by any means! Even Virgie, who is used to cows,
climbed a tree, and we have teased Isabel nearly to death for
getting on a big rock and asking Virgie in anguished tones if cows
could climb rocks. Virgie said, “Yes,” as she was climbing the tree,
and Isabel did not know what to do; but the cows went past. They
were fierce looking things, had long horns. Now you would have
lassoed a few, wouldn’t you?
There is so much to tell that it would take volumes if I tried to
write it. But when we get back to school we can have a good old
visit and tell all we know and some that we don’t know, as usual. I
do hope that you both will be there. You did not say a word about
school in your letter. However, the ranch doings were of more
interest to us all just now. All the girls send heaps of love to you
both. We hope to see you at the opening of school.
Lovingly,
Betty