“We cannot stop for anything now, and must depend for the night upon what we have with us. I don’t like the look of that cloud,” said the lady.
None of the girls liked the look of it, either. It had now rolled up to the zenith–a leaden mass, looming over them most threateningly. And there was a rumble of thunder in the summer air.
“Oh! what a beautiful spot!” cried Percy.
“See that reach of lawn–and the thick grove behind it. Goodness me!” exclaimed Mina Everett, “do you suppose there are bears in that woods?”
“If there are, we’ll catch ’em and eat ’em,” said Frank, practically. “Now you know, Mina, there hasn’t been a bear shot in this state since your grandfather’s time.”
“Well, then, if there’s been none shot, maybe there are a lot grown up here in the woods,” objected Mina.
“Don’t scare a fellow to death with your croaking,” admonished Percy.
Bessie had known that Polly Jarley had chosen the site for the camp; and she was secretly prepared to find fault with it. But as they drove their canoes ashore on the little, silvery beach below the green knoll where the pennant fluttered, Bess could find in her heart no complaint.
It seemed an ideal spot. On three sides the thick woods sheltered the knoll of green. In front the lake lay like a mirror–its surface whitened in ridges ’way out toward the middle now, for the wind was coming.
“Hurry ashore, girls,” said Mrs. Havel. “And pull your canoes well up on the sand. We must hurry to get our shelter up first of all. It will rain before dark, and the night is coming fast.”