“But would she really hurt any of us girls?” asked Ruth.
“No—hardly! Probably only scare you a bit.”
Before she could put any more questions they heard a shout in the distance, and Marjorie was greeting the rest of the party. Ethel Todd and Frances Wright, the two oldest girls of the crowd, walked ahead. These girls were seniors now at Miss Allen’s, and as they approached they seemed unconsciously to embody the dignity a member of that class is always expected to display. Marjorie remembered when they had been sophomores—at the time when she had entered the boarding school. It was true that their dresses were no longer now, and their hair was still bobbed; but there was something grown-up about their manner of walking. No one would mistake them for boarding school sophomores.
Miss Phillips, their beloved captain, looking more like a girl than ever in her white linen dress, was walking with Doris Sands and Frieda Hammer. The latter was the troop’s ward, who was to serve as cook on the canoe trip. And last of all came Lily Andrews, Alice Endicott, and Florence Evans.
Marjorie greeted the girls pleasantly and hugged Lily and Frieda. Over three weeks had passed since they had seen each other, and three weeks is a long time for a girl to be separated from her chums.
They all exclaimed admiringly at the graceful green canoes beside the quiet water, and ran forward eagerly to examine them.
“May we get in right away, Captain?” asked Lily, impatient of delay. She had paddled Marjorie’s canoe so often that she knew she could handle one of these.
“No,” replied Miss Phillips, noticing the little twinkle in old Michael’s eyes at the question. “We are going very slowly.”
She bent over and began to right one of the canoes, so that the girls might see the inside. “As you all observe,” she said, “there are five canoes——”
“Aren’t they beauties!” exclaimed Lily, unable to keep silent. “Whoever bought them must be rich——”