“Good-bye, Sandhelo!” “Good-bye, Eeny-Meeny!” “Good-bye, Uncle Teddy!”
Antha clung to Katherine, sobbing. “Good-bye, little sister of all the Winnebagos!” said Katherine, gently loosening the child’s hands from her neck.
261Then somebody touched her on the shoulder, and, turning, she saw Slim beside her. He put something into her hands. It was a big bag of peanuts. “Eat them on the way,” he said.
“You’re a sport!” said Katherine, laughing, and holding out her free hand to be shaken for the last time.
The good-byes were all said and the yacht began to back away from the dock. Katherine looked after it with hungry eyes as it steamed away into the sunset, carrying with it the friends that had meant to her all that was bright and happy about her school days. She looked until the waving handkerchiefs were a blur in the distance, and the white form of the Sea Gull itself faded from view.
Then she squared her shoulders, held up her head, and grasping the umbrella as if it were the sword Excalibur, turned and followed Nyoda across the dock toward the railway station.
THE END
The Camp Fire Girls Series
By HILDEGARD G. FREY