“No, Sally dear, think not that we expect you to be interested in the entertainment of mere parents! The other visitors you refer to are masculine. Well, as they usually are attentive to you, after all there is no reason why you should not return the compliment.”
“Neither is there any reason why you should be so tiresome, Alice. I was only going to propose that we go for a walk before tea-time. The afternoon is clear and there always is the possibility of a snow storm by to-morrow. Perhaps in spite of Alice’s sarcasm, father and Captain Burton may be induced to join us; the others won’t, I know.”
Peggy Webster, who had been sitting on a pile of Camp Fire sofa cushions, got up immediately.
“Sally, you always were the most sensible one of us and I should enjoy a walk. There were so many hours of sitting still on the train. Besides, I agree with you that we should no longer neglect Dan or Philip Stead or Mr. Hale. Ralph is not here, but I intend to help defend his sex.”
Peggy Webster, who was about nineteen years old, was dark and vivid with a brilliant color, full crimson lips, black hair and eyes which of late had grown gentler in their expression. Perhaps the most popular of the younger group of Sunrise Camp Fire girls, Peggy always had been singularly sincere and courageous, besides possessing the vitality which in itself is so magnetic.
To-day, studying Peggy Webster closely, Mary Gilchrist felt a mingled sensation of admiration and envy. There were certain traits of character which she and Peggy held in common, and in a way Gill cherished the hope that she might fill Peggy’s place in their Camp Fire now that Peggy was so soon to marry and leave them. Yet there was also a fundamental difference between them that Gill knew ever must stand in her way, unless she were able to conquer it.
“I see no reason for wasting time in teasing Sally. I consider that she has made an extremely agreeable suggestion,” Gill protested.
Half an hour later, Peggy Webster, Bettina Graham, Mary Gilchrist, Marguerite Arnot, Sally and Alice Ashton and the small English girl, Chitty, who rarely left Bettina Graham’s side when it was possible to be with her, set out, leaving Vera Lagerloff to entertain Juliet Temple, the girl who had come to the cabin so unexpectedly, but concerning whose history and character they had no knowledge.
To Mary Gilchrist’s annoyance Allan Drain had joined their three young men guests, but she need not have troubled. He attached himself to Bettina and Chitty after a polite greeting to her, as soon as they set out on their expedition.
In a walk composed of a large group of people, the arrangement in the beginning is apt to be haphazard, controlled more by chance than choice.