“That’s sound advice,” approved Miss Ward. “To bed everyone!”
All the girls were up at seven o’clock the next morning, feeling little the worse for the excitement of the night. While the Scouts were washing the breakfast dishes, the telephone rang again.
“You get it, Judy,” Virginia directed with a giggle. “It’s probably from Joe.”
“From Aunt Mattie more than likely,” Judy replied, moving hastily to the telephone.
The message was from Miss Lubell at Pine Cone Camp. She asked Judy to tell Miss Ward that the station wagon driver had been delayed that morning and could not call for the girls until ten thirty.
“This means we’ll have considerable free time on our hands,” Judy remarked as she relayed the information to the others.
“Let’s explore the river area, and maybe around the cave,” proposed Ardeth. “I want to find an insect or an animal we can enter in the nature treasure chest.”
“We’ll all go,” Miss Ward decided.
The work already had been finished. Locking the cottage, the five struck off down the private road. After it dead-ended, they went on across the silvery-gray rocks and through a stretch of sand to the river.
Beyond the ribbon of blue water, the mountains rose in jagged green peaks. A ranger station was visible on one of the high slopes, set in a cleared area among the trees.