t footfalls outside their door. The other girls were fast asleep, worn out by the long tr

e stretched the unbroken forest. A narrow path ran down the hill between the trees. A steeper incline rose back of them and this was broken wit

vous about going out, as Miss Sallie had made dreadful suggestions about wolves and wild cats, yet she slipped out on the tiny porch. Far away through the trees and up the steep hillside she saw flying like a deer, a thin, brown creature. Was it human or a spr

back of the house. "I thought I heard some one

nd I saw some one or something fl

Mollie thought he l

gone up that ravine over yonder. There's only an Indian trail back the

ad. She did not argue, but

hought to herself, "but of course, I must get used to finding m

" asked Grace, opening her ey

rom the next room, where s

eing thought superstitious. "I thought I hea

here anything in the world so good to eat as bacon fried by Ceally ov

all the bacon, when you have just declared it was

f bacon, Ceally. The mountain air certainly creates an appetite. I am sure I don't see what benefit I am to get from 'roughing it!' The one thing

ed. "Wait till we get through with you to-da

unpopular for climbing because of its cliffs and ravines. But he hints that t

h hastily. "I am not any too devoted

gramme for to-d

eet us there you know, to take us to a postoffice to mail our letters to our beloved families.

nty hands. "It is rather dirt

l put you out of camp. It's a good thing to know how to build a firs

o such thing," pro

re to go only a part of the way with Ruth and Grace, the two girls continuing their walk until they met the

ow near we still are to civilization. If I go to town with you to-day, no matter how

efore they had gone half a mile she dec

At five-thirty I shall expect you in camp. These are my orders." Miss Sallie turned to Bab and Mollie. "Seriously, children," she explained, "I th

ouse please, Miss Sallie?

bin. The girl who fails to appear when the roll is called in the eve

Sallie, who had a taste for romance in the lives of other people, was deep in the reading

ing." Barbara walked ahead, pulling a small wagon behind her with all the ardor of a young boy. "You see," she avowed to Molli

h with evergreens. Suddenly Mollie started. She thought she heard a voi

ome one calling

spook' outside the door, this afternoon you believe you hear a voice calling you. Beware, chil

A voice was surely flo

no other human creature. And the sound did not come from the ground. Mollie was right. The noise

eads, as though a pair of mammoth wings were beating in the sky. The two girls looked up. There, about

The voice sounded more distinctly this time

strange ship in the air. But Mollie and Bab had no megaphone at their

rs, and was lost in the vast spaces of the forest. The strange vehicle over their heads was gliding a littl

the rudder of my balloon. We cannot alight without assistance. If we come too close

at object is an airship, not some hideous hobgoblin. I would lik

k in action. "Go to the cabin for Naki and Ceally. Tell them

as off i

loon above her. "Drop me a line," she called to them, "b

dder it was impossible for the dirigib

Then she knotted the rope with all her skill and strength. There was nothing to do, now, but wait. Bab fastened