Page:Betty Gordon at Boarding School.djvu/191

Rh had seen her sitting bolt upright in the bus, reading a thin volume of essays while Ada scowled at the happy crowd tramping in the road.

The woods reached, they separated, some to gather branches of leaves and others intent on fining their sacks with nuts. The boxes of lunch were neatly piled under a tree, and sweaters were left with them, for it was comfortably warm even in the shadiest spots.

"I don't believe we will have many more days like this," remarked Frances Martin, her near-sighted eyes peering into a hollow tree stump. "Girls, what have I found—a squirrel?"

"Plain owl," laughed Betty. "Isn't he cunning?"

They crowded around to admire the funny little creature, and then, admonished by Bobby, whom Constance declared would make a good drill sergeant, set busily to work again. Nuts were not plentiful, but they filled half a sack, and then, a large pile of flaming branches having been gathered, they decided to drag their spoils back to the tree and to have lunch.

"Girls, girls, girls!" shrieked Libbie, who was in the lead, "our lunch is gone—every crumb of it!"

Sure enough, the sweaters were all tossed about in confusion and the boxes had disappeared.