Читать книгу Outdoor Girls at New Moon Ranch - Stratemeyer Edward - Страница 6

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There were cheers from the “gallery” at the conclusion of Mollie Billette’s little speech. But the faces of the new Outdoor Girls were grave as they came forward to “receive the hand of friendship” first from Mollie, then from Stella and Irene, and then, last of all, from the line of “married girls.”

There was something affecting about the little ceremony. Even the boys, sitting a little apart, felt it, as they looked gravely on.

Meg said finally, speaking for all of them:

“It’s awfully good of you to have us. We appreciate no end your letting us join your club. We know what people think of the Outdoor Girls in Deepdale. We’ll do our best to—make them keep on thinking it!”

“Hear! Hear!” cried Clem.

The boys clapped noisily and called upon other members of the club for “speech! speech!” until it was all Mollie could do to restore order again.

“This is a business meeting,” she told them severely. “You boys are merely permitted to look on until the business is attended to. If you can’t keep quiet, you will have to go outside.”

Roy grinned.

“What’s the matter with you fellows, anyway,” he demanded, turning on the other boys. “Don’t you know the girls want to do all the talking?”

“They will, anyway,” drawled Hal Duckworth. “So we might as well let ’em.”

The answer of the girls to this was no more than a withering stare. But the stare at least had the merit of restoring comparative quiet and Mollie proceeded with the business of the meeting.

“In the first place,” she said, “it’s time we elected new officers. We have six members now so that we shall need more than a leader to keep the business of the club in order.”

She paused; then continued to the ring of deeply interested listeners:

“I was thinking it really would be fun to have a secretary—some one to keep a record of the things we do. And then it might be a good idea to have dues and some one—a treasurer, of course, duly elected—to take charge of them.”

“That would be fine,” Irene said enthusiastically. “Then when we give a party or something we can take the money from the treasury instead of having to chip in each time.”

“And we could use some of the money to get a club pin,” added Stella. “We really ought to have one, you know.”

The married girls heard these suggestions with interest. They, the suggestions, were a decided departure from the old established regime of the Outdoor Girls Club, but, somehow, the idea of officers and dues and a club pin added a new glamour to an old and well-loved institution.

Mollie shot one of her bright-eyed glances at them.

“What do you think of it?” she asked, a little anxiously.

“Splendid!” Betty returned.

Amy and Grace agreed with an enthusiastic nod. With a relieved air and greater confidence, Mollie returned to the business of the meeting.

“Well, then,” she said, “now that it is settled we are going to have officers, it only remains for us to elect them.”

“One is elected already,” Irene retorted quickly. She ran over to Mollie and put an arm about her. “No one will ever be our leader but Mollie Billette.”

Though she flushed with pleasure, Mollie’s answer was a decisive shake of the head.

“I have been leader long enough,” she said firmly. “It’s time some one else had a chance to head the club. In other words,” she finished, avoiding the pleading looks of Stella and Irene, “I want to resign my leadership.”

“Well, then, you shan’t!” It was Stella who spoke and there was something in her voice that drew all eyes to her expectantly. “It’s one thing for you to resign, Mollie Billette, and quite another for us to accept your resignation.”

“You can’t resign unless we let you,” Irene backed her chum up warmly. “And we won’t. Will we girls?” She turned to them appealingly.

“We won’t!” cried Carolyn.

“We want Mollie!” chorused the twins in unison.

“Hear! Hear!” cried Clem, and again the clapping broke out from the sidelines.

“Mollie forever!” cheered Roy.

The object of all this loyal enthusiasm flushed, tried to speak, choked most unaccountably, for Mollie, and was forced to turn away for a moment. When she faced them again, her eyes were suspiciously bright.

“You—you are all dears,” she told them. “But I’d really made up my mind to resign——”

“Then you’d better unmake it at once,” said Stella.

Betty made a suggestion.

“Why don’t you be quite businesslike and take a vote?” she said. “That would settle the question, even for Mollie, I imagine.”

Irene pounced upon the idea.

“All those in favor of Mollie for leader of the Outdoor Girls Club say ‘aye.’”

“Aye!” they chorused with enthusiasm.

“All contrary-minded, say ‘no!’”

To this there was dead silence. Irene’s arm tightened about Mollie’s shoulder.

“That makes it unanimous. You see how much chance you have to shake off the leadership, don’t you, Mollie Billette?”

“Well—” hesitated Mollie, more affected than she cared to show.

“For another year, anyway,” Stella pleaded. “You’ve simply got to, Mollie!”

“All right,” said Mollie, with a sudden smile. “I never dreamed you’d want me so much. I accept.”

At this there was such violent and prolonged cheering from the “gallery” that Stella threatened to call in both the chauffeur and the gardener in case the boys found it impossible to behave themselves.

“We could lick ’em!” boasted Clem, and suggestively flexed an athletic forearm.

However, they quieted down after a few minutes and proceeded with the other business.

By a unanimous vote Stella was elected secretary and Irene treasurer.

“We’d better watch her,” suggested Meg, with a droll look at Irene, “or some one of these fine days our new treasurer will be walking off with the company’s funds.”

“That all depends on whether you make it worth my while or not,” said Irene, giggling. “We haven’t decided on the amount of the dues yet.”

“So we haven’t,” agreed Mollie. “Well, we’ll do that next.”

A sum was agreed upon, and Irene roused considerable merriment by demanding that the dues be collected at once.

“I’ll feel my responsibility more with the money in my pocket,” she explained.

Laughingly the girls went for their pocketbooks and a collection was taken up.

“Can’t we drop a nickel in the slot, too?” asked Hal Duckworth. “We really ought to contribute a little for all the entertainment you’ve given us.”

This offer was rejected with the scorn it deserved.

“We must remind you that this is a meeting of the Outdoor Girls,” said Carolyn icily. “You and your friends are only here on sufferance——”

“Well, as long as we aren’t suffering—” murmured Roy.

Ignoring him, Mollie proceeded with the business of the meeting.

“We’ve settled on our officers now and the amount of our dues. Next we ought to decide what we’d like in the way of a club pin.”

This was a subject for serious consideration. Mollie had brought a book with her wherein were illustrated several hundred varieties of pins. Finally, after a great deal of discussion, they decided on a design that seemed to typify the ideals of their club for them. This was the figure of a prancing horse set in a crescent of silver. The horse was riderless, mane and handsome tail flying.

“Looks like Black Beast at the ranch, doesn’t it, Meg?” asked Lota of her twin.

The latter nodded, a longing look in her eyes.

“Wish I could feel him under me right now,” she said. “As Buffer says at the ranch, ‘there is a hoss which am a hoss!’”

So the pin was at last decided upon and Mollie promised to send out the order immediately.

With this decision the meeting came to an end. Mollie snapped to the cover of the booklet and looked about her with dancing eyes.

“Get out the old uke and banjo,” she challenged. “We’re going to forget business now for a little while and just have a good time.”

This statement met with genuine and enthusiastic approbation. The ukulele was found on the couch between Clem and Roy where—remarked Irene—“it’s a mercy they didn’t crush it between them.” Meg twanged her banjo in good style while Stella once more crashed out melodies, or what were meant for melodies, on the piano.

After a while they turned on the radio and danced. Hal Duckworth, who was an exceptionally good dancer, gave them an exhibition of the newest steps, choosing light-footed Carolyn for his partner.

Roy and Clem still kept close to Mollie and speculation was rife among the friends of the reëlected leader of the Outdoor Girls.

After a while refreshment time came and the boys and girls fox-trotted happily into the beautiful oak-paneled dining room of Stella’s new home.

Clem led Mollie to a divan at one end of the long room. Grace noticed his frown when Roy also brought an ice and small cakes to a seat beside the dark-haired girl.

The three married girls, matchmakers to the very core of them, exchanged meaning glances.

“Something is going to happen there before long,” drawled Grace, thoroughly enjoying the prospect. “Mollie can’t keep both those boys dangling forever.”

“Probably she enjoys seeing them dangle,” chuckled Betty. “If I know anything about Mollie—and I think I do—she won’t be in any great hurry to put them out of their misery.”

“At that, they don’t look so very miserable,” contributed Amy, with her quiet smile. “Clem seems to be enjoying his ice—and there goes Roy for more small cakes!”

“A smiling face,” said Grace sentimentally, “may hide an aching heart, for all that, Amy. Anyway, it’s much more romantic to think of them as suffering. I prefer it!”

“Listen,” said Betty suddenly. “Lota is saying something about a ranch. Sounds interesting!”

As a matter of fact, Lota’s discourse proved so interesting that all the young folks stopped their chatter to listen to her.

“Uncle Dan just bought the ranch a little while ago,” she finished. “It’s called the New Moon and it has a lot of timber on one end of it.”

“That’s what Uncle Dan really bought it for—the lumber,” explained Meg. “But it’s a glorious ranch, just the same, with bunkhouses and coyotes and Chinese cooks and everything.”

“And horses?” asked Mollie, leaning forward eagerly.

Meg waved a hand airily.

“Horses? Any number of them!”

“And travel!” added Lota. “My, how they can travel!”

“Stop!” begged Mollie. “It makes my mouth water!”

“Wouldn’t it be nice,” said Meg, nibbling busily at a piece of cake, “if we could all go there?”