"Nor can I blame you," agreed Miss Elting. "But this is not the surprise."

   "Maybe if we wait we will fall into thome more pondth," suggested Grace. "Ith your thurprithe ath wet at thith one wath?"

   "I admit your right to tease me, Tommy," laughed the guardian.

   "Come on, everybody!" urged Harriet. "We must walk briskly and keep it up. That will

   be the only way to keep us from catching cold as a result of our wetting." Having paused for a moment to discuss their situation the girls began tramping once more. As the hours dragged along all became weary and drowsy. Their joints were growing stiff, too, which condition was not improved by the chill of the night air. Most active of all the party was little Tommy Thompson, who skipped along, talking incessantly. Margery was scarcely able to keep up with the party. Twice she leaned against a tree, closing her eyes, only to fall to the ground in a heap. Harriet, though nearly as tired and footsore as her companions, summoned all her will power and trudged bravely along.

   Had the Meadow-Brook Girls not been so well seasoned to hardship, serious results might have followed their unexpected bath in the chill waters, followed by their exposure to the searching night wind. But they were healthy, outdoor girls, as all our readers know. The first volume of this series, "

    The Meadow-Brook Girls Under Canvas

   ," told the story of their first vacation spent in the open, when, as members of Camp Wau-Wau in the Pocono Woods, they served their novitiate as Camp Girls, winning many honors and becoming firmly wedded to life in the woods.

   When that camping period came to an end Harriet and her companions, as related in "

    The Meadow-Brook Girls Across Country

   ," set out on the long walk home, meeting with plenty of adventures and many laughable happenings. It was during this hike that they became acquainted with the Tramp Club Boys and entered into a walking contest against them, which the Meadow-Brook Girls won.

   Our readers next met the girls in "

    The Meadow-Brook Girls Afloat

   ," a volume which contained the account of their houseboat life on Lake Winnepesaukee. It was there that they again outwitted 

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