CHAPTER XXIV

BOUND FOR THE CAMP

Spring was late in the year 1917. The trees were just beginning to show in full foliage and the grass had the freshness and fragrance that only the early mornings of spring can give to it.

Mary Lee, Letty and Ruth had awakened and dressed at four o'clock that morning. Mary Lee had suggested the night before that they do this and the two girls had loyally but sleepily carried out the plan.

The party bound for Mount Hope had left on the seven o'clock Adirondack Express, the night before. When the three girls reached the observation platform, after going through a long line of sleeping coaches, the train was running parallel with Champlain and was nearing Plattsburg.

It was a gorgeous sight and the three stood for several minutes enwrapped in its splendor.

The lake, with the woods running close to its shore, presented a picture of crystal-like clearness. On the other side of it, the White and Green mountains were beginning to show in more definite outline. The sun, too, began to herald the dawn of the new day, forming a rosy pink in the eastern sky, just over the mountain ranges.

"My," said Letty. "I'm glad we did get up."

"We never really saw the Adirondacks before, did we?" added Ruth.

"If Mary Lee had ever been up here before," Letty further remarked, "I'm sure she never would have missed doing this kind of thing. It _took_ her to get us to do it now; without her, I think we would have come up here again and again and never have summoned sufficient energy to get up so early."

On Mary Lee, the clearing outlines of the towering mountains on both sides of her, the magnificance of the lake, had all made a tremendous impression. Never had sunrise meant so much to her.

The girl had never, from that first day, when she was brought to the city, ever been further away from it than the farm. The beauty of this new environment dazzled her. Her two friends, though not nearly so impressionable, yet found themselves stilled by the majesty of the quiet everywhere.

So engrossed were the girls that they did not notice that Dr. Anderson had stopped just inside the door and was watching them as well as the dawning day.

He stood there for ten minutes, then came out and joined them.

Mary Lee gave him a brilliant smile. The three girls looked very pretty and attractive in their blouses.

"Isn't it perfect?" she offered with a sigh of pure joy in the splendor all about her.

The doctor nodded smilingly.

"It certainly is that," he answered.

A little later the train entered Plattsburg.

"There's a two hour wait here, girls," Dr. Anderson informed them. "While the sleepy-heads are getting up, let's go up to see the famous Plattsburg camp. Shall we?"

"Splendid," replied Letty enthusiastically, "let's."

"Of course," added the doctor, "we have but little time and so shall not be able to see very much. But even that little should prove interesting. Many of our officers for the war will be turned out here and some of our great men have come here for training."

As the doctor had remarked there was but little time to spend at the camp. The sergeant on guard showed them all that could be seen at that hour. Both Dr. Anderson and Mary Lee were specially interested in the first aid equipment. Although they had to make a hurried departure they were glad to have had this closer view of a camp destined to make history.

It was almost six-thirty when they returned to the train which was scheduled to leave in twenty minutes. They found Mrs. Anderson and one or two of the girls already awake.

"We've had a heavenly morning, Aunt Madge," said Mary Lee.

"And I suppose you called the rest of us sleepy-heads for not being with you?" Aunt Madge answered.

"I never had any idea it could be so beautiful," Mary Lee said in reply to a question of Mrs. Anderson's.

"Well, dear, you will find it even more so as we climb the Adirondacks. We are to do that from now until we reach our point. Let's all have breakfast, at least all of us who are awake and ready for it. I suppose you early risers must be starved."

The three chums suddenly realized how hungry they were. It had not occurred to them until the subject was mentioned.

It was almost nine o'clock when the party reached their station. The Anderson camp was twelve miles away and the two automobiles waiting for them took almost an hour to climb to it.

Mary Lee as well as the rest of the girls found the whole trip a panorama of delights.

The country was wild and seemed to have escaped civilization.

"To think," said one of the girls, "that a place as wild as this should be so near so big a city. It's hard to imagine, isn't it?"

The camp picked by Dr. Anderson was truly in a wonderful spot. Far from human habitation it was hidden from the narrow road up which the automobiles had come. It was three-quarters of the way to the top of Mount Hope. Nearby Lake Ormond, a small body of water was almost hidden by trees and bushes all about it.

The girls quickly changed to clothes that were comfortable and suitable. Some of them found hammocks, some walked down to the lake.

Dr. Anderson had told them that there were no fixed plans and that each one could do the thing that seemed most desirable.

When he went into the house to interview the caretakers, Mrs. Anderson and several of the girls found a comfortable nook. Irma and Clara who were not inclined to be as strenuous as the rest of the girls joined her. Mrs. Anderson was doing some sewing. Clara welcomed the opportunity to finish some beautiful tatting and Irma was equally anxious to finish a story she had begun on the train.

Mary Lee, Letty, Ruth and Edith had decided on following one of the narrow foot-paths to the top of Mt. Hope. They stopped for a few minutes and added to the group about Aunt Madge.

"I'm so glad I came," said Edith. "There never was such a place."

"How did you ever find it?" asked Clara, looking up from her yoke.

"It must have been a wonderful place for your honeymoon," said the sentimental Irma.

"Yes, we think it rather pleasant," replied the hostess. "It would not have been easy to find, you may be sure. But Dr. Anderson knows this part of the Adirondacks well and he claims that he picked this spot long ago for just such a purpose."

"Wasn't that lovely?" Irma remarked, delighted at any promise of romance.

"It's going to be very dear to us, always," Aunt Madge added. "And if our dear friends get half the fun and joy out of being here that we do we shall indeed think they are having a happy visit."

"Well, I for my part feel that I've already had an awful lot crowded into my holiday," said Mary Lee. "All the pleasure that's coming is so much added."

"Be sure to get back for lunch," Aunt Madge cautioned the four girls as they started off.

"We wouldn't miss it for the world," Letty called back.