CHAPTER II

PETE'S PROLOGUE

Into Lake Hocomo a setting sun was emptying its paint pots of every color left over from the day's journey around the world, or the world's journey around the sun; spilling out into the safe waters its blazing hues and sending streams of colored fires adrift into the lake's helpless basin, in the final hour's work of a day full of worlds and worlds of heat and color.

Along the banks of the lake and from many favorably situated cottages, an admiring audience was wont to view "the wonderful sunset," although the season furnished the same sort of spectacle from March to October, varied only in degrees of beauty and more beauty.

The Girl Scouts, they who were already planning a real camp for the summer, were among those seated out on the landing, a pier that extended far enough into the water to give depth for the "steamers" that carried passengers up and down the eight mile stretch of water.

These girls looked at the sunset and made remarks somewhat intelligent, but being just normal girls they could hardly have been expected to "take a fit" over it, as some others were accused of doing.

"There she goes!" exclaimed Grace, irrelevantly. "Just see how she rides!"

The girls turned quickly from their position of facing the lake to that of facing the road that ran parallel, but in spite of their promptness they almost missed seeing a girl dash by on horseback; in fact the blue roan pony she rode looked like some wild black animal of the forest, as it plunged into the grove of thick trees that skirted the lake at this curve; and the rider appeared nothing more than a brown spot on the roan's back as he galloped away.

"I wonder who she can be?" queried Cleo.

"Jealous?" teased Grace, for Cleo was fond of horses and their sports.

"No, indeed," replied the other. "But that girl can ride. I saw her go over the hills this afternoon and her horse stumbled in a hole, but she just hugged him for it. Bare-back, too."

"I think we may all be jealous of her," added Louise. "The old boatman, Pete, told me to-day she is regarded as the original Scout around here."

"Then she better be jealous of us," commented Corene, "for we are going to be the real Scouts now. What's her name?"

"Peg," replied Julia. "I just heard someone say 'there goes Peg.'"

"Nice little name," commented Cleo, "but when Margaret comes she may also claim it. I wonder why this Peg wears that outfit? She looks like a cow-boy girl."

"I haven't seen her close by; she is always going like the wind when I happen to get a glimpse of her," followed Julia. "But you may be sure she is someone very interesting. Her mere make-up proclaims that."

"Proclaims!" taunted Grace. "Has your diploma done that to you, Jule? I would say her make-up gives her away."

"Gives what away?" challenged Julia.

"The fact that she's queer."

"How queer?"

"Very queer." Grace was not easily conquered.

"Please don't quarrel over her, girls; she may be nothing of the sort," intervened Louise. "Any girl fond of horses is apt to look queer."

This brought Cleo to her feet, but Louise was too quick for her, and the playful race ended in the usual slumping down on a stump, with a heartily sighed "Oh, dear!" from the breathless Louise.

"There's Pete coming in with the launch now," remarked Julia, pointing to the graceful little bark that brushed so lightly over the waters toward the dock. "Let's ask him about Peg."

"And sit in his launch while he waits for passengers," suggested Grace. "Come on, Clee and Weasy!" she called to the racers. "Come over here!"

Quickly the little flock gathered and swooped down upon Pete's pretty launch. The boatman was not opposed to entertaining attractive passengers, even if they didn't "go out." They looked nice in the boat and old Pete had an eye for appearances.

"Oh, say, Pete," began Grace in her direct way. "Who's that girl they call Peg?"

"Peg?" repeated the captain. "You mean the gallopin' girl that scares all the chickens and runs down all the auto-mo-beels?"

"Yes, the one that's always on horseback," agreed Grace.

"That's Peg--hasn't got no other name as I know of, but they allus calls her 'Peg of Tamarack Hills,' 'count o' the place she lives, over in yon hills."

"Is she queer?" put in Julia, making sure of another cushion. (What would summer be without cushions?)

"Depends upon what you mean by queer," returned the boatman, and the girls laughed at the trouble that little word seemed prone to make.

"She's so fly-away," ventured Louise.

"Yes, she's that, all of it," answered Pete. "But she's a right smart girl, I'll tell ye. She does many a good turn for us men who have to stick by our boats. Why, I've known the day last winter----"

"Does she stay here all winter?" inquired Cleo.

"Sure does, every day o' the year finds Peg over in them hills. An' she rides away to school like a girl in a picture book," described the man. He was obviously a good friend of Peg's.

"Who does she live with?" put in Grace.

"An aunt; a nice old lady, too. Miss Ramsdell. She takes care of Peg so far as Peg'll let her; but looks like more times than enough, Peg takes care of Aunt Carrie. I was goin' to tell you about last winter," he resumed. "Wait a minute till I pull up that canvas. There, we'll have more light now." He gave a furtive glance about the dock for prospective passengers, and seeing none heading toward his landing he continued:

"We was runnin' ice boats last winter, when the boys was cuttin' the ice, and folks came out from the city with an idea we had airoplanes on runners out here. Well, one day came a sudden thaw and the ice melted quick. The cutters was all down there along the canal, and this lake is mighty deep, you know. Well, without warning nor nauthin', not even a crack to give the fellers a signal, the ice split up, and Marx Hoppler went under before he could get away."

"Oh, was he drowned?" exclaimed Grace.

"He went under so quick--and you can guess what it would be to slide under the ice on this lake. Well, finally," Pete touched the button that lighted his headlight, "we got Marx out, and he just seemed to be froze stiff. It happened Peg was along o' the dock. There was lots of folks gathered 'round in a hurry but no wagons, and would you believe it that little Scout had someone lift Marx on her horse, stiff and dead-like, and she got away down to the doctor's with him before the rest of us realized what she was about!"

"Good Scouting!" exclaimed Corene.

"You betcha!" agreed Pete; "and the doc said it was just in the nick o' time and saved Marx's life. I tell you, folks around here'll stand by Peg, but of course, strangers is apt to be critical," he finished.

"We will have to call on her, we're Scouts too, you know, Pete," said Julia.

"Yes, I know. You look real smart in them natty little suits, too. I like the looks of them first rate," admired Pete. "But as for callin' on Peg, it can't be done."

"Why?" came a chorus.

"She won't have any callers. Her place is barred and locked and pretty near has dynamite planted around it." He chuckled merrily at the idea. "Yes, sir-ree! Peg don't want no one to bother her and she won't allow anyone to do it. Too bad, too, a little girl like her had ought ta have girl friends."

"I knew she was queer," insisted Grace.

"Well, you might call it that----" Pete stopped to take an order for a ride to the other end of the lake, and the girls hopped out to stay ashore.

"There, you see," said Louise, "we can't possibly ask her to join our troop."

"Or _get_ her to join it, you mean, Weasy. It seems to me that a girl who can do as big a thing as carry a half frozen man on her horse has a good right to be called the original Scout, and I am going to do all I can to find out more about her," declared Corene.

"Look out for the dynamite," cautioned Julia.

"That makes it more interesting," commented Cleo. "Louise, let's get horses to-morrow and ride over Tamarack Hills?"

"Maybe," replied Louise. "Will you go, Corey?"

"Can't possibly," replied Corene, "and I doubt that you two should. I thought we all agreed to get right down to camp work?"

"Oh, all right," and Cleo's voice hinted an apology for her proposed breaking away from the camp work. "It will be best to get the camp settled before the other temptations tempt us too strongly. But the water, and the woods and the birds! A ride over the hills with Peg would be my idea of real fun, Corey, but you're boss--patrol leader I mean--and I am always willing to obey!"

"Yes--you are!" drawled Grace.

"At any rate, I'm crazy about the camp idea, and I am willing to get it going," insisted Cleo.

"Very well, let's see you prove it," retorted Corene, "for the things are in the freight station now, and to-morrow we will have to set about getting them delivered."

Then the strains of uncertain music that floated down from the Inn announced the call of summer time entertainment at the little hotel.

"Come on up and watch them dance, for a while," proposed Grace.

And they ran, even up a hill, for running seemed to be as important as breathing itself to those jolly little Scout girls.