"Come along, girls!" cried Belle Meade gleefully.

"But there may be something disagreeable happen, you know, girls,"
Dick warned them. "If we overtake this fellow there may be a
fight."

"If you could call it a fight, when six Gridley high school boys
attack one man, then I shall have to change my mind about our
high school boys," hinted Laura Bentley teasingly.

It was plain enough that the girls were bent on following them,
so no more objections were raised.

"We'll travel so fast that the girls won't be able to keep up,"
whispered Tom Reade to Dick. "We'll lose 'em, and they'll be
glad to hike back to the table."

This, however, proved to be not quite as easy as had been expected.
The trail into the woods was rather a plain one, though it could
not be followed at a run.

"Keep behind me, fellows," urged Dick. "If you keep up with me
you may blot out the trail."

So his five chums came after him, with the girls in the rear,
in a straggling line.

Into the deepest woods the trail led. "The girls will soon tire
of this chase, and face about," Tom told Darry.