indicated her strength of character by a stern immobility of
countenance until she had finished both letters. Then she looked at
Marion steadily and said inquiringly:

"I suppose you have no idea who wrote these letters?"

"Not the slightest," replied the girl addressed, "unless the shorter
one was written and mailed by some of the Boy Scouts at Spring Lake.
Helen thinks it was, and I am inclined to believe with her that it
doesn't make much difference to us who wrote it. The other letter is
the one we are most interested in."

"I agree with you thoroughly," said Miss Ladd energetically. "And we
have got to do something to prevent him from carrying out his threat."

"Ought we to inform the other girls now?" asked Marion with a sense of
growing courage, for she felt that in the Camp Fire's Guardian she had
found elements of wise counsel extending even beyond that young
woman's experience.

"Why, yes," Miss Ladd replied. "I see no reason for delay. I'd rather
tell them now than just before or after we get to Hollyhill. If we
tell them now they'll have a couple of hours in which to stiffen their
courage. There are eleven girls besides you two. Suppose you call them
here in three lots in succession, four, four, and three, and we'll
tell them quietly what has occurred and give them a little lecture as
to how they should meet this crisis."

"All right," said Marion, rising. "I'll bring the first four and you
get your lecture ready."