Chapter XVI

The Whirlpool



All the spirit and joy of the woods seemed to have entered into the
Outdoor Girls. For the next half hour they romped in the woods and the
beautiful flowers for all the world like little children whose first
glimpse it was of the country.

They took down their hair and made wreaths of wild roses for crowns, and
when, faces flushed with exercise and fun, they had finished, one might
easily have mistaken them for real fairies come to life.

"But I want to see the river," Betty called to them, stopping once more to
listen to the rhythmic sound of splashing water. "Come on, girls. It can't
be more than a few hundred feet away, even though we can't see it for the
bushes. Lead on, Mollie Billette, I wouldst hie me hence."

But when Mollie laughingly obeyed and started into the woods, Amy held
back.

"What's the matter?" Grace asked, turning to her curiously.

"I--I was just thinking," stammered Amy, ashamed of her own weakness,
"about last night."