a little bit."

"Don't you think," suggested Amy, holding back a little, "that somebody
ought to stay here and take care of the cars?"

"No, you don't!" said Mollie, catching her by the hand and pulling her
along after them. "If one of us goes we are all going."

"Oh, come along," urged Betty, eager to get the thing over with. "I think
we are all acting like a lot of geese. It might help some if we tried to
remember that we are Outdoor Girls."

This challenge did a great deal toward bolstering up the girls' courage
and they hurried along the path more confidently.

Their pace slowed a bit, however, when they reached the cleared space
where the little cottage stood and they paused for a moment in the shelter
of the trees to discuss what to do next.

"Do you think we had all better go?" asked Grace nervously. "Perhaps the
four of us would frighten him--"

"No, we will all go together," said Betty decidedly. "There is nothing to
be gained by standing here talking about it. Come on, girls."

She started across the cleared space and the girls followed slowly. The
little cottage looked deserted and forlorn and the dreary aspect of it
served to increase the girls' uneasy sense of disaster.

Betty knocked gently on the door which had, upon that other occasion not