LITMIR.BIZ

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strawberries up here, to eat after I take my shower? That's all the breakfast I'll want."

      "Certainly, dear. I'll send Anna up right away. And how soon shall I tell Louise that you'll be ready?"

      "Ten minutes!"

      Linda jumped out of bed, and began to sing as she took her cold shower. It was a wonderful day – a good world after all! Of course the picnic would be fun; she was glad now that she wasn't going to miss it. Lou was a peach to arrange things for her in this way! And it would be exciting to meet a new man. She wondered what he would be like, and hoped she would find him nice. But, even if she didn't, it wouldn't be necessary to stay with him all day. There wasn't much "two's-ing" in their crowd.

      Ten minutes later she found her visitors on the porch, singing and amusing themselves, for Miss Carlton had gone to oversee the packing of Linda's lunch. Ralph introduced his friend, Maurice Stetson, a short, light-haired youth, who was utterly at ease with everybody, and who seemed to think that he was born to be funny. Indeed, he called himself "the prince of wise-crackers." Linda, who was both sensitive and shy, was afraid she would be made uncomfortable by his comments.

      "Miss Linda Carlton," he repeated, solemnly shaking her hand. "The famous Lindy's namesake?.. Let's see – what year was that when he flew the Atlantic? About twenty-seven? Why, you can't be more than three years old!"

      Linda smiled; she really couldn't laugh at the silly remark, though the others seemed to think him exceedingly witty.

      "And is your ambition flying?" he asked.

      Linda blushed; she had no desire to admit her dreams and ambitions to the general public.

      "Doesn't everybody want to fly now-a-days?" she countered.

      "Not your uncle Maurice!" replied the youth, gravely. "My dad gave me a plane, and I wrecked it. I'm through! My flying almost took me to the angels!"

      "What's this?" interrupted Miss Carlton, coming out on the porch with a hamper of lunch for the picnic. "You've been in an airplane accident?"

      "And how!" he replied, feelingly.

      "Now you see, Linda! You better not go over to that field again! I'm so afraid of planes!"

      "All right, Aunt Emily," replied the girl, graciously. "You needn't worry today, anyhow. We're going to the picnic in cars."

      But, had Miss Carlton seen Maurice Stetson behind the wheel of his yellow sports roadster, hitting seventy-five miles an hour, and all the while keeping up a conversation not only with Linda beside him, but with the couple in the rumble-seat as well, she would not have felt so satisfied.

      Nevertheless, nothing happened, and the picnic promised to be lots of fun. The girls had selected a beautiful wooded spot outside of the city, where a lovely stream widened into a small lake, deep enough for swimming.

      Most of the others had already arrived in their cars, when Louise's party drove up. Two large tents, on opposite sides of the lake, had been set up early in the morning for bath-houses.

      "Everybody into their suits!" cried Sara Wheeler, who seemed to be managing the picnic, because her mother was the chaperon. "First one into the water gets a prize!"

      "Then I get it, without even trying," remarked Harriman Smith, a nice boy, and a particular friend of Linda's, "because I have mine on now! I got dressed in it this morning, and carried my other clothing."

      "Lazy brute!" exclaimed Maurice, enviously, wishing that he had thought of such a labor-saving device.

      In fifteen minutes the whole crowd were in the water, diving and swimming, and ducking each other, and finally dividing off into sides for a game of water-polo. It was only when they actually smelled the steaks that Mrs. Wheeler's cooks were broiling, that they were finally induced to leave the lake and get dressed.

      A treasure-hunt through the woods was the program for the afternoon. Linda, who had expected to be coupled with Maurice Stetson for this event, was agreeably surprised to find herself with Ralph Clavering. Louise's doing, in all probability! No doubt she guessed that her chum did not care for Maurice.

      They walked along slowly, keeping their eyes on the ground for all possible clews, chatting at intervals about the class-day and the usual gossip, and now and then, when they met other couples, stopping to compare notes. Finally Ralph spoke about his plans for the summer months.

      "I'm hoping to persuade your aunt to go to Green Falls with us, Linda," he said. "There will be quite a bunch of us together. Dot Crowley, Sue, Sally Wheeler, and of course Lou and Kit – from your sorority, and some of the boys from our frat, besides several from Spring City. Harry Smith's going to get a job as a life-guard, and Maurice has promised to go. We ought to be able to make whoopee, all right!"

      "Sounds good," admitted Linda, absently.

      "Yes, and I really think we could pull off some serious work there."

      "Serious work?" repeated Linda. As far as she knew, Ralph had never done any real work in his life.

      "Yeah. In the competitions, I mean. I think if we go after it tooth and nail, you and I'd make a pretty good team to pull down the cup for the tennis doubles. They have a big meet at the end of the season that's the talk of the whole Great Lakes region… And Sally swings a mean club in golf. And look at Louise's diving!"

      "Yes, that's true," agreed Linda. She had always liked golf and tennis and swimming, but somehow this year they had all lost their charm. It was different after you graduated, she decided. Then you wanted to make something out of your life – like Ted Mackay. There was no more time to be wasted.

      "Promise me you'll go," begged Ralph, leaning over eagerly and putting his hand on her arm.

      Instinctively she drew it away, but before she could answer, Louise and Maurice appeared from a cross-path that was hidden by tall bushes.

      "Why, there's my little Lindy!" cried Maurice, though Linda was several inches taller than he was. "Grieving for papa?"

      "Shedding tears," laughed Linda. But the words made her think of her own father, and she grew sober. Suppose he were home now – waiting for her! He never stayed more than a day; how she would hate to miss him!

      "Has anybody found the treasure yet?" she inquired.

      "I've found two treasures," replied Maurice complacently, looking first at Louise and then at Linda.

      "Forget it!" commanded Louise, tersely, lifting her head. She, like Linda, was tall, but in that the resemblance ended. Her dark, sleek hair was short and almost straight, and she wore earrings – even in swimming. She said she felt undressed without them – "practically immodest," were her exact words.

      "No, but really – ?" persisted Linda.

      A wild shout from Dot Crowley, followed by a chorus of "Whoopee!" from half a dozen others, answered Linda's question immediately. Dot always was lucky. The others ran to the spot where the crowd was gathered, and Dot, a tiny, vivacious blonde, who could take child's parts in the amateur plays, was holding two boxes of golf balls triumphantly up to view.

      "Do I have to give one box to that lazy kid?" she demanded, pointing scornfully at her long-legged partner, Jim Valier, who had been languidly following her around. At the time when she had discovered the prize, he was lolling under a tree, resting his "weary bones," as he said, smoking a cigarette.

      "Sure you do!" he drawled. "Didn't I supply the brains to our combine?"

      "Brains!" repeated Dot. "Where did you get 'em? I'll have to have you arrested for stealing 'em, if that's the case! But here – take your box!"

      "Couldn't possibly," he said, waving them aside with his cigarette holder. "Besides, I hardly ever play golf. Too fatiguing."

      "How about your school-girl figure?" asked Maurice. "Aren't you afraid if you don't exercise, you'll lose it?"

      Everybody, even Linda, laughed, for Jim Valier was about the world's thinnest youth.

      "He's really afraid somebody will mistake him for a golf-stick, and bang a ball with him," remarked Ralph.

      In groups, and some in pairs, the whole crowd

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