'scape-gap."

"By the way, girls," Laura Belding asked, briskly, "are we going to
let any other girls join this camping party--or is it to be just us
six?"

"Who else wants to go?" demanded Bobby, quickly.

"Lil Pendleton----"

"Always that!" ejaculated Bobby, in disgust.

"Why, Bobby!" cried Dorothy. "I thought you and Lilly kissed and made
up?"

"Oh, yes--we did," grunted the smaller girl. "That is, we kissed. Lil
was already made up."

"Now, Bobby!" admonished Laura.

"That's horrid of you, Bobby," Nellie declared. "You are
incorrigible."

Yet they all had to laugh. Bobby Hargrew _was_ just a cut-up!

"I'm worse than the long word you called me, Nell," said little Miss
Hargrew. "But we're not going to have any such spoil-sport as Lil
Pendleton along."

"But Chet and Lance say that Prettyman Sweet has begged so hard to go
camping with _them_, that they're going to take him--just for the fun
they will have at his expense, I s'pose," said Laura.

"That's why Lil wants to go camping," Dora said. "She's got such an
awful crush on Pretty Sweet that she wants to do everything he does."

"That dude!" scoffed Bobby.

"He and Lil make a good pair," said Jess.

"Wait a minute!" cried Dorothy Lockwood. "Where are the boys going to
camp this year, Laura?"

"On the shore of Lake Dunkirk, somewhere."

"Say, Mother Wit," cried Bobby, addressing by her universal nickname
the leader of the crowd of Central High girls. "Wouldn't it be fun to
camp near--That is, providing the boys are all nice."

"Well, beside Chet and Lance and Pretty Sweet, there'll be Short and
Long, Reddy Butts and Arthur Hobbs, anyway. I don't know how many
more," Laura said. "But you know that Chet and Lance wouldn't have any
but nice fellows in their crowd."

"Barring Pretty," said Bobby, "they are all good chaps--so far. We
wouldn't mind having them for neighbors.

"And why can't we?" she added, suddenly. "Why, girls! Father Tom has
recently bought into the Rocky River Lumber Company and that company
owns Acorn Island."

"Acorn Island? Great!" declared Jess.

"That's the big island in Lake Dunkirk, you know," explained Laura to
the Lockwood twins, who looked puzzled.

"Acorn Island is just the finest kind of a place for a camp," said the
enthusiastic Jess. "It's just like a wilderness."

"Right! The company isn't going to cut the timber on the island till
next winter. Father Tom says so."

"I've been to picnics on Acorn Island