ting you a lullaby."

In less than half an hour the three girls were put to bed and Mrs. Rose
had said good-night and left them.

Dotty and Genie had murmured sleepy good-nights and had snuggled down
into their spicy-smelling nests of branches.

Dolly lay with wide open eyes staring out at the stars. She had never
experienced this sort of thing before, and she was frightened and
uncomfortable. Although mid-summer, the air was chilly, and she did not
like the feeling of the rather coarse blankets. Moreover she was wearing
a thick, clumsy, flannel nightgown, and the bed of branches seemed to be
full of knots and lumps. She longed for her own pretty room with its
dainty appointments and soft bed clothing.

She looked across at Dotty and Genie. She could see them but dimly, but
she knew they were sound asleep. She felt alone, utterly alone in that
dreadful place, with the forest trees making a sad murmur and the silent
stars winking solemnly at her. She thought of her mother and father and
Trudy and Bert and she had the most dreadful wave of homesickness roll
over her. Then the tears came, hot, scalding tears that rolled down her
cheeks in ever increasing number. She made no noise, lest she waken the
other girls but the effort to stifle her sobs made her cry harder, and
she buried her face in the rough worsted of the sofa pillow and wiped
her eyes with the harsh blanket.

"Oh, Mother," she said, to herself, "I _can't_ stay here. This is a
dreadful place. Why did you let me come? I knew I would hate a camp. How
can anybody like these awful beds? And I'm cold,--and I'm not cold
either, but I'm all shivery and I feel horrid! I'm--I'm--oh, I'm just
lonesome and homesick and I want Mother!"

After a time Dolly stopped crying from sheer exhaustion and spent with
her sobs, she lay there gazing at the stars. She felt sure there were
bears and wolves among the trees, and soon they would come out and
attack the camp.

Moreover, she was dreadfully hungry. She had a box of candy in her
suitcase, but that was upstairs in the bungalow. She could not get it
without disturbing Mr. and Mrs. Rose and that was not to be thought of.

The poor child lay for a time in her misery, every moment getting more
and more homesick and with a deeper longing to get back to her mother
and never leave home again.

At last a spirit of desperation took hold upon her. It was
characteristic of Dolly Fayre to endure patiently and bravely the
greatest