w control over
herself, that she was fighting so hard to maintain, saved her from the
sharp reply that was on her tongue.

"You might let me finish," she said. "If I swore off now I suppose the
time while we're here would count toward an honor bead, but what's the
use of swearing off something I can't get, anyhow? I'm going to swear
off the first time I see a soda fountain!"

"Good for you, Dolly!" exclaimed Eleanor, heartily. "That's the right
spirit."

CHAPTER IX

THE PATHFINDERS

It did not take the two pathfinders long to get so far ahead of the
main party that they were out of sight and almost out of hearing. The
girls who carried the necessary provisions and utensils, however, made
their way light by singing Camp Fire songs as they walked, and their
voices echoed through the woods.

"This is great! Oh, I love it!" said Dolly, happily. "I'm so glad you
beat Margery, Bessie!"

"I thought you liked Margery, Dolly?"

"I do, but you're my very dearest chum, Bessie! I think Margery's
great, but she is just a little bit superior, sometimes. I expect I
deserve it when she gives me a lecture, but I like you because you
don't preach, though you're just as good as she is any day in the week!"

"I'll probably lecture you some time, Dolly, if I think you need it."

"Go ahead! I don't mind when you do it, or if you do it. I don't know
why, but it's the same way with Miss Eleanor. She's scolded me
sometimes, but she isn't a bit like my Aunt Mabel, or the teachers at
school."

"How do you mean? They're kind to you, I suppose? It isn't that that
makes the difference?"

"No. I don't just know what it is, except that she makes me feel as if
I had made her unhappy, and they always talk just as if they thought it
was their duty."

"It probably is, Dolly. You ought to have had the sort of scoldings I
used to get from Maw Hoover! Then you'd know what a real scolding is
like."

"Oh, I just hate that woman, Bessie, for the way she treated you.
Don't you hate her, too?"

"I don't know. I used to, but I'm sort of sorry for her, Dolly."

"I don't see why!"

"Well, since I've been away from the farm, I've seen that she didn't
have a very much better time than I did. She had to work all day long,
and she never got much pleasure."

"That wasn't any excuse for her treating you so badly."

"I think maybe it was, Dolly. I suppose she was nervous, like a whole
lot of other women, and she had to ha