The Meadow-Brook Girls by the Sea

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The Meadow-Brook Girls by the Sea

Project Gutenberg's The Meadow-Brook Girls by the Sea, by Janet Aldridge This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net
Title: The Meadow-Brook Girls by the Sea Or The Loss of The Lonesome Bar
Author: Janet Aldridge
Release Date: November 18, 2005 [EBook #17099]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
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Produced by Jason Isbell, Greg Weeks, Sankar Viswanathan, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

[Illustration: The Sea Lay Sparkling in the Sunlight. Frontispiece.]

The Meadow-Brook Girls by the Sea
OR
The Loss of The Lonesome Bar

By
JANET ALDRIDGE
Author of the Meadow-Brook Girls Under Canvas, The Meadow-Brook Girls Across Country, The Meadow-Brook Girls Afloat, The Meadow-Brook Girls in The Hills, The Meadow-Brook Girls on The Tennis Courts

THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY
Akron, Ohio New York
Made in U.S.A.

Copyright MCMXIV
By THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY

CONTENTS
I. A DELIGHTFUL MYSTERY
II. WHAT CAME OF A COLD PLUNGE
III. HARRIET HAS A NARROW ESCAPE
IV. A QUESTION OF POLITICS
V. THE ROCKY ROAD TO WAU-WAU
VI. AT HOME BY THE SEA
VII. A SUDDEN STORM
VIII. A NEVER-TO-BE-FORGOTTEN NIGHT
IX. A SURPRISE THAT PROVED A SHOCK
X. SUMMONED TO THE COUNCIL
XI. A REWARD WELL EARNED
XII. MYSTERY ON A SAND BAR
XIII. A STRANGE PROCEEDING
XIV. A VISITOR WHO WAS WELCOME
XV. TOMMY MAKES A DISCOVERY
XVI. TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE
XVII. WHEN THEIR SHIP CAME IN
XVIII. FIREWORKS FROM THE MASTHEAD
XIX. SAILING THE BLUE WATER
XX. OUT OF SIGHT OF LAND
XXI. AN ANXIOUS OUTLOOK
XXII. IN THE GRIP OF MIGHTY SEAS
XXIII. WAGING A DESPERATE BATTLE
XXIV. CONCLUSION
CHAPTER I
A DELIGHTFUL MYSTERY
"I think we are ready to start, girls." Miss Elting folded the road map that she had been studying and placed it in a pocket of her long dust coat. There was a half-smile on her face, a merry twinkle in her eyes.
"Which way do I drive?" questioned Jane McCarthy.
"Straight ahead out of the village," answered Miss Elting, the guardian of the party of young girls who were embarking on their summer's vacation under somewhat unusual circumstances.
"It's the first time I ever started for a place without knowing what the place was, or where I was going," declared Jane McCarthy, otherwise known as "Crazy Jane."
"Won't you pleathe tell uth where we are going?" lisped Grace Thompson.
Miss Elting shook her head, with decision.
"Do my father and mother know where we are going?" persisted Grace.
"Of course they know, Tommy. The parents of each of you know, and I know, and so shall you after you reach your destination. Have you everything in the car, Jane?"
"Everything but myself," nodded Jane. The latter's automobile, well loaded with camping equipment, stood awaiting its passengers. The latter were Miss Elting, Jane McCarthy, Harriet Burrell, Grace Thompson, Hazel Holland and Margery Brown, the party being otherwise known as "The Meadow-Brook Girls." "Get in, girls. We'll shake the dust of Meadow-Brook from our tires before you can count twenty," continued Jane. "If Crazy Jane were to drive through the town slowly folks surely would think something startling had happened to her. Is there anything you wish to do before we leave, Miss Elting?"
"Not that I think of at the moment, Jane."
"Oh, let's say good-bye to our folks," suggested Margery Brown.
"I have thaid good-bye," answered Grace with finality.
"We'll give them a farewell blast," chuckled Jane. With that she climbed into the car, and, with a honk of the horn, drove down that street and into the next, keeping the horn going almost continually. As they passed the home of each girl the young women gave the yell of the Meadow-Brook Girls:
"Rah, rah, rah, Rah, rah, rah! Meadow-Brook, Meadow-Brook, Sis, boom, ah!"
It was shouted in chorus at their homes, and as the car passed the homes of their friends as well. Hands were waved from windows, hats were swung in the air by boy friends, while the older people smiled indulgently and nodded to them as the rapidly moving motor car passed through the village.
"I think the town knows all about it now. Suppose we make a start?" suggested Miss Elting.
"We haven't therenaded the pothtmathter yet," Tommy reminded her.
"Nor the butcher, the baker and the candle-stick maker," answered Harriet Burrell laughingly. "How long a drive have we, Miss Elting?"
"Four or five hours, ordinarily. Jane undoubtedly will make it in much less time, if she drives at her usual rate of speed. Straight south, Jane. I will tell you when to change."
The faces of the girls wore a puzzled expression. They could not imagine where they were going. Miss Elting had made a mystery of this summer vacation, and not a word had the girls been able to obtain from her as to where they were to