Lucile Triumphant Part 3

"All right, I'll see you to-night," said Lucile, as she made a dash for the house.

She stopped for a moment on the doorstep to flash them a merry glance and cry triumphantly, "I won!"

"But not by much," claimed Phil, taking the steps two at a time.

As they turned away, Jessie sent one parting shot over her shoulder:

"A miss is as good as a mile," she gibed.

CHAPTER III

A LATTER-DAY MIRACLE

Sat.u.r.day dawned gloriously. The warm rain that had fallen over night had dissolved the last frail bond of winter and had set the spring world free. Trees and bushes and shrubs were frosted with clinging, glistening diamonds that s.h.i.+mmered and gleamed in the sun, while the moist, warm earth sent up a pungent sweetness found only in the early spring.

"Smell it, just smell it!" said Jessie, sniffling rapturously, as she and Evelyn started on their way to Lucile's.

"Isn't it great?" Evelyn agreed. "That rain was just what we needed."

"It reminds me of last spring----"

"That's strange."

"What?" said Jessie, puzzled.

"Why, that this spring should remind you of last."

"Don't get flippant, young lady," said Jessie, severely, "or I shall be obliged to give you a ducking," the river being very convenient just there, as the girls had to walk alongside its sh.o.r.es for some distance before turning into Lucile's avenue.

"Please don't; I had enough of a ducking last year in camp when I fell off the rock. Don't you remember?" said Evelyn, with a rueful smile.

"I should say I do, rather," laughed Jessie. "No one who was there and saw you could ever possibly forget it."

"Oh, I know I always make an impression," said Evelyn, wilfully misunderstanding.

For once Jessie could find no suitable retort. "You hate yourself, don't you?" was all she could say.

"Not so you could notice it," said Evelyn, enjoying her victory. "It seems to me that you were saying something when I----"

"When you so rudely interrupted," said Jessie, sweetly. "I'm not so sure that I will tell you now. It was nothing of any importance."

"Oh, I knew that," said Evelyn quickly--it was certainly her lucky day.

"You win!" cried Jessie, good-naturedly, throwing up her hands in mock despair.

Evelyn laughed merrily. "I'll have to look out after this," she said.

"There'll be back-fire, I'm afraid. But, seriously, Jessie, what were you going to say?"

"Oh, only that this wonderful weather reminds me of this time last year when we were just making our plans for camp."

"Yes and even then we hadn't begun to realize how great it was going to be."

"I never knew what real fun was till we got way off there in the woods with the river before us and the woods all about us. And the very best thing of all was that we had only ourselves to depend on for everything."

"And we seemed to get along pretty well, too, considering," said Evelyn.

"Of course we did," Jessie agreed, and then added with a laugh, "I think we would be a valuable aid to suffrage. Tell everybody we managed to get along without any man's help."

"Oh, but we didn't," Evelyn objected. "How about Mr. Wescott?"

"It seems to me we could have gotten along very well without any of his help," retorted Jessie, vindictively.

"Perhaps we could, but--our guardian would tell a different story," said Evelyn, meaningly.

As she spoke the door of Lucile's house opened violently and Lucile herself came flying to meet them. She was dressed all in white and she seemed to the girls the very spirit of spring.

"Oh, girls, I'm so glad you came early," she cried, joyfully. "I was hoping you would, so we could talk things over by ourselves before the others came." She threw an arm about each of the girls and ran them up on the porch.

"We are the first, then?" said Jessie, perching on the railing.

"I told Jessie you would think we had come to breakfast," remarked Evelyn, flinging her hat carelessly into a chair.

"That's the way to do it," said Lucile, sarcastically. "It would serve you right if somebody should sit on it."

"Put it on, Lucy, and let's see how you look in it," Jessie suggested.

Lucile laughingly obliged, and the girls gave an involuntary gasp of delight.

"Oh, you darling," cried Evelyn, hugging Lucile so ecstatically that in her enthusiasm she almost lost her balance and nearly fell to the ground beneath. Lucile clutched her and brought her back to safety.

"A chair is the safest place for you," said her rescuer, laughingly.

"Take off the hat and everything will be all right," said Jessie. "That was what nearly caused your undoing."

"Oh, very well," Lucile agreed. "For such a little thing why quarrel?"

and disappeared within the house.

"Remember," said Evelyn, warningly, "remember, that hat is mine, and if you dare to put a slur upon it I'll----"

"Lucy, Lucy," cried Jessie in a frightened voice, "come quick; she is threatening me!"

"All right; wait a minute," came the voice from inside.

"But I can't wait a minute," wailed Jessie; "she may have killed me by that time."