The Camp Fire Girls at School
earned she worked diligently to master the keys. In a week or so she managed to copy her story and sent it out again. It came back as promptly as before
the machine still rattling after ten o'clock one night she calmly walked in and pulled
nish this page
"'Hold on to Health' does not mean work yourself to death. Hereafter you
til half past nine?"
you keep your part of it you may use the typewriter, but as soon as you step over the line I
houses ate up more than two weeks' income. With almost superhuman ingenuity Migwan apportioned their expenses so the money covered them. This she had to do practically alone, for her mother was as helpless before a column of figures as she would have been in a flood. Meat practically disappeared from the table. The big bag of nuts which Tom had gathered in the fall and which they had thought of only as a treat t
r profits, but she got around this in an adroit way that promised well for her future ability to handle her affairs to the best advantage. She tried a little publicity work to swing things around to suit her purpose. She simply exalted the joys of marketing until the other Winnebagos were crazy to do the
dents of the summer camping trip in verse and copied them with the typewriter on rough yellow drawing paper, thinking to decorate each sheet. But Migwan had little artistic ability and soon saw that her decorations were not beautiful enough to adorn Christmas gifts. After spoiling several pages she gave up in disgust and threw the spoiled pages into the grate. The next morning she was cleaning out the grate and found the pieces of paper, only partially burned around the edges. She suddenly had an idea. The fire had burned a neat and artistic brown border around the writing. Why not burn all her sheets ar
working her head off on the typewriter. "Could the authoress be persuaded to desist from her labors for
wan. "Your wish i
ite carried away with it. He has a quantity of notes he took on a hunting trip last fall and wants to know if you will make them into a book like that for him. There will be quite a bit of work connec
etting up from the table and going out again immediately, leaving Migwan to get supper and wash the dishes. It was easier to do the work herself than to argue with Betty about it, and if she appealed to her mother Mrs. Gardiner always said, "Just leave the dishes and I'll do them alone," so rather than have her mother do them Migwan generally washed and wiped them alone. But now that she was working so hard she needed the whole afternoon to get her lessons in,
vanquish with the aid of her magic broom, Betty went at it sullenly and with a firm determination to do as little as possible and get through just as quickly as she could. She made up her mind that when Migwan went to market in the afternoon
ou going?" a
you," answ
ke you," said Migwan; "
iver are somewhat of a crowd, and there really was no room for Betty in the machine. Besides, Betty
iver started off, leaving Betty standing looking after the rapidly disappearing car and working herself into a terrible temper. She ran into the house and slammed the door with such a jar that the vases on the mantel rattled and threatened to fall down. She threw her hat and coat on the floor and stamped on them in a perfect fury. On the sitting room table lay the pages of the book which Migwa
but said not a word. Migwan went into the sitting room and Betty heard her moving around. "Mother," calle
her mother; "I haven't been d
y laughed mockingly, but made no reply. "Make haste and gi
rawers for the missing leaves. Betty watched her with malicious glee. "You may look a w
ance. "Betty Gardiner," she said angrily, "stop this
wered Betty, smiling wickedly, "I'll tell you
rning white, "you don't me
Betty coolly. "I'll show you i
which marked every effort of hers a failure. She walked aimlessly up street after street without any idea where she was going, entirely oblivious to her surroundings. Wandering thus, she discovered that she was in the park, and had come out on the high bluff of the lake. She stood moodily looking down at the vast field of ice that such a short time before had been tossing waves. The lake, to all appearances, was frozen solid out as far as the one-mile crib. There was a curious stillness in the air, as when the clock had stopped
was rough and covered with hummocks where the water had frozen in the wind. In Migwan's fancy this was not the lake she was walking on; it was one of the great Swiss glaciers. Those grey clouds there, standing out against the black ones, they were the mountains, and she was taking her perilous journey through the mountain pass. The ice cracked slightly under her feet, but she
he glacier. The long years of waiting passed and she stood at the foot of the glacier watching the miracle unfold before her eyes. The gl
f mind to jump back to the larger field. A wave washed in between, separating her by several feet from the solid ice. The cake she was on began to heave and fall sickeningly. There was another cracking sound and the edge of the solid body of ice broke up into dozens of floating cakes, that ground and pounded each other as the waves
ass, whom she considered especially good fun. Dick also had a pair of skis. The two of them were bound for the park to practice "making descents" from the hillsides. Sahwah was absolutely happy, and chattered like one of the sparrows that were flocking on the lawns and streets. Her chief interest in life just now was the school basketball team, of which she was a member. Soon, ve
the chances of each with great care. "Mechanicals' center is shorter than ours; we have the advantage there. One of
ls'll have with you in
ughtful pucker, "is Marie Lanning; you know, Joe Lannin
h laughed. It was pleasant to be looked up to as the hop
y the First of February I'll not be eligible for the game, and that's no joke. Fizzy said nobody would g
of your not getting it in, is t
self to be declared ineligible for a game on account of studies when the school was
descent after another, sometimes tripping over the point of a ski and landing in a sprawling heap, but more often
earning," said
ill on the lake front," said Sahwah
e, he could not refuse a dare given by a girl. "Do you wa
ck. I didn't really mean to dare you to do it." But Dick had made up his mind to go down
ke it." And he started off towar
ce is breaking!" cried Dick, who was far-sighted and saw the girl on the floating ice cake. Like a whirlwind he sped down the hillside, dropped over the edge of the cliff like a plummet and shot nearly a hundred feet out over the glassy surface of the lake. Without pausing an instant Sahwah was after him. She had a dizzy sensation
e solid mass was continually breaking away, and there was a strip of moving pieces between them and her. "Fasten the skis toget
sh the long strips together with the straps
onto the next cake," called Sahwah. Migwan obeyed in fear and trembling. It took still another jump before she could reach the lifesaver. She was now separated from the broken mass at the edge of the solid ice by about six feet. With Migwan clinging fast to the pole Dick began to pull in gently, so as not to pull her off the ice, and the cake began to move across
ice," said Sahwah,
," she said sharply, "and run. Run all the way home if you don't want to get pneumonia. It's your only chance." Taking hold of her hands, Dick and Sahwah ran along beside her, making her keep up the pace when she pleaded fatigue. More dead than alive she reached home, but warm from head to foot.
l the pages of Professor Green's book and finished it this time without mishap. The mone
group of breathlessly listening children and joined the circle to hear the story Migwan was telling. She had apparently just finished, and the childish voices were calling out
gustus Agr
p if there e
sister whene'er
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his mother wh
therwise tha
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gustus (unlike
aversion to
washed him, he squ
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e combed-it wa
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t dirty-unwash
s pitch through th
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Scrubs Dirty Goops
washcloth, her s
at him with a
brush and the
s soap and her
shoebrush, an
nail file in p
gustus Agr
ight if he
e seized him-Oh,
adforemost right
is eyes (Dirty G
snarls pulled out
his nose, brushed hi
apped his knuckles,
ugustus Ag
difference whe
ng Agricola st
heavenly goo
he door, tipped his
sister whene'er h
hey washed him and
e folded and l
ustus Agri
nt if there
get that poem
myself," ans
Nyoda; "will you
who had taken a great interest in Migwan since she had worked up his hunting notes in such a striking style, and regarded her as his special protégé, was anxious to have the whole school know what a gifted girl she was. He had a conference with the principal, and as a result Migwan was asked to read her poem at the rhetorical exercises in the auditorium that day. When she finished the applause was deafening, and with blushing ch
tchen and she ran through the house looking for her. "Oh, mother," she called, "oh, moth-why, what's the matter?" she asked, stopping in surprise in the sitting room door. Mrs. Gardiner lay on the couc
the hospital," said B
Gardiner hastily, as Migwan looked
ead something like this: "Write Moving Picture Plays. Bring $50 to $100 each. We teach you how by an infallible method. Anybody can do it. Full particulars sent for a postage stamp." Migwan had seen quite a few picture plays, many of them miserably poor, and felt that she could write better ones than some, or at least just as good. She wrote to the address given in one of the advertisements, asking for "full particulars." Back came a letter couched in the most glowing terms, which Migwan was not experienced enough to recognize as a multigraphed copy, which stated that the writer had noticed in her letter of inquiry a literary ability well
no correspondence course, but advertised a book giving all the details of scenario writing, "history of the picture play, form, where to sell your plays, etc., all in one comprehensive volume." The price of the book was three dollars. Migwan hesitated a long time over this last one, but the subtle language of the advertisement drew
agerly, and did gain an idea of the form in which a play should be cast, although the information was meagre enough. Three dollars was an outrageous price to pay for the book, thought Migwan, but she comforted herself with the thought that by means of it she would soon lift the family out of their difficulties. She set to work with a cheery heart. Writing picture plays was easier than writing stories on account of the skeleton form in which they were cast, which made it unnecessary to strive for excellence of
plied Migwan mysterio
ted; one said it was too long for a one-reel, and the next said it was too short even for a split-reel. Two places kept the return postage she had enclosed and sent the manuscript back collect. Scenario writing became a rather expensive amusement, instead of a bringer of fortune. In spite of all this, she kep
Nyoda was inflexible about her stopping typewriting at nine o'clock, but she went home and wrote by hand until midnight. Nyo
aking medicine
omething to tone me
it?" insi
chnine," s
rrified voice. "Who taught you t
dance on for every night in the week and couldn't keep up any other way, and it ma
other occasions of great physical strain, and they have suffered for it ever since. If you are doing so much that you can't 'keep up' any other way than by taking powerful medicines, it is time you 'kept down.' Fresh air and r