  It was some moments before either girl was able to speak after that first burst of emotion and surprise. But Dorothy was too happy to remain long in tears—even tears of joy that for the moment had overcome her. Tavia was pale, and her eyes were red from much weeping. Her unhappy plight was apparent at a glance, and this was incentive enough to cause Dorothy to again clasp her in her arms and hug her tighter than ever. She had forgotten her own physical weakness now that she had found Tavia, and she felt that she must hasten to get her dear friend into a state of mind that might help her to forget the sad experiences she had passed through. “Tavia! Tavia, dear,” whispered Dorothy, as the girl fell again to weeping, “do look up and forget it all—for my sake, do. I have searched so long for you, but now I have found you. Come with me and we’ll be just the same as we always were.” “Oh, how can I?” cried the miserable girl. “Who will look at me now? How can I ever face the folks again? Oh, Dorothy, let me go away forever! I can not bear the disgrace!” and she moaned pitifully in her bitter anguish. “But, Tavia, you really meant nothing wrong,” said Dorothy taking the trembling hands in her own which were scarcely less agitated. “No, I never meant to do wrong,” spoke Tavia, lifting her head with her old, proud bearing. “I broke my promise to you—I listened to that girl in Rochester—she gave me a letter to a theatrical manager in Buffalo. I only wanted to make a name for myself—to gratify my ambition—I wanted to earn money to get back to school—you know we had no more—” “You poor darling!” whispered Dorothy. “Was that it? Don’t worry so. No one will ever know. I have not told even Nat, and we will keep it a secret between us forever. Do come with me, dear,” as Tavia appeared to look brighter. “I must get to North Birchland to-night—Oh, if you ever knew the time I had getting away from the boys!” And she went on hurriedly for several minutes. “And did you come all the way alone, Dorothy Dale? You have saved me in spite of myself!” declared Tavia, almost tragically. “Yes, I will go back. I can look them all in the face, for I only tried to work and I did not mean to deceive any one longer than would be necessary for me to get a start. But now, Dorothy, I have had enough of it. Where do you want me to go?” “So it wasn’t as nice as you thought it would be?” asked Dorothy, anxious to hear some of Tavia’s experiences. “Nice?” There was no concealing the disgust in Tavia’s voice. “It was awful, Dorothy! It was a regular barn-storming company! Playing one-night stands! We never had good houses. They said it was because it was the summer season, but I guess it was because the play was so poor. We did not get all our salaries and half the time didn’t have enough to eat. Then the show ‘busted’!” “Did you have a good—part I believe they call it?” “A good part? Say, Doro,” and Tavia actually seemed her old self again. “I had an idea I was to be Lady Rossmore, or at least one of the family.” “Weren’t you?” “I should say not! I was Lucy, the parlor maid, and the only time I was on the stage was when I was dusting the make-believe furniture. And as for my lines—well, I had a very heavy and strong thinking part.” “Oh, Tavia!” “That’s my theatrical experience,” answered Tavia. “Oh, Doro, I’m very miserable,” she wailed again. “Never mind, dear. Dry your eyes now, you’re all right. I’m—Oh, I’m so happy that I have found you again. Come back to the station with me. I have some one else to bring home, too. Urania, the Gypsy girl—you remember her at Glenwood, I guess—she has been trying to see the world and she caught too big a glimpse of it. Poor girl, she is quite sick and miserable.” Then, as they hurried from the park, Dorothy told Tavia of the trouble she had to get Urania on the train. A happy thought came to Tavia, and, with a bright smile she said: “I have it! In this little hand bag—all the baggage I have left by the way—I have a very quiet suit. I used it in the play, for sometimes I had to take two or three parts if one of the other girls was ill, but they never amounted to much—the parts I mean. We can put this suit on Urania.” Being thus able to help some one else worse off than herself seemed to do Tavia good for her kind heart always prompted her to acts of this sort. It was a step back into the old life. At the station they found Urania all excitement. “The young men were here!” she exclaimed to Dorothy, “and they have gone off to look for you. I didn’t dare speak to them, but I peeked out and I heard the station man tell them where he had seen you go to, and they flew off again in their dust-wagon like mad. Oh, Miss, I wish they had found you, and they looked so tired and hardly spoke like I’ve always heard ’em, so polite and nice.” “Ned and Nat here in Rockdale!” exclaimed Dorothy, overjoyed at the news. “Here, Urania, you go in that little room and put these things on you’ll find in this bag,” and she handed the Gypsy Tavia’s little valise. “I’ll help her,” volunteered Tavia, glad to be of service to Dorothy. “Now remember, Tavia,” said Dorothy in a low tone, “whoever we meet now I’m to do all the talking. This is my big secret and you must let me take care of it. Have you any baggage—Oh, I forgot, all the baggage of the company is held for debts, I believe.” “Not mine,” replied Tavia promptly. “All I have is in my valise. It was so small they let me keep it. They only wanted trunks and I didn’t have any. I travel light.” “Well, hurry now and get Urania ready,” said Dorothy. She walked over toward the door of the ladies’ waiting room. Suddenly she fancied she heard—yes—sure enough that was the toot of the Fire Bird’s horn! “Oh, Tavia!” she called. “Here they come! Hurry! Hurry Urania! Tavia! We must all be out there together when they come up.” At that the automobile swept up to the station in a cloud of dust. Out on the platform hurried Dorothy, Tavia and Urania, the latter smiling broadly in her new outfit. “Well, I give up!” exclaimed Nat, the first to alight from the panting car. “If you haven’t given us a merry chase, Dorothy! We got worried after you left us and we traced you from place to place. Thought sure we’d lost you here. Oh, it was a merry chase.” “Glad it was merry,” exclaimed Tavia, forgetting that Dorothy was to do all the talking. “Yes, I should say it was,” put in Ned, “and she skipped off to meet you without giving us a hint—” “Now, Ned, don’t be cross,” said Dorothy sweetly. “See what a large party you have to take home. And you must not scold the girls, for we have as much right as you boys have to take little trips together.” The boys were too well pleased to argue or be angry. In fact, they had had a very miserable time of it since Dorothy “escaped,” as they called it. Now, they wanted nothing better than to get into the machine with the girls and make all speed for home. “Have you room for Urania?” asked Dorothy. “Can she stand up between the seats?” “Why, of course,” assented Ned. “Plenty of room. Get aboard everybody.” “Let me get under the seat,” protested the Gypsy girl. “That was the way I came out.” “So it was!” said Nat. “I’d almost forgotten about you, young lady. She’s the girl,” he went on, turning to the others, “who stole a ride with me the day I went into Dalton, Dorothy. She actually rode under the back seat where she’d hidden in the night. She made the noise we thought was a burglar, you know. She gave me the slip, though, when I went to take her back, so now she must ride in the open, where I can keep my eye on her.” “Oh, Urania! You said—” began Dorothy, thinking of what the Gypsy girl had said about Nat taking her away. “Oh, please don’t be hard on me,” pleaded Urania. “I was so miserable I didn’t know what I was saying. It’s true, just as he says, and it’s all my fault. I ran away. He didn’t take me.” Dorothy climbed in beside Ned. Tavia was in her usual seat with Nat. Then Urania squatted down, in true Gypsy fashion, on the floor of the car at their feet. “I guess we’ll just about make it after all,” commented Ned, as he turned on the power more fully and threw in the clutch. “We’re due home about seven, but we’ll have to speed it up a bit to do it. Lucky it’s nearly level all the way.” “And when we do get home,” put in Nat, “you girls will just have to own up and tell the whole story. No serial for ours. We want it complete in one number.” “Indeed, we’ll do nothing of the sort!” exclaimed Dorothy. “We’re not going to tell you a single word. We’ll get home about on time, according to agreement, and you have no reason to find a single bit of fault. Tavia will come to North Birchland just as she promised to early in the season. She’s been too busy to come before,” and Dorothy smiled. “And if we do have our own affairs to talk about you must not expect to know everything. Girls have to have secrets, or they wouldn’t be girls, and we have now got ours.” “Yes,” agreed Tavia in a low voice with a loving look at her chum, “It’s Dorothy’s great secret and I guess I’ll help her keep it.” And here, as they are speeding toward North Birchland, we will take leave of Dorothy, Tavia and the boys for a while. Dorothy kept the secret, as did Tavia, and no one ever knew the real meaning of Tavia’s absence, nor why Dorothy was so anxious to find her. The theatrical venture was never disclosed, thanks to Dorothy’s tact and abilities, for she showed that she could manage some things even better than could her cousins. “Well, it was a glorious trip to Buffalo after all,” was Nat’s comment, as they neared North Birchland. “So it was,” agreed Dorothy. Then she fell to wondering if she would ever again have so many adventures. Little did she dream of what the future held in store, as will be related in another story, which I shall call, “Dorothy Dale and Her Chums.” “Running some, aren’t we?” said Ned, as the Fire Bird whizzed over the country road. “I—I don’t mind it,” faltered Tavia. Then she turned to whisper to Dorothy. “I am so thankful to leave the—that behind!” Dorothy only smiled, but that smile showed that she understood perfectly. THE END. The Dorothy Dale SeriesBy MARGARET PENROSE Dorothy Dale is the daughter of an old Civil War veteran who is running a weekly newspaper in a small Eastern town. Her sunny disposition, her fun-loving ways and her trials and triumphs make clean, interesting and fascinating reading. The Dorothy Dale Series is one of the most popular series of books for girls ever published.
CUPPLES & LEON CO., Publishers, NEW YORK The Motor Girls SeriesBy MARGARET PENROSE Since the enormous success of our “Motor Boys Series,” by Clarence Young, we have been asked to get out a similar series for girls. No one is better equipped to furnish these tales than Mrs. Penrose, who, besides being an able writer, is an expert automobilist.
CUPPLES & LEON CO., Publishers, NEW YORK THE KHAKI GIRLS SERIESBy EDNA BROOKS 12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Jacket in full colors. When Uncle Sam sent forth the ringing call, “I need you!” it was not alone his strong young sons who responded. All over the United States capable American girls stood ready to offer their services to their country. How two young girls donned the khaki and made good in the Motor Corps, an organization for women developed by the Great War, forms a series of stories of signal novelty and vivid interest and action. THE KHAKI GIRLS OF THE MOTOR CORPS Joan Mason, an enthusiastic motor girl, and Valerie Warde, a society debutante, meet at an automobile show. Next day they go together to the Motor Corps headquarters and in due time are accepted and become members of the Corps, in the service of the United States. The two girl drivers find motoring for Uncle Sam a most exciting business. Incidentally they are instrumental in rendering valuable service to the United States government by discovering and running down a secret organization of its enemies. THE KHAKI GIRLS BEHIND THE LINES As a result of their splendid work in the Motor Corps, the Khaki Girls receive the honor of an opportunity to drive with the Ambulance Corps in France. After a most eventful and hazardous crossing of the Atlantic, they arrive in France and are assigned to a station behind the lines. Constantly within range of enemy shrapnel, out in all kinds of weather, tearing over shell-torn roads and dodging Boche patrols, all go to make up the day’s work, and bring them many exciting adventures. Send For Our Free Illustrated Catalogue. CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers New York THE JANE ALLEN COLLEGE SERIESBy EDITH BANCROFT 12mo. Illustrated. Beautiful cloth binding, stamped in gold with cover inlay and jacket in colors. Price Per Volume $1.25 Net. This series is a decided departure from the stories usually written of life in the modern college for young women. They contain a deep and fascinating theme, which has to do with the inner struggle for growth. An authoritative account of the life of the college girl as it is lived today. JANE ALLEN OF THE SUB TEAM When Jane Allen left her beautiful Western home in Montana, sorely against her will, to go East, there to become a freshman at Wellington College, she was sure that she could never learn to endure the restrictions of college life. But she did and the account of Jane’s first year at Wellington is well worth reading. JANE ALLEN: RIGHT GUARD (New) Jane Allen becomes a sophomore at Wellington College, but she has to face a severe trial that requires all her courage and character. The meaning of true soul-nobility is brought out in the development of the trying experience. The result is a triumph for being faithful to an ideal. Send For Our Free Illustrated Catalogue. CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers New York THE PATSY CARROLL SERIESBy GRACE GORDON 12mo. Illustrated. Beautiful cloth binding, stamped in gold with cover inlay and jacket in colors. Price Per Volume $1.25 Net. This fascinating series is permeated with the vibrant atmosphere of the great outdoors. The vacations spent by Patsy Carroll and her chums, the girl Wayfarers, in the north, east, south and west of the wonderland of our country, comprise a succession of tales unsurpassed in plot and action. PATSY CARROLL AT WILDERNESS LODGE Patsy Carroll succeeds in coaxing her father to lease one of the luxurious camps at Lake Placid, in the Adirondack Mountains, for the summer. Once established at Wilderness Lodge, the Wayfarers, as they have decided to call themselves, find they are the center of a mystery which revolves about a missing will. How the girls solve the mystery makes a splendid story. PATSY CARROLL UNDER SOUTHERN SKIES (New) Patsy Carroll and her three chums spend their Easter vacation in an old mansion in Florida, where an exciting mystery develops, which is solved by a very curious acrostic found by Patsy, and which leads to very exciting and satisfactory results, making a capital story. Send For Our Free Illustrated Catalogue. CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers New York THE RUTH FIELDING SERIESBy ALICE B. EMERSON 12mo. Illustrated. Price per volume, 50 cents, postpaid. Ruth Fielding was an orphan and came to live with her miserly uncle. Her adventures and travels make stories that will hold the interest of every reader.
Send For Our Free Illustrated Catalogue. CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers New York THE KHAKI BOYS SERIESBy CAPT. GORDON BATES 12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Jacket in full color. Price per volume, 50 cents, postpaid. All who love the experiences and adventures of our American boys, fighting for the freedom of democracy in the world, will be delighted with these vivid and true-to-life stories of the camp and field in the great war. THE KHAKI BOYS AT CAMP STERLING Two zealous young patriots volunteer and begin their military training. On the train going to camp they meet two rookies with whom they become chums. Together they get into a baffling camp mystery that develops into an extraordinary spy-plot. They defeat the enemies of their country and incidentally help one another to promotion both in friendship and service. THE KHAKI BOYS ON THE WAY Our soldier boys having completed their training at Camp Sterling are transferred to a Southern cantonment from which they are finally sent aboard a troop-ship for France. On the trip their ship is sunk by a U-boat and their adventures are realistic descriptions of the tragedies of the sea. THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT The Khaki Boys reach France, and, after some intensive training in sound of the battle front, are sent into the trenches. In the raids across No-Man’s land, they have numerous tragic adventures that show what great work is being performed by our soldiers. It shows what makes heroes. Send For Our Free Illustrated Catalogue. CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers New York By CLARENCE YOUNG 12mo. Illustrated. Price per volume, 75c, postpaid.
THE MOTOR BOYS SECOND SERIESBy CLARENCE YOUNG
CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers New York THE BASEBALL JOE SERIESBy LESTER CHADWICK 12mo. Illustrated. Price per volume, 75 cents, postpaid.
Joe is an everyday country boy who loves to play baseball and particularly to pitch.
Joe’s great ambition was to go to boarding school and play on the school team.
Joe goes to Yale University. In his second year he becomes a varsity pitcher and pitches in several big games.
In this volume the scene of action is shifted from Yale college to a baseball league of our central states.
From the Central League Joe is drafted into the St. Louis Nationals. A corking baseball story all fans will enjoy.
How Joe was traded to the Giants and became their mainstay in the box makes an interesting baseball story.
The rivalry was of course of the keenest, and what Joe did to win the series is told in a manner to thrill the most jaded reader.
The Giants and the All-Americans tour the world, playing in many foreign countries. Send For Our Free Illustrated Catalogue. CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers New York THE BOYS’ OUTING LIBRARY12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Jacket in full color. THE SADDLE BOYS SERIES
THE DAVE DASHAWAY SERIES
THE SPEEDWELL BOYS SERIES
THE TOM FAIRFIELD SERIES
THE FRED FENTON ATHLETIC SERIES
Send For Our Free Illustrated Catalogue. CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers New York THE CURLYTOPS SERIESBy HOWARD R. GARIS 12mo. Cloth. Beautifully Illustrated. Jacket in full color. Splendid stories for the little girls and boys, told by one who is a past master in the art of entertaining young people.
A tale of happy vacation days on a farm. The Curlytops have many exciting adventures.
The Curlytops were delighted when grandpa took them to camp on Star Island. There they had great fun and also helped to solve a real mystery.
Winter was a jolly time for the Curlytops, with their skates and sleds, but when later they were snowed in they found many new ways to enjoy themselves.
Out West on their uncle’s ranch they have a wonderful time among the cowboys and on pony back. Send For Our Free Illustrated Catalogue. CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers New York THE |
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