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Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #27643.
The novel is a youthful, wartime‑era tale that follows Lucile, a bright‑eyed, sport‑loving teenager, and her close‑knit circle of friends as they navigate the swirl of summer camp, family expectations, and the looming prospect of a European trip. The opening scenes are saturated with lively dialogue and vivid descriptions of games, races, and the camp‑fire camaraderie that defines their bond. Through a series of rapid exchanges, the girls discuss everything from a miraculous recovery to a mysterious letter, hinting at the larger backdrop of World War I while keeping the focus on their personal adventures and the promise of a journey abroad. The narrative’s early momentum is driven by Lucile’s charismatic leadership and the girls’ playful banter, setting a tone of spirited optimism tempered by the uncertainties of the era.
Written in a breezy, early‑20th‑century American style, the prose blends colloquial chatter with the earnest moral reflections typical of the period. Its dialogue‑heavy structure and occasional melodramatic flourishes evoke the sentimental novels that once filled summer reading tables. Readers who enjoy light‑hearted coming‑of‑age stories, especially those set against the backdrop of the First World War and featuring strong female friendships, will find this book appealing. It also offers a glimpse into the social mores and family dynamics of the 1910s, making it a rewarding read for fans of historical fiction that foregrounds youthful voices.
The opening · free to read
"There's just one thing in the world on which we both agree," laughed Evelyn, "and that's it!"
They looked with fond and justified pride upon the laughing recipient of their praise. From anybody's point of view, Lucile was good to look upon. Mischief sparkled in her eyes and bubbled over from lips always curved in a merry smile. "Just to look at Lucile is enough to chase away the blues," Jessie had once declared in a loving eulogy on her friend. "But when you need sympathy, there is no one quicker to give it than Lucy." From her mass of wind-blown curls to the tips of her neat little tennis shoes she was the spirit incarnate of the sport-loving, fun-seeking summer girl.
Then there was their summer at camp the year before, when Lucile had led them undauntedly and as a matter of course through experiences and dangers that would have dazed the other girls.
And then had come the crowning glory, the climax of their wonderful summer--the race! They felt again the straining of that moment when, with half a length to make up and scant twenty yards from the goal, she had led them in the glorious, madcap dash to victory! From that day on she had reigned supreme in the girls' warm hearts, and there was not one of them but felt "that nothing was too good for her."
"Let's be thankful for small blessings," laughed Lucile, referring to Evelyn's last remark. "By the way, girls, have you heard about Margaret?"
"No; what is it?" They were all eager interest at once.
"Why, Judge Stillman called a consultation yesterday and the doctors pronounced Margaret absolutely cured!"
"Hurrah!" cried Jessie, springing up from the rock she had been using as a seat. "We knew she was better, but--oh, say, isn't it great?"
"Rather; but that isn't all," said Lucile. "The Judge insists that we have done it all--and the camp-fire, too, of course."
"Oh, nonsense," Evelyn exclaimed. "It was the woods and the air and the water that did it. That was all she needed."
"Humph, speak for yourself," Jessie interposed. "I admit she could have done without you very well; I could myself, but----"
"Do I hear a gentle murmur as of buzz-saws buzzing?" quoth Evelyn, dreamy eyes fixed on space. "Methinks it grows more rasping of late----"
"For goodness sake, girls, stop it," begged Lucile, despairingly. "If you are going to be like this all summer, how on earth can I take you with me? I don't want to live in a hive of hornets."
"Take us with you?" they cried, bewildered. "What do you mean?" and Jessie added, tragically, "Tell me quickly or I die!"
"Oh, I just thought I might." It was Lucile's turn to regard the heavens fixedly.
"Lucile, I'd like to shake you. You can be the most exasperating thing at times!" cried Jessie excitedly, and Evelyn, with an inelegance that was none the less forceful, "If you have anything up your sleeve, let's have it!"
Lucile's gaze came down to earth abruptly.
"You seem to be in a great hurry," she protested. "You haven't given me time yet, you know."
"Oh, we'll hunt him up for you some other time," Evelyn wheedled, and Jessie added, sagely, "We're only losing him this way, you know;" then added, in desperation, "If you don't explain right away, you'll have a corpse on your hands, Lucy."
"Why, there's nothing to explain; you are just going, that's all," said Lucile, as if the matter were definitely settled.
"Lucy, are you fooling? If you are, I'll never, never forgive you." It was Evelyn who spoke, her whole body quivering with excitement.
"No, she's in earnest; can't you see? She means, she means----" and Jessie paused before the fateful word.
It was more than Lucile could stand. She jumped up, danced a few joyous and absurd little steps, then turning, made the girls a low bow.
"Greetings, fellow-travelers," she said.
"But whatever put it into your head to take us along?" Jessie asked, after the first wild excitement had abated a trifle.
"Well, you see, it was this way," began Lucile, with the air of one imparting a grave secret. "When Dad came home last night, the first thing he did was to begin asking me a lot of foolish questions--or, at least, they seemed so to me. He started something like this: 'If you had your choice, what would you want most in the world----'"
"If he had asked me that, I wouldn't be through yet," Jessie broke in.
"Never mind her, Lucy," said Evelyn. "Go on, please."
"I felt very much that way myself, Jessie," and Lucile nodded understandingly at the ruffled Jessie. "Well," she went on, "I began naming over several things, and when I'd finished Dad looked so sad I thought I must have done something terrible, but when I asked him what was the matter he simply shook his head despairingly and sighed, 'Not there, not there.'"
The girls laughed merrily.
"Oh, I can just see him," chuckled Evelyn.
"Well, what then?" Jessie urged.
"Oh, I didn't know what to do," Lucile continued. "The more I asked him to explain, the more disconsolate he looked. When I couldn't stand it any longer I left the room, saying if he didn't want to tell me, he needn't. Then, when I got outside the door I could hear him chuckling to himself."
"Just like him," again interposed Jessie.
"Well, all the time I knew something was coming. At dinner it came when Dad calmly announced that he was going to Europe on business and that if his family wished--imagine that, _wished_--he might let us go along."
"Oh, my--wished!" murmured Evelyn.
"You should have seen Phil," Lucile went on with her story. "I never saw anyone so dumbfounded. He stopped with a piece of fish halfway to his mouth and gaped at Dad as if he were some curiosity. I must have looked funny, too, for suddenly Dad began to laugh, and he laughed and he laughed till we thought he'd die."
"'You couldn't look more dumbfounded if I had ordered your execution,' he gasped when he could get his breath. 'Of course, I can always make arrangements for you to stay behind.'"
"Oh," breathed the girls in unison, "what did you say?"
"Say? You had better ask what didn't we say. We talked and talked and talked as fast as our tongues would go till after midnight, and we wouldn't have stopped then if mother hadn't shooed us off to bed. Oh, I don't think I was ever so happy in all my life!"
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