CONTENTS

Chapter. Page.

I. Smoke Rings From the Hills 7

II. The Tramps Guard Their Secret 17

III. Keeping the Girls in Suspense 24

IV. An Unpleasant Surprise 33

V. The Tramp Club Receives a Shock 40

VI. A Discouraging Try-Out 48

VII. The Meadow-Brook Girls Change Their Minds 60

VIII. On the Service Line 69

IX. A Cloud with a Silver Lining 81

X. A Joy and a Disappointment 88

XI. A Blow That Nearly Killed George 99

XII. A Guest Who Was Welcome 114

XIII. In the Hands of a Master 123

XIV. A Steam Roller to the Rescue 137

XV. Would-Be Cup Winners Break Camp 147

XVI. In Camp on the Battle Field 156

XVII. The Cup That Lured 170

XVIII. What the Spy Learned 179

XIX. On the Tournament Courts 190

XX. A Welcome Disturbance 199

XXI. A Disaster in Camp 208

XXII. An Exciting Morning 216

XXIII. A Memorable Battle 227

XXIV. Conclusion 245

The Meadow-Brook Girls on the Tennis Courts

CHAPTER I
SMOKE RINGS FROM THE HILLS

“I want thome exthitement,” complained Grace Thompson petulantly.

“Have patience, Tommy,” answered Jane McCarthy. “Did you ever know the Meadow-Brook Girls to go long without it?”

“I don’t know that we can look for anything exciting up here on this side hill, surrounded by stumps, burned trees and blackened logs,” returned Margery Brown. “I shall just perish from doing nothing. We have been up here nearly two days and nothing has happened. I should rather be down in the meadows than up here in this dismal place.”

Miss Elting, the guardian of the party of girls encamped on the hillside, smiled tolerantly.

“Wait,” she advised.

“I’ll tell you what,” suggested the towheaded Tommy. “Buthter, you are fat and round. We’ll thcrape off a thmooth plathe all the way down the thide of the hill, then you roll down to the bottom. That will give you exthitement and make uth laugh, too.”

“But there is a jumping-off place at the bottom,” objected Margery. “I should fall down on the stones.”

“Yeth, I know. But that would be exthitement and make uth laugh. Why thhould you be fat, if it ithn’t to make other folkth laugh?”

Margery elevated her nose disdainfully.

“Do it yourself,” she answered.

“Yes, Tommy. You wish excitement. Suppose you run down and jump into the creek at the bottom of the hill,” called Harriet Burrell, raising a flushed face from the fire over which she was cooking their supper. “Run down and jump in. If the water is deep, you might pretend you are drowning; then Margery will rush to your rescue and save you. Drowning is exciting enough. I know, for I was nearly drowned once.”

“I fear a little trout stream at the foot of a hill would not prove very exciting to a girl who has been lost at sea for hours on a dark night,” observed the guardian. “You will have to think of something else, Harriet. Are you, too, suffering from inactivity?”

“Not at all. Miss Elting,” answered Harriet brightly. “I came out here with you for the sake of the outing, for the fresh air and the birds and the odors of——”

“Burned stumps,” finished Margery. “The whole place smells like a country smoke-house, where the farmer smokes his hams for the winter. Ugh!”

“As far as I am concerned,” resumed Harriet Burrell, “I am not looking for excitement. I am enjoying myself thoroughly. What