CHAPTER 11 Mischievous Boys
AS the Brownie Scouts waited by the picnic table, an old lady came into view on the trail. In her hand she carried an empty sack.
“It’s Mrs. Myles, the button lady!” exclaimed Veve.
“And she’s carrying that sack again!” murmured Eileen. “I wonder what she does with it?”
By this time, Mrs. Myles had seen the Brownies. She slackened her pace. Then, as if aware that she could not retreat without being very obvious, she reluctantly came on toward them.
“Let’s ask her to share our lunch,” suggested Connie impulsively. “Perhaps she’ll tell us more about the old buttons she has at her home.”
Miss Gordon said she thought it would be very nice indeed to extend the invitation.
Veve and Connie ran to greet the woman. Mrs. Myles seemed a trifle embarrassed at meeting them again. They noticed too that she tried to keep them from seeing the empty sack.
“Mrs. Myles, do have luncheon with us,” Connie invited cordially. “Doesn’t the steak smell delicious?”
“My goodness, it does!” exclaimed the old lady.
“Do come,” urged Veve, tugging at her hand. “The Brownies want you to tell them about old buttons.”
Mrs. Myles allowed the girls to pull her over to the table.
“I don’t know very much about buttons,” she apologized. “In fact, I never thought on the subject until you young’uns came to my house to ask if I had any.”
As Connie introduced the other girls, Mrs. Myles’ bird-like gaze darted from one person to another. The array of food on the table seemed to fascinate her.
“Steak,” she murmured. “Why, I haven’t tasted any since—well, never mind.”
Quickly the girls set a place for Mrs. Myles and filled her plate. Remarking that she had not eaten much breakfast that day, the woman ate greedily.
Finally, when her plate had been refilled and emptied the second time, she laughed self-consciously.
“There! I’ve made a pig of myself! This crisp outdoor air gives one a tremendous appetite.”
Secretly, the Brownies wondered if Mrs. Myles had enough to eat at her home. Of course, they were too polite to hint at such a thing.
After lunch, the girls questioned their guest about buttons. Despite the fact that she owned a match holder made of them, she did not know the history of any of the odd types.
Miss Gordon, though, described milk glass buttons, hair buttons, lithographs, those of carved bone, horn buttons, gold coin, brass, pewter and kinds the girls never had heard of before.
“Why, I’m sure I have samples of some of those!” Mrs. Myles declared in astonishment. “When I return home, I’ll see. If I have them, the Brownies may have every single one. But not the match holder!”
Thanking the girls for the delicious lunch, Mrs. Myles picked up her sack and went on her way. She did not say where she was going or why she came to the park so regularly.
“What do you suppose she does with that sack?” Sunny speculated.
“Perhaps she gathers wood or sticks,” suggested Jane.
This explanation did not satisfy the other Brownies. They pointed out that if Mrs. Myles needed wood, she could obtain it much nearer her home.
“This forest is filled with mysteries!” laughed Connie.
“Our tree house is the greatest one of all,” agreed Veve, helping to gather up the paper plates. “I’d give a lot to know who built it. Or for that matter, who gave us this luncheon today.”
“The brownies,” chuckled Jane. “Wasn’t that what you said, Veve?”
“I was only joking. I don’t really believe in them. You have to admit though, that it’s queer so many nice things keep happening to us.”
“It wasn’t nice the way those mean boys broke into our playhouse,” Sunny declared. “I do wish we had a lock on the door.”
Of the opinion that Sam Vincent never would arrive for luncheon, the girls cleared away the remains of the meal. Paper napkins and plates were burned and refuse dropped in a can provided for the purpose.
Finally, when everything was spic and span, the girls started back to the tree house.
The six were trotting along the trail ahead of Miss Gordon when from somewhere to the left, they heard a strange cry.
For a moment the girls thought that the sound had been made by an animal. Then they were certain that it was a human cry.
“What was that?” Rosemary asked uneasily, pausing to listen.
“I thought it sounded as if someone were shouting,” declared Jane.
“It was a woman’s voice,” insisted Veve.
“I heard several boys,” asserted Connie. “They were laughing!”
Drawn by a confused babble, the girls turned down an off-shoot path to try to discover what was wrong. Before they had gone many yards the voices became plainer.
“I can hear Mrs. Myles!” declared Veve. “She’s in trouble!”
“It does sound that way,” agreed Miss Gordon, moving ahead of the Brownies. “Hurry, girls! We must find out what is wrong.”
At a dog trot, they all hastened on, soon coming to a small clearing. As the trees opened up ahead, the girls plainly saw what was causing the commotion.
Mrs. Myles stood beneath the branches of a black walnut tree, hemmed in by four boys. On the ground beside her lay a sack half filled with nuts.
“Stealing walnuts—stealing walnuts!” the boys chanted.
One of the naughty lads picked up a nut from the ground and threw it at Mrs. Myles.
As she angrily started toward him, another darted in and quickly upset her sack of walnuts.
“Why, those mean boys!” exclaimed Connie. “Stop it!”
Her cry caused the four to turn quickly around. Seeing Miss Gordon and so many Brownie Scouts, they knew that it would be wise to retreat.
One of the boys hurled a walnut at Jane, but missed his aim.
As the other girls started to gather up nuts to return the barrage, the four doers of mischief ran away.
“Are you hurt?” Miss Gordon asked, hastening to the old woman’s side.
Mrs. Myles murmured that she was quite all right. “But those dreadful boys—see what they did,” she mumbled, her gaze on the spilled sack of walnuts.
“Never mind,” the Brownie leader comforted her. “That can be quickly remedied.”
Taking their cue from Miss Gordon, the girls began to gather up the scattered nuts. For the first time they realized that Mrs. Myles had tried to keep them from learning why she came to the park area.
“She’s been gathering nuts in that sack we’ve seen her carry,” Veve whispered to Connie. “Do you suppose she is taking them without permission?”
Now Mrs. Myles was deeply embarrassed to find herself in such a situation. Although she did not hear what Veve said to Connie, she knew that the Brownies must be wondering about her.
“It isn’t true that I am stealing nuts,” she said quietly. “Mr. Karwhite gave me permission to take as many as I like.”
“I’m sure he did,” agreed Miss Gordon. “Don’t be disturbed by anything those boys said or did. They are very badly behaved and have caused considerable trouble in the park.”
After the Brownies had picked up all of the scattered nuts, they offered to escort Mrs. Myles to her horse and buggy.
“This sack really is too heavy for you to carry,” Miss Gordon said somewhat anxiously.
By this time, although Mrs. Myles had not said so, the Brownies guessed that she gathered nuts because she needed them for food.
Connie and Veve, who had visited her rundown home, were certain of it.
Walking with Mrs. Myles to the road, the girls took turns carrying the heavy sack of walnuts. The horse and buggy were within view, when from a slope above the trail a small stone clattered down.
“Someone threw that!” declared Miss Gordon, halting.
Another pebble came skipping down the steep bank, striking Sunny on the leg. Although it did not hurt much, she let out a sharp cry.
“It’s those boys again!” shouted Jane furiously. “Come on, let’s teach them a lesson!”
She and Sunny were carrying the bag of walnuts at the moment. Dropping it on the trail, they started up the slope. The other Brownies were almost at their heels. Miss Gordon and Mrs. Myles, fearful that the girls might be injured if it came to a fight, started after them.
The boys, however, easily eluded their pursuers. Shouting taunts, they darted down and seized the abandoned sack of walnuts.
“Oh, they’re going off with them!” cried Veve in dismay.
Four boys were in the group. One was tall and large enough to be fifteen years of age. The others, who seemed to follow his orders, were younger.
“Ya! Ya! Ya!” they mocked the Brownies. “Stealing walnuts! Stealing walnuts!”
“That’s not so!” shouted Jane. “You’re the ones who mixed up the park signs!”
“Put that sack of nuts down!” ordered Veve. “Don’t you dare—”
The older boy, who had slung the sack over his shoulder, deliberately untied the cord as if to empty the contents upon the ground.
Miss Gordon tried to reason with him, but he paid no attention to anything she said.
“Take one step down the slope, and I’ll dump ’em all!” he challenged.
“What possible fun can you see in making work for a nice lady?” Miss Gordon asked, edging a little closer. “Did she ever make any trouble for you?”
“She’s been stealing walnuts,” the boy repeated.
His companions took up the hateful chant: “Stealing walnuts—stealing walnuts.”
“You’re just saying that to be mean!” Jane accused. “We know very well that you’re the ones who mixed up the tree signs and broke into our playhouse.”
“You ought to be reported to the police!” Eileen added.
“Please be reasonable and put down Mrs. Myles’ sack,” requested Miss Gordon.
“Like fun!” retorted the eldest boy in the group. “I just guess I’ll take these nuts home!”
Slinging the sack over his shoulder again, he started away.
Now the Brownies could not know whether he was merely trying to goad them or whether he meant to take the walnuts.
At any rate, with one accord they started down the slope in pursuit. But the other three boys blocked off the trail.
“If they want a fight, let’s give it to ’em!” shouted Jane.
Trouble certainly would have developed save for the timely arrival of Mr. Karwhite. The park superintendent, who had been working nearby, had been drawn by the loud cries.
Wondering what might be amiss, he came hurrying up the trail.
“What’s going on here?” he demanded.
His appearance was enough to frighten the four boys.
“Beat it fellows!”
With this warning to his three companions, the eldest culprit dropped the sack of nuts, and fled through the trees.
