

E-text prepared by Stephen Hutcheson, MFR, and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net)



Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
      file which includes the original illustrations.
      See 54147-h.htm or 54147-h.zip:
      (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/54147/54147-h/54147-h.htm)
      or
      (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/54147/54147-h.zip)





[Illustration: “Stretched out his arms to bar their way” _Page 142_]


DOROTHY DALE AND HER CHUMS

by

MARGARET PENROSE

Author of “Dorothy Dale: a Girl of To-Day,” “Dorothy
Dale at Glenwood School,” “Dorothy Dale’s
Great Secret,” etc.

Illustrated






New York
Cupples & Leon Company


      *      *      *      *      *      *

THE DOROTHY DALE SERIES

  BY MARGARET PENROSE

  Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume, 60 cts., postpaid

    DOROTHY DALE: A GIRL OF TO-DAY
    DOROTHY DALE AT GLENWOOD SCHOOL
    DOROTHY DALE’S GREAT SECRET
    DOROTHY DALE AND HER CHUMS

    (Other volumes in preparation)

  CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY NEW YORK

      *      *      *      *      *      *


Copyright, 1909, by
Cupples & Leon Company

DOROTHY DALE AND HER CHUMS




CONTENTS


  CHAPTER                              PAGE

      I. STOLEN BIRDS                     1
     II. THE GYPSY GIRL                   8
    III. DOROTHY AT THE CAMP             21
     IV. THE MIDNIGHT ALARM              29
      V. AN AWFUL EXPERIENCE             43
     VI. “THE GOODS”                     59
    VII. A STRANGE GIRL                  72
   VIII. THE RUNAWAY                     77
     IX. MIETTE                          87
      X. A RUMPUS                        98
     XI. “GIRLS AND GIRLS”              104
    XII. A GIRL’S MEAN ACT              112
   XIII. THE TROUBLES OF MIETTE         120
    XIV. DOROTHY TO THE RESCUE          128
     XV. A QUEER TRAMP                  143
    XVI. SURPRISES                      152
   XVII. DOROTHY’S COURAGE              161
  XVIII. TAVIA’S DOUBLE                 171
    XIX. THE CAPTURE                    177
     XX. URANIA IN THE TOILS            187
    XXI. COMPLICATIONS                  197
   XXII. SINCERE AFFECTION’S POWER      206
  XXIII. THE REAL MIETTE                218
   XXIV. THE SEARCH                     231
    XXV. DOROTHY AND HER CHUMS          243




DOROTHY DALE AND HER CHUMS

CHAPTER I

STOLEN BIRDS


“Of all things, to have that happen just now! Isn’t it too mean!”
sighed Dorothy, perching herself on the high shelf at the side of the
pump, and gazing dejectedly beyond the wire fence into the pigeon loft,
where a few birds posed in real “Oh fair dove, Oh, fond dove!” fashion.

“Mean?” repeated Tavia, who was inside the wire fence, calling live
birds, and looking for dead ones, both of which efforts were proving
failures. “It is awful, Dorothy, such a doings as this. They are gone,
sure enough,” and she crawled through the low gate that was intended as
an emergency exit for chickens or pigeons. “I’d just like to know who
took them,” she finished.

“So would I,” and Dorothy shook her blonde head with a meaning clearer
than mere words might impart. “Yes, I would like to know, and I’ve just
a notion of finding out.”

Tavia reached for the clean little drinking pan that rested on the
shelf at Dorothy’s elbow. She held it under the pump spout while
Dorothy worked the pump handle up and down. Then, with the fresh water
in her hand, Tavia crawled inside the wire enclosure again. A few tame
bantams flew across the yard to the treat. Then the doves left their
perch and joined the party around the pan.

“How lonely they look without the others,” remarked Dorothy, as she,
too, crept through the wire gate. “And I did love the Archangels. I
never saw prettier doves. They always reminded me of real