"That's all she says about the team," Nora finished, folding up the letter. "No, wait a minute," she added. "This may interest you, too. She says:
"'We have the most adorable mascot; wait till you see him; and he's never failed us yet.'"
"Thanks, ever so much," Louise exclaimed as soon as she stopped reading. "That's valuable information. We're much obliged to your friend."
"I wouldn't have said anything about it if she hadn't bragged so," Nora answered, backing to the door. "But mind, you beat them _well_, so that I can say 'I told you so.'"
"We will, we will," cried the team with one voice.
"Now what do you think of that?" demanded Madelaine Ames, one of the guards, a tall lanky girl with straight hair.
"What did she say about a mascot?" Betty inquired eagerly.
"That they had an adorable one," replied Mary Reeves, the other guard.
"We ought to have one, too," chimed in Helen Reed, the jumping center. "Something original, I say; I'm tired of cats and dogs."
"Everybody think hard," suggested Louise, "and if you think of something, let me know and I'll call a meeting. We can't let them get ahead of us even in a mascot."
After a few unimportant details were discussed, the meeting broke up and the girls separated, each to think of a fitting mascot.
The next morning Lois, Betty and Polly, having finished all their exams, had the whole glorious day to themselves. Right after breakfast they disappeared into the woods and sought their favorite brook. When they reached it, they were very hot and tired, for the day was warm, and they had run all the way.
"Phew!" gasped Betty, throwing herself down beside the stream. "I'm hot."
"So am I," Polly agreed, resting her chin on her hands. "My feet, particularly. I have on these old hot gym shoes."
"Why don't we go in paddling?" suggested Lois. "It couldn't hurt us; it's so lovely and warm."
No sooner said than done. In two minutes their shoes and stockings were off and they were wading, ankle-deep, in the cool water.
"Great, isn't it?" gurgled Betty, looking down at her toes. "Ouch! Be careful of this spot; there's a sharp stone," she warned.
As Polly was about to look at the spot Betty was pointing to, a queer chattering noise up in the tree above her head caught her attention. Looking up she saw a dark brown "something" sitting on a limb of the tree.
