Round Robin

Round Robin by Abbie Farwell Brown

Round Robin follows Anne Poole, a wealthy, lonely girl sent by her father to spend the summer at Mrs. Batchelder’s rustic Maine camp after her family leaves for Canada. At Old Harbor she is met by the Round Robin Club: Nancy Batchelder, her English cousin Cicely Vane, Belgian-born Gilda Bétemps, Italian-American Norma Sonnino, Virginian Beverly Peyton, and Captain Sackett’s niece Nelly. Anne, known behind her back as the “Golden Girl,” arrives in expensive clothes and expects servants, porters, and comfort. Instead she finds tents, shared chores, cold sea bathing, simple meals, and an exuberant company united by the cry, “Heia! Hoia! Together! Get together!” At first Anne is proud, critical, and homesick. She dislikes washing dishes, camping clothes, and the absence of luxuries, but Mrs. Batchelder’s warmth, Beverly’s friendliness, music, outdoor life, and Patsy, Nancy’s great white “shag cat,” begin to soften her. On Midsummer Eve Patsy disappears. Anne joins Nancy and Cicely on a moonlit search, during which they see Sal Seguin, an elderly Indian woman, waiting by the shore with a bundle. The girls fear that Sal has taken the cat, but Patsy returns exhausted the next morning, and Nancy imagines he may have found fern-seed and become invisible. The campers hold a clam-bake that fails because Dick Reed forgets the tide and buries the clams where they cannot be recovered until low water. Their improvised picnic becomes more interesting when they discover an old shell-heap, and Sal Seguin appears, declaring that the shore belonged to her people. Though wary of the campers, she agrees to bring baskets to Round Robin. Mrs. Batchelder later tells a symbolic story about a patchwork quilt representing America: a nation made strong by many peoples, regions, traditions, and gifts bound into one Union. Anne visits Idlewild, her father’s grand estate, with the other girls. She expects them to admire it, but finds it shuttered, neglected, and strangely lifeless. Only her own little flower and herb garden has been tended, secretly, by Captain Sackett and Nelly. At the Sackett home Anne is welcomed despite her former distance from them. She discovers that Captain Sackett saved her white rabbit Plon when Mr. Poole’s animals were sold, and she hears his story of rescuing shipwrecked Portuguese sailors from the Washers. The Captain’s courage and humility move Anne, who begins to recognize that ordinary-looking people may be genuine heroes. Anne’s transformation continues through work, friendships, and shared play. She learns to help with camp duties, plans costumes with Nelly for Mrs. Batchelder’s birthday party, and chooses to dress as a mermaid beside her rather than wear her own splendid Columbine dress. The girls’ matching costumes make others notice an unexpected resemblance between Anne and Nelly. At a Round Robin entertainment for Old Harbor children, Anne finally wears the Columbine costume and dances as the fairy heroine of Nancy’s tale. The children adore her, and Anne begins to care about the village families and their needs. A mountain expedition changes everything. The girls visit an eagle’s nest, where Nancy recklessly climbs a tree and is driven down by the enraged parent birds. On the journey home Anne falls behind, refuses to keep together, and becomes lost. She finds a lonely hut, hears a rifle shot, and finally reaches a hidden shore where a rough stranger takes her by motorboat toward camp. He orders her to forget what she has seen and reacts darkly when he learns she is Chester Poole’s daughter. Meanwhile Beverly narrowly escapes being shot by another man who mistakes her for a deer; Nelly saves her by knocking her down. Anne returns safely, admits that she disobeyed the club rule, and gains new respect for Nelly’s leadership and for the neighbors who would have searched for her. Anne later tells Dick enough for him to locate the hidden cove, cave, and mountain hut. Together they discover evidence of moonshining: liquor-making equipment, rifles, deer skins, jugs, and crates marked with her father’s name. Anne also finds an envelope showing that Mr. Poole has written to P. Leveen, one of the men involved. Before the mystery can be resolved, Idlewild burns in the night. The villagers believe the fire was set deliberately, and Anne overhears them speak bitterly of her father’s crimes. The newspapers reveal that Chester F. Poole, head of a banking firm, has fled to Canada after stealing the savings of local fishermen, farmers, laborers, and widows. His wealth, fine house, and social power have been built from money entrusted to him. Anne is devastated by the disgrace and by the discovery that Idlewild has been emptied and abandoned. Captain Sackett takes her to his home, where she is protected and comforted. Sal Seguin is suspected of starting the fire because she was found near Idlewild, but Beverly patiently interprets her explanation. Sal had gone to Anne’s herb garden for medicinal plants for sick Indians and saw two men removing jugs from the cellar and setting the fire. Anne identifies them as the moonshiners. Captain Sackett, Hugh, Victor, Dick, and local men follow Dick’s route to the hidden cove and raid the hut. They capture Leveen and his tall companion, discover illegal liquor, dynamite, and jugs bearing C. F. Poole’s name, linking the men’s trade to Mr. Poole’s secret stores of liquor.

By Abbie Farwell Brown · First published 1902 · Genre: Children's Literature, Juvenile Fiction, Girls' Adventure Fiction · 23 chapters · 65,012 words

First lines

Six girls and a terrier puppy were waiting on the wharf at Old Harbor for the boat to come in. Of course there were many other persons gathered besides these; for the arrival of the daily mail boat was the great event of the little Maine seaport. But the six girls in their brown middies, flitting about like gay thrushes, seemed to take up most of the room on the little pier; to say nothing of the omnipresent pup.

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Maine coast · early 20th century · girls' camp fiction · children's adventure novel · summer vacation · female friendship · wealth and class prejudice · personal growth · outdoor life · camp chores · rustic camping · New England seaport

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