Dot ... dot ... dash ... dot—"Fire!" by Clarice Detzer
Dot ... dot ... dash ... dot—"Fire!" by Clarice Detzer is a short adventure story written in the early 20th century. It follows a Girl Scout at a lakeside camp who proves her worth when a storm sparks a hotel fire and she uses wigwag signaling to summon help. The story centers on Edna James, a sixteen-year-old raised at a coast guard station by her uncle, Captain Eli James. Feeling out of
place among city girls at camp, Edna quietly excels at practical skills. After a gruff hotel owner, Vanbalken, complains about the scouts, a sudden squall rolls in; lightning strikes near his Ridge View Hotel and smoke rises. During signal practice, Edna stays steady under pressure, flashes the urgent message “Fire at Ridge View” along the line of girls, and help arrives quickly. She then assists with first aid for a shocked telephone operator. With the blaze contained and the scouts’ own camp blown down by the wind, Vanbalken apologizes and hosts the troop, while Miss Mills publicly affirms Edna’s courage and calm. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Author | Detzer, Clarice, 1895-1982 |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Beebe, Robb, 1891-1966 |
| Title | Dot ... dot ... dash ... dot—"Fire!" |
| Original Publication | New York: The American Girl, 1929. |
| Series Title | Produced from the August, 1929 issue of The American Girl magazine. |
| Credits | Roger Frank |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | PZ: Language and Literatures: Juvenile belles lettres |
| Subject | Short stories |
| Subject | Camping -- Juvenile fiction |
| Subject | Teenage girls -- Juvenile fiction |
| Subject | Girl Scouts -- Juvenile fiction |
| Subject | Michigan, Lake -- Juvenile fiction |
| Category | Text |
| EBook-No. | 77129 |
| Release Date | Oct 26, 2025 |
| Copyright Status | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 226 downloads in the last 30 days. |
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