Part 24 (1/2)

”I hope not,” answered Harriet. ”This was a little sudden, but we didn't mind it so very much, did we, Miss Elting?”

”I don't know who you mean by 'we,' but please do not include me in this particular 'we.' I am not over the shock of that plunge yet, nor do I expect to be for some hours to come. I fear the car is ruined, Mr. McCarthy. I hope you will not send another one down here for Jane, if you will pardon my saying so.” This from Miss Elting.

”That's all right, Miss Elting. I am not going to send another car at present. Perhaps when you young folks are ready to go home I may send a car for you, but I may give you a driver. For the present I've got something else in my mind. I had to wait until I asked Mrs. Livingston about it before I put it through. She thinks it will be fine. She will tell you all about it at dinner to-day.”

”There goes the dinner horn now,” announced the guardian of the Meadow-Brook Girls. ”Girls, you are not presentable. Hurry and get ready for dinner. We mustn't be late to-day, of all days.”

It was really marvelous that the girls were able to work such a transformation in themselves in so short a time. In the few moments that had been left to them they had rearranged their hair, brushed the dirt of the plowed field from their clothing and washed their faces and hands. It was really a jolly dinner, too, for the good-natured guest kept them all laughing with his humorous stories and odd remarks. He was so much like his daughter Jane that they had no need to be reminded of the relations.h.i.+p.

”This has been a day of excitement, hasn't it?” remarked one of the guardians to Miss Elting. ”Buried treasure, automobile wrecks, visitors, mysterious strangers. Gracious me! what are the Camp Girls coming to?”

”I don't know. Did Mr. McCarthy say what the surprise is that he has in store for the girls? I thought perhaps he might have said something about it during our absence on that automobile ride.”

”Not that I heard. He undoubtedly told Mrs. Livingston. There, she is speaking now,” added the guardian.

Mrs. Livingston had risen and rapped on the table with a knife for attention.

”Our guest and good friend, Mr. McCarthy, wishes to make an announcement,” she said, then sat down.

Jane's father got up, his face very red, his forehead glistening with beads of perspiration.

”Your guest and good friend most emphatically _does not_ wish to make an announcement,” declared the visitor. ”But it is up to him to do so because he wishes to please that fine woman, your Chief Guardian--is that what you call yourself, Mrs. Livingston? I get all mixed up with various names and t.i.tles. It's as bad as attending a reception of the royal family, judging from what I've heard.”

Mrs. Livingston nodded, smiling good-naturedly.

”Well, girls, you know I've got to do something to furnish that mad-cap daughter of mine with a variety of means of ending her life and those of her friends. She has exhausted everything thus far. However, this is a perfectly safe proposition, this one that I have planned for you and her, and I don't think any of you can get into serious difficulty through it.”

”Don't keep us in suspense, Dad! Tommy will suffocate if you don't tell us now. She has been holding her breath ever since you began speaking,” cried Jane.

A ripple of laughter ran along both sides of the table, but quickly subsided when Mr. McCarthy again began speaking.

”Very good, if you must know. But--I say, Mrs. Livingston, I think we won't tell them until to-morrow. As I think it over, I guess I won't tell them after all. They'll know all about it when it gets here.

That's all.” Mr. McCarthy sat down, wiping his forehead and looking vastly relieved.

A chorus of ”Ohs!” greeted the announcement. ”Please, please tell us, oh, do,” they begged, but the visitor shook his head.

”I think, Mr. McCarthy, that I had better tell them if you do not wish to. They will be too much upset otherwise,” said the Chief Guardian.

”Have I your permission?”

He nodded.

”As you wish. They've got me so fl.u.s.tered that I couldn't say another word to them.”

”Very good. Listen, girls, and I will tell you,” said the Chief Guardian.

CHAPTER XVII

WHEN THEIR s.h.i.+P CAME IN