Part 12 (1/2)
”And did Jim get angry at that?” inquired Cora.
”Angry! He fairly fell upon poor Dan,” put in Walter, ”and when Ben saw him--I tell you Ben may stand a lot of trouble on his own account, but, when it comes to anyone trying to do Dan, Ben is right there to fight for him. Didn't he almost put Jim over the rail?”
”There must have been quite a lively time,” said Jack. ”Sorry I missed it. There is so little excitement around here that we need all we can get. And what was the answer?”
”Jim took his old letter and slunk off,” finished Belle. ”And Dan said he couldn't have read even the name on the out side if he had tried. He said it must have been written in Greek,” and Belle laughed at the idea of the cla.s.sics getting mixed up in any such small affair.
”Seems to me,” said Cora thoughtfully, ”that Jim had some very important reason for fearing that one might see that letter.”
”Yes,” declared Hazel, ”that struck me right away. I shouldn't be surprised if it had been addressed to--the ghost!”
”Well, if you young ladies intend to see what is going on at the Casino this evening,” Ed reminded them, ”we had better make a start.
This is amateur night, I believe.”
”And the Blake girls are going to sing,” announced Jack. ”Then I shall have a chance to clap my hands at pretty Mabel,” and he went, through one of those inimitable boys' pranks, neither funny nor tragic, but just descriptive.
”I think it is awfully nice of the Blake girls to take part,” said Cora, ”for in this little summer colony everyone ought to be agreeable.”
”But I notice you are not taking part,” Ed said with a laugh. ”Just fancy Cora Kimball on the Casino platform.”
”Don't fancy anything of the kind,” objected Bess. ”We are willing to be sociable but we have no ambition to s.h.i.+ne.”
”Come along,” called Jack, who was on ahead with Hazel, ”and mind, if anything brushes up against you, it is apt to be a c.o.o.n, not a cat, as Belle thought the other night.”
They started off for the path that led to the public pavilion on the lake sh.o.r.e. Cora was with Ed, Walter had Belle on one side and Bess on the other, because he declared that the twins should always go together to ”balance” him. Jack and Hazel led the way.
At the pavilion the seats were almost all occupied, for campers from all sides of the lake flocked there on the entertainment evenings.
A band was dreaming over some tune, each musician evidently being his own leader.
The elder Miss Blake, Jeannette, who sat on an end seat, arose as they entered and made room for the Chelton folks to sit beside her, meanwhile gus.h.i.+ng over the prospect of the evening's good time, and the good luck of ”meeting girls from home.”
Walter allowed Bess and Belle to pa.s.s to the chairs beyond Miss Blake and thus placed himself beside the not any too desirable spinster.
He made a wry face aside to Jack. He liked girls but the elder Miss Blake!
”Mabel is going to sing 'Dreams,'” she said sweetly. ”I do love Mabel's voice in 'Dreams.'”
”Yes, I think I should too,” said Walter, but the joke was lost on Jeannette. ”Who is that dark man over there?” he asked.
”Oh that's a foreigner. They call him Jones, but that's because his name is so unp.r.o.nounceable. Isn't he handsome?” asked the lady.
”Rather odd looking I should say,” returned Walter, ”but it seems to me he is attracted in this direction. Why should he stare over this way so?”
”He knows me,” replied Miss Blake, bowing vigorously to ”Jones” who was almost turned around in his chair in his determination to see the Chelton party.
”He's mighty rude, I think,” Walter complained again, leaning over to speak to Cora who was just beyond Bess. ”Do you feel the draft from that window, Cora?” he asked.
”Oh I--” then she stopped. Something in Walter's voice told her that it was not the window draft he was referring to. She glanced across the room, and her eyes fell upon the man she had met at Jim Peter's landing place.
”I think those seats over there--up near the stage are much pleasanter,” said Jack, who also saw that something was wrong.