Part 3 (1/2)

A very stout boy, sitting across the table, sn.i.g.g.e.red, and then, encountering Ned's inquiring regard, said, ”Guess you think you're in the Waldorf!”

”What's the Waldorf?” asked Ned. ”Don't you get lemon with iced tea here?”

”Sure! but you don't get much. Say, are you fellows-twins, or what?”

”Twins?” repeated Laurie. ”Where do you get that stuff? This fellow's name is Anderson and mine's Stenman. What's yours?”

”Crow. Honest, is that a fact?” Crow looked appealingly at the other occupants of the table. These, however, two rather embarra.s.sed-looking youngsters of fourteen or thereabouts, fixed their eyes on their plates, and Crow turned his regard incredulously back to the twins. ”Gee, you fellows look enough alike to be-be-” He swallowed the word. ”Aren't you even related?”

Ned gazed speculatively at Laurie and Laurie gazed speculatively at Ned.

”We might be,” hazarded the latter.

Laurie nodded. ”If we went back far enough, we might find a common ancestor.”

The arrival of luncheon caused a diversion, although Crow, who was a round-faced, credulous-looking youth of perhaps seventeen, continued to regard them surrept.i.tiously and in puzzlement. At last, making the pa.s.sing of the salt an excuse, for further conversation, he asked, ”Where do you fellows come from?”

”California,” said Ned.

”Santa Lucia,” said Laurie.

”Well, but,” sputtered Crow, ”isn't California in Santa-I mean, isn't Santa-Say, you guys are joking, I'll bet!”

”Methinks,” observed Ned, helping himself gravely to mustard, ”his words sound coa.r.s.e and vulgar.”

Laurie abstractedly added a fourth teaspoon of sugar to his iced tea.

”Like Turk or Kurd or even Bulgar,” he murmured.

Crow stared, grunted, and pushed his chair back. ”You fellows think you're smart, don't you?” he sputtered. ”Bet you you are twins-both of you!”

Ned and Laurie looked after him in mild and patient surprise until his broad back had disappeared from view. Then a choking sound came from one of the younger lads, and Ned asked gently, ”Now what's your trouble, son?”

The boy grew very red of face and gave way to giggles. ”I knew all the time you were twins,” he gasped.

”Did you really?” exclaimed Laurie. ”Well, listen. Just as a favor to us, don't say anything about it, eh? You see, we're sort of-sort of-”

”Sort of sensitive,” aided Ned. ”We'd rather it wasn't generally known.

You understand, don't you?”

The boy looked as if he was very far indeed from understanding, but he nodded, choked again, and muttered something that seemed to indicate that the secret was safe with him. Laurie thanked him gratefully.

After luncheon they went sight-seeing about the school, snooped through the dim corridors and empty cla.s.s-rooms of School Hall, viewed the gymnasium and experimented with numerous apparatus, and finally, after browsing through a flower and vegetable garden behind the recitation building and watching two boys make a pretense of playing tennis, returned to Number 16 in the hope of finding their trunks. But the baggage had not arrived, and presently, since the room was none too cool, they descended again and followed the curving drive to the right and past a sign that said ”Exit Only” and wandered west on Summit Street.

For the middle of September in the lat.i.tude of southern New York the weather was decidedly warm, and neither gra.s.s nor trees hinted that autumn had arrived. In the well-kept gardens across the way, scarlet sage and cosmos, asters and dahlias made riots of color.

”Hot!” grunted Ned, running a finger around the inside of his collar.

”Beastly,” agreed Laurie, removing his cap and fanning his heated face.