Part 21 (2/2)

That afternoon the boys and girls went in swimming and that evening Connie's mother treated them all to a substantial dinner such as only she knew how to cook.

And the way it disappeared before those ravenous girls and boys made even Mr. Danvers hold up his hands in consternation. But Connie's mother laughed happily, pressed them to eat everything up, ”for it would only spoil,” and looked more than ever like Connie's older sister.

That night the boys were put up in a spare room which contained one bed and two cots which Connie's mother always kept stowed away for emergencies. For the cottage on Lighthouse Island was a popular place with Mrs. Danvers' relatives and friends, and she often had unexpected company.

They went out on the porch a little while after supper, and the boys were at their funniest and kept the girls in a continual gale of merriment.

The time pa.s.sed so quickly that before they knew it eleven o'clock chimed out from the hall inside and in consternation Connie's mother hurried them all off to bed.

”To-morrow is another day,” she added with a little smile.

As they started up the stairs Teddy looked down at Billie and said boyishly:

”Say, Billie, you've got _some_ sunburn, haven't you? You're--you're mighty pretty.”

Then Teddy blushed and Billie blushed, and Billie hoped with all her heart that Laura had not heard it.

Laura had not, for she was talking and laughing with Paul Martinson and Connie. And so Billie, running ahead and reaching her room first, turned on the light and stepped over to the mirror.

Was that Billie, she wondered, who gazed back at her from the mirror? For this girl was surely prettier than Billie ever had been. Her eyes were s.h.i.+ning, her cheeks were flushed under their tan, and her hair, a little tumbled by the breeze from the sea, made an unexpectedly pretty frame for a very lovely face.

The next day the girls insisted that the boys take them out in their motor boat. The boys protested a little, for the sun was acting rather queerly--going under a cloud and staying there sometimes for half an hour on a stretch.

”I don't know,” said Paul, a doubtful eye on the sky. ”It isn't what you could call a real clear day, girls, and I don't want to take any chances with you.”

”Oh, we're not afraid, if you're not,” sang out Laura teasingly, and he turned round upon her with a scowl.

”I'm not afraid for myself, and I think probably you know that. Just the same----”

”Oh, but here's the sun!” called Vi suddenly, as the sun burst forth from the cloud and showered a golden glory over everything. ”It's going to be a beautiful day--just beautiful.”

So it was settled, and amid great fun and laughter they picked up the lunch that Connie's mother prepared for them and started happily off, humming as they went.

As they clambered aboard _The Sh.e.l.ling_--Paul had named his craft after Captain Sh.e.l.ling, the master of Boxton Military Academy,--the sun went under a cloud again, and this cloud was bigger and blacker than any that had swallowed it before. But Laura's taunt still rang in Paul's ears, and he said nothing.

In a little while there was no need for words. The girls began to see for themselves that Paul had been right and that it would have been far better if they had waited till a really clear day.

They had put some distance between them and the mainland when the sun went under a cloud for good, and a cool little breeze began to rise.

This had been going on for some time before they even realized it, they were having such fun. Then it was Connie who spoke.

”Doesn't it look a little--a little--threatening, Paul?” she asked timidly. ”Do you suppose it is going to rain?”

”No, I don't think it's going to rain,” Paul answered, his hands on the wheel, his eyes rather anxiously fixed on the water ahead. ”But I do think we're going to have one of those sudden heavy mists that come off the coast here. Dad said to look out for them, because they're thick enough to cut, and if you get caught in one you can't see your hand before your face.”

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