“Get away! I’d have Patrick turn the hose on you if you did!” cried Bess, in mock wrath.
But secretly, Miss Lavine, as well as her mates, was glad of the break in the quiet affairs of Green Knoll Camp made by the appearance of Dave Shepard and his spirited chums.
“Oh, crackey, girls! you ought to see our camp! We’ve got a regular pirates’ cave,” declared Ferdinand Roberts.
“Did your stores get wet in that awful storm?” demanded Wyn from the top of the knoll.
“Not much. We managed to cover them with the canvas. And now we’ve cleaned out the cave and it’s great. All we need is some captives to take over there and chain to the rocks,” laughed Dave.
“And fatten ’em up till they’re fit to eat,” drawled Tubby Blaisdell.
“Stop it, Tub!” cried one of his mates. “We’re not going to play cannibals, but pirates.”
“Well, in either case,” declared Bess, “you will not get captives at Green Knoll Camp.”
“Is that what you call this pretty hillock?” cried Dave. “Well, it is a beauty spot! And how nice you girls have made everything. Why! you don’t need any boys around at all.”
“That’s what I’ve always told them,” murmured Bess. “They’re only a nuisance.”