The girls plied Nan with questions on the way back, but she was too worn out with her terrible experience to answer them. The reaction was upon her, and all she wanted to do was crawl off in a corner somewhere and think things out.
They found the only hotel in Sunny Slopes, and, under Mr. Mason's expert management, were soon comfortably installed in a suite of rooms on the second floor.
"You must rest a bit, Nan," said Mrs. Mason kindly. "If you don't you may get sick."
"Oh, I can't rest," declared the girl.
Nevertheless, Mrs. Mason made her lie down, and presently Nan dropped off into a troubled doze. In the meanwhile Mr. Mason, followed by Walter, had raced off to interview the authorities.
When Nan opened her eyes she found the other girls impatiently waiting to speak to her.
"Goodness! I thought you were going to sleep forever," said Bess, as she saw with relief that Nan's eyes were open. Rhoda, who had been moving around in the other room, came to the door and peeped in.
"And here we've been waiting all this time to tell you the news," said Grace plaintively.
"News! What news?" asked Nan, still heavy with sleep.
"Who do you suppose is here?" asked Bess, then went on eagerly without waiting for an answer. "It's Linda, Nan. And she has Cora Courtney with her. We met them in the hall just now."