“Thank you, kind sir,” Laura replied graciously, “but since I’m going to need my neck for a little while longer, I must refuse—with regret of course.”
“On second thought, perhaps that is best,” Walker agreed. “It would be a shame to spoil this lovely scene this fine morning.”
“It is pretty, isn’t it?” Nan looked about her with great satisfaction. The patio or courtyard so familiar to Spain is a part of the Mexican scene too, and this one where Nan was taking pictures was particularly lovely with its gay flowers, deep green foliage, and pond all surrounded by the pinkish colored walls of the hotel itself.
“Oh, but I hate to leave all this,” Nan remarked when the pictures were taken and she and Laura and Walker were returning to the hotel lobby.
“And so do we,” the other girls chorused, as the party all came together.
“Ah, you go, but you return.” Walker sounded quite poetic as he said this. “And then, remember, you have no conception of the adventures the hacienda holds in store for you.”
“Have you?” The girls looked suspiciously at Walker, when Nan asked this question.
His answer was a mysterious look.