“Girls, girls, girls!” It was Dr. Prescott at the doorway. “What have you been doing? Don’t you know that the second gong for dinner has rung and that if you don’t hurry you won’t get anything to eat.”
“Nothing to eat! And me so starved after the whiffs I’ve been getting of the fresh salt air.” Laura was up and out of the room before she had finished the sentence. Amelia followed after. Ten minutes later the girls were headed down the corridor to the ship’s dining room.
“Have you got your ticket?” Nan asked as she held up a little red card that resembled the seat stubs in a theatre.
“Ticket, what ticket?” Laura stopped short.
“The ticket for your place in the dining room.” Bess was proud of this bit of knowledge.
“Why, I never had one,” Laura declared. “They never even gave me one.”
“Oh, yes they did,” Bess assured her. “Remember, after the purser looked at our passports when we came aboard ship, he sent us to a window where the dining room steward was sitting. The steward had a plan of the dining room before him, with all the tables pictured on it. He looked at us and at our passports and then gave us this little stub. Remember?”
Laura looked perfectly blank. “What will I do now?” she asked.
“Here, you take mine,” Bess was feeling generous. “Since I know just where to go, I’ll go up and get another. You all start eating, though. Don’t wait for me.” With this she was off to the purser’s office.
“Come on, Laura.” Nan took Laura’s arm as the girl hesitated wondering whether, if, after all, she shouldn’t get her own ticket.