“Well, the chairman never gets a chance to sit down, and he doesn’t need a chair! Ought to call him something else. I’m on my way.”
“Wait a minute,” Barry requested. “Who made you chairman?”
“Why, I did!” was the unblushing answer.
“That’s what I thought, popgun! Go ahead and do your organizing and we’ll be with you.”
“All right, be careful crossing corners!” grinned the energetic Charlie Black as he fairly dashed out of the post office.
Barry followed more slowly, and as he strolled along the street his mind was busy with the contemplated straw ride and the mystery at Lake Arrowtip. At last he came to a stop, and his face brightened up.
“Of course!” he murmured. “Why not?”
Abruptly changing his course, he turned down a side street and was soon going up the walk to the home of Mrs. Morganson. He was readily admitted, and the lady received him in the parlor. Barry rapidly told her about the plans for the straw ride.
“What I want to ask you in particular, Mrs. Morganson, is this: may we ride up to the lodge and have our gathering there? I will personally guarantee that we will treat the place well, and it would not suffer any from our visit, and Coach Jordan and Mrs. Jordan will be with us, I’m sure. I think it would be a splendid place for us to have supper, and we could spend the night there.”
“I am not in the least afraid that you would damage the lodge,” Mrs. Morganson smiled. “Are you sure Coach and Mrs. Jordan will go with you?”