“How many in a comma?” Mr. Ross said to Eddie, then added quickly, “forget it, Eddie. It wasn’t very funny. I—I’m afraid I don’t feel very funny tonight.”
“Sit down, dear,” Mrs. Ross said. “I’ll warm your dinner. You didn’t sound very cheerful when you called to say you would be late. How did everything go at the plant today?”
“Not so good,” Teena’s father said tiredly. “In fact, not good at all.”
Problems. It seemed that everyone had problems, Eddie thought, as he started to leave.
CHAPTER THREE
Three days later Eddie learned the nature of the trouble at Acme Aircraft Company. It was midmorning Saturday. Carrying a picnic lunch, he and Teena were hiking along the beach toward the distant U.S. Coast Guard lighthouse which stood on a high point overlooking Moon Bay. Old Captain Daniels, the lightkeeper, had been a friend of theirs for nearly two years. Every once in a while Teena and Eddie went to visit “Cap,” as they fondly called him. Teena would put up a picnic lunch which they shared with the kindly old man whose lonely vigil over the light had warned ships off the rocky coast for a good many years.
Eddie wasn’t sure exactly how the conversation got around to Acme Aircraft Company. It seemed that Teena mentioned something about trouble. Eddie asked, “What trouble?”
“Didn’t you read the paper this morning?” Teena asked.
“We don’t take the morning paper,” Eddie said. “We take the Globe.”