“You really mean that, Linda?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Oh, you are wonderful! So generous! So clever, too!” She lowered her eyelids. “And to think I ever dared to pretend I could be you!”
Linda flushed in embarrassment at this praise—from the girl she had been regarding as her worst enemy. Luckily she did not need to say anything, for the car had stopped now, and Jardin, who had returned alone, was getting out.
“I left Chase with the two prisoners,” he explained. “Now you girls climb in.”
“Oughtn’t we to say something to the native boys who work here?” asked Fanny.
“I’ll come back and talk to them later,” replied Jardin. “After Long tells me what he wants to do with the plantation.”
The ride back to the beach consumed only fifteen minutes, but Linda realized when she got there that the afternoon was gone. So much time had been spent at the plantation, waiting around, first for Sprague, and then for the return of Jardin. Though it was still bright sunlight, her watch indicated six o’clock.
“We had better send a wireless to our hostess,” she said to Dot. “To let her know that we can’t be back in time for dinner.”
Her chum nodded dismally. Another festivity passed up! But it had been worth while this time, for at last their purpose was accomplished.