Yet she wasn’t stupid, or uneducated, for she used perfect English, and the girls noticed when she ate her lunch, which the attendant brought her on a tray, that her table manners were of the best. She had evidently been brought up correctly by someone.
“We won’t!” Linda assured her. “We’ll come back for you to-morrow morning, and if the doctor says that you can leave the hospital, we’ll take you with us in our airplane.” She purposely didn’t use the word “autogiro,” for fear of confusing her.
“Now get a good rest this afternoon,” she added, “and look for us bright and early in the morning.”
It was a promise, of course, for Linda and Dot felt as if this young girl was their special responsibility. A most inconvenient promise, however, for it meant remaining another day in Milwaukee.
“Are you sure that you have enough money, Linda?” asked Dot, as they returned to their hotel for lunch.
“Oh, plenty,” was the reply. “That’s not what’s worrying me. It’s Aunt Emily. She won’t like it a bit. Still, she wouldn’t want us to leave a helpless child. I’ll call her up, instead of sending another wire.”
“Why not fly home across the lake this afternoon, and come back to-morrow?” suggested Dot.
“For two reasons. One is, I want to give the ‘Ladybug’ an inspection to-day, and the other is, Aunt Emily might not want us to come back. She might suggest that we just send the girl some money. But that poor little lonely thing needs friendship more than she needs money.”
“True. But how shall I put in my time while you go over the ‘Ladybug?’”
“Take in a picture show. Or stop back at the hospital.... We can do something together to-night.”