“I’m good for anything, if we only get away! And, believe me, I’ll stuff!”
The girls dressed, and spent the morning wandering about the house and looking at some old books and magazines, the latter of which had evidently been current during Mrs. Higgins’s youth. They asked continually for news of her husband, but always received a negative reply. They managed to look annoyed and to preserve, in the presence of their captor, the same sullen attitude which they had assumed at the beginning.
At noon they ate a particularly hearty meal, and then retired to their room to take a nap. For they felt that the chances were that they would get little sleep that night. It was while they were lying down, and just beginning to doze off, that Miss Phillips and Ethel came in search of them and held the conversation with Mrs. Higgins through the window. But they were utterly unconscious of the whole proceeding.
They awakened a little before six, just in time to get ready for supper. Again they ate heartily and inquired with concern for the old man.
“You needn’t expect to see ’im before Monday or Tuesday, or whenever your pap comes home,” Mrs. Higgins repeated; “for I know he’ll stick to the end. They’s a nice hotel at Besley, and he has cronies there; in fact, he often goes off fer several days at a time!”
“And leaves you all alone?” demanded Marjorie indignantly. “Men are beasts, aren’t they?” she added.
“Some is,” sighed Mrs. Higgins; “the fact is, I’m quite o’ that mind meself about the old man!”
The girls went to their rooms after supper, announcing their intention of going to bed early. Mrs. Higgins, too, decided to turn in as soon as the dishes were done. Marjorie was just on the point of offering to help when she reconsidered her idea, and decided it would be wisest to let things stay as they were.
Marjorie and Frieda watched the sunset and the deepening twilight from their window, and kept a sharp look out for Mr. Higgins. When it was finally quite dark, and they had heard the stairs creak as Mrs. Higgins went to bed, and all was still in the house, they cut the netting of the window with Frieda’s scout knife, and prepared to descend. Frieda went first.
With the end of the bed sheet tied around her waist, she put one foot upon the lattice. Then, finding that it supported her weight, she descended cautiously step by step. Fortunately for her, and for her companion as well, both girls wore sneakers. It was a more difficult matter for Marjorie to follow, for she had no sheet to protect her. But knowing that Frieda, who was heavier, had arrived safely, she made the descent boldly. In a moment they were on the ground together.