All the while the atmosphere was growing heavier and stiller, and the clouds blacker and blacker. So hot, so tired, so hungry were the girls, however, that they hardly noticed the approaching storm. Keeping their eyes fixed on the house in the distance, they walked with grim determination toward their goal.
The house, though not large, was attractive and well-kept, and the girls greeted it with a sigh of relief.
“I hope we won’t be kidnapped if we dare to go in,” said Marjorie, jokingly.
A pleasant faced woman answered their knock. In a few hurried words, Marjorie told the story, and asked for the time, and for a drink.
“Five minutes of three!” answered the woman, glancing at the clock.
“We’ve lost out!” gasped Frieda. “In five minutes the canoe meet starts!”
“Not if I know it!” said the woman cheerily, throwing wide open the door. “Just look at that rain! Come on inside, or you’ll catch your death of cold!”
And so a second time Harold Mason’s attempt to help Ruth came to naught.