“Thank Heaven!” cried Lily, settling back into her seat with a sigh of relief. For in her subtle manner, Marjorie had conveyed to the girls that they now had protectors.
THE END OF THE DRIVE.
CHAPTER XIX
THE END OF THE DRIVE.
As the Girl Scouts entered the dining-room of their hotel the following day they looked anything but jubilant. The trip through the desert loomed up before them, with its tediousness, its ugliness, its dangerous aspect. For, in spite of everything they said to the contrary, they all secretly believed that trouble was in store for them sooner or later. And what place could be more opportune than the barren waste land of the next three states?
It was Marjorie who sensed the general depression of the whole party and made an effort to dispel it. She wished that she might joke about the boys who were following them, but that subject was still to be kept a secret from Mrs. Hart. Instead, therefore, she reminded them of the rewards they were to receive. Her vivacity, however, failed to draw any spark from the others.
“We heard all that before, on the way out,” remarked Florence, cynically. “And nothing happened. Even if we get there safely, Miss Vaughn will find some other excuse to refuse us.”
“You don’t seem to think much of our worthy benefactor,” observed Ethel. “It’s a lucky thing that Alice isn’t along, to hear such opinions of her aunt!”
“Oh, Alice wouldn’t care!” exclaimed Florence.
“But maybe Mrs. Hart does,” Marjorie reminded her.