“If the ants don’t eat it up,” returned Jane. “We better cover things up.”
“We’ll do it right away,” announced Hope Dorsey. “Come on, boys! you burn rubbish, and we girls will pack food.”
“I can’t move,” protested Max. “The ants are welcome to their share as far as I’m concerned. I don’t think I’ll ever eat again.”
“I hate aunts,” said Elsie, with a sly look at Mary Louise and Jane. “I don’t want them to get a thing, so I’ll help put the food away.”
Max and a couple of the other lazier boys were pulled to their feet by Kenneth and Norman, and the picnic spot was soon as clean as when the party had arrived. Hope Dorsey suggested that they drive back to her home later in the afternoon and have supper on the lawn. Then they could turn on the radio and dance on her big screened porch.
“When do we visit these gypsies you were talking about, Max?” demanded Jane. “I’m keen to hear my fortune.”
“They’re back towards Riverside,” replied the youth. “About half a mile from Dark Cedars,” he added, to Mary Louise.
“They used to camp at Dark Cedars—at least, some gypsies did,” Elsie informed the party. “If they’re the same ones, you’d think they wouldn’t come back, after they were driven away by the police.”
“Is that what your aunt did?” inquired Kenneth.
“Yes, so Hannah says—Hannah is the maid, you know. She says Aunt Mattie hates them.”