“Make it the same as Flicks’ used to be—forty cents for lunch and sixty for dinner. The Royal charges a dollar for lunch and a dollar and a half for dinner. So everybody would save a dollar and a half a day by eating with us!”
“Frazier is going to hate us,” remarked Mary Louise.
“Of course he is. But who cares?”
“He’ll huff and he’ll puff——” muttered Mary Louise, half to herself. “Well, come on—let’s go. I’ve got a pencil and paper.”
“You always have a pencil and paper with you,” observed Mabel. “Is that because you expect to become a writer?”
“No, I don’t believe I’ll ever be a writer, Mabel. I’d rather do things than write about them.” She wished she might tell the other girl what she had accomplished earlier in the summer at Dark Cedars with the help of her notebook and pencil, but that would seem too much like bragging. Besides, the only way to succeed in life is to forget about the past and keep looking forward.
“Write down seven Reeds and four Gays,” said Mabel. “And two Ditmars. That makes thirteen already.”
“But four of those won’t eat till the others are served, so we’ll need only nine chairs so far.... Now, let’s see. Where shall we go first?”
“Let’s go right up the line of the cottages. Hunters’ is gone, of course, so we’ll try the Partridges. They have four in their family.”
“Mrs. Partridge is a great friend of mother’s,” observed Mary Louise. “I think they will sign up.”