True to their promise, the girls returned a moment later, with Silky at their heels, and all three young people made their way to the tennis court. There was only one court at Shady Nook—which the boys themselves had made—but there was another across the river on the hotel grounds. However, nobody ever seemed to mind waiting or taking turns, so the crowd usually stayed together.
Jane was introduced to the Reed twins, who looked and dressed so exactly alike that she had not the faintest idea which was Mabel and which was Sue after a couple of minutes had elapsed. Then there were three other young people who were staying at the inn for a short time, besides David McCall and themselves. To her dismay, Cliff Hunter did not come across the river to join the party.
The whole crowd went in swimming about eleven o’clock, and here their elders joined them, with some of the younger children. Not Freckles, however, or the Reed boys or the Smiths: they had gone off hiking for the day. Again Jane did not see Cliff Hunter, and she was giving all her attention to a young man named Stuart Robinson, who lived in the new bungalow next to the Ditmars’, when she heard her name shouted from the shore.
“Jane! Oh, Jane!”
Raising her head from her swimming position and treading water, she peered towards the shore. It was Cliff Hunter—but not attired in a bathing suit.
“Come on out!” he called.
Jane swung into the crawl, and reached the young man in a couple of minutes. He was grinning broadly.
“Take a card,” he said.
Jane burst out laughing. “How can I?” she asked. “I’m soaked.”
“Oh, that’s all right. I’ve got plenty of packs. This is a swell trick. I’ve been studying it all morning.”