“Oh, aren’t we?” demanded Gerald.
“Yes; we’re going home,” Jim said, rather curtly. “Where did you think we were going—to the village?”
“Oh, come! You must have known Molly and I were only joking?”
“Of course, they knew it,” Molly chimed in, in a careless tone.
“There’s such a thing as carrying a joke too far,” said Gerald.
“No use to argue with a couple of girls, Gerald,” said Jim. “Let’s take ’em home and come back to-morrow.”
“Suits me,” responded his chum. “I hate to think we’ve had this long jaunt for nothing, but there’s an old saying to the effect that we must learn by experience.”
Their poles “knocked down,” and stowed away in their canvas cases, the boys picked up their coats and prepared to move.
“Oh, I say, this is a shame!” cried Dorothy. “I had counted on having such a good time.”