"How foolish we've been," sighed the girl.
"Yep, a pack o' idiots," agreed Dave.
"But it's too dark for anyone to see us—or notice us," she said with relief. "I think we might go right up to the house and look through the windows without anyone seeing us."
"Let's do it," suggested Dave.
"Well I should say not!" exclaimed the girl. "It's the last thing on earth I would do—peek into anyone's window! I am not so curious to see the interior of his house—or anyone's else."
"I'll bet they're just eatin' supper," said Ned hungrily.
"All the better," replied Hope; "there will be no one around to see us then. I wonder how much closer we'll have to go?"
"Not much further," answered the soft-voiced twin wisely. "See, there's the barns, an' the road ain't a great ways off." He led the way, while Hope and the boy, Dave, followed close, and the youngest boy trailed along somewhere in the rear. They passed between the stables and the house, then, aided by the fitful moon, found the road, along which they made better time.
Hope felt a great relief as they began to leave the house in the distance, though why, she could scarcely have explained. She said to herself that she was in a hurry to reach home, but as they neared the huge, flat-roofed sheep-sheds she slowed up her horse, which had gone on ahead of the others, and glanced back at her approaching scouts. The twins came up with her, then she stopped and looked behind.
"Where's Ned?" she asked sharply, a sudden suspicion entering her head. "What's keeping him?"