“Miss—Miss Belding!” exclaimed the professor in a tone of anger. “How dare you? What do you mean?”
“I don’t mean to offend you, sir,” said Mother Wit, while Jess tugged at her sleeve and even Bobby stepped back toward the fringe of brush. The old gentleman looked very terrible indeed.
“I don’t mean to offend you, sir,” repeated Laura. “But that man has been twice to our camp. He has disturbed us. He was there again last night and frightened our little maid-of-all-work almost out of her wits. We have got to know what it means.”
“You are beside yourself, girl!” gasped the old gentleman, and instantly turned his head aside so that they could not see his face. 158
“Liz calls him ‘Mr. Norman,’” Laura pursued. “If you do not tell me who he is, and what his visits to our camp mean, I shall find out more about him—in Albany!”
Professor Dimp did not favor them with another word. He walked away and left the trio of girls standing, amazed, in the empty camping place.