Now this, of course, was ridiculous. It could mean but one thing: Liz was anxious to be alone in the cook-tent. And why?
Laura, however, merely said:
“Oh! very well. If you prefer not to be helped, Lizzie, that is all right.”
And she walked away; but she did not lose sight of the cook-tent. There was somebody there beside the maid-of-all-work, and Laura was sure she knew who.
Lil was inclined to feel abused. She thought that she should have been taken into the secret at the first.
“But see how you would have kicked,” said the slangy Bobby. “Why! you’d have wanted to go back home by the first boat.”
“I don’t think we ought to have stayed here with that man on the island,” grumbled Lil.
“With the old professor tagging after him?” chuckled Jess. “My goodness! can there be anything more respectable than Old Dimple?”
“If he is, why is he mixed up with this bank thief?” asked Lil, bluntly.
“I don’t believe the young man is any such thing,” announced Laura, hearing this. “He 200 doesn’t look bad. And surely we can trust to the professor’s judgment.”