“All right?” repeated Agnes, with a sniff. “How can you say that? Nothing will be all right again, I guess, until we get back to the Corner House. I wish we had never come South.”
“We could not foresee all this trouble,” rejoined her sister soothingly. “We must not give up hope, Aggie.”
“Humph!”
“If I only knew that Tess and Dot were safe I would feel better. Lots of people have worse troubles than this. Think of what the poor Pendletons are going through, for instance.”
“Well, at least,” declared Agnes, “the Pendletons have a roof over their heads.”
“Ye-es,” agreed Ruth thoughtfully. “And they are all together.”
“They have somebody to help them too,” Agnes went on more energetically. “I am sure Guardy’s clerk will dig up some evidence to clear Mr. Pendleton. It only takes time. But we haven’t a soul to help us, Ruthie.”
“I wonder what the folks at St. Sergius think about our absence,” murmured the older girl. “Guardy’s friend, Señor Benno, ought to suspect that we are in some difficulty.”
“I wish he’d send a boat for us—right now!” cried Agnes. “Then we could go after the boys and the raft.”
“And find Tess and Dot,” added Ruth. “This is a dreadful thing, Agnes!”