“Do you know those boys who were playing pirates?” he asked, when they were again on the shore and well out of hearing.
“I do, indeed,” Adele laughingly replied. “I have the honor of being the sister of Pirate the Terrible, but just at first I was certainly scared.”
As they talked, they approached the spot where they had left the others.
“More mystery!” Everett cried. “The girls are not here and the boat is gone.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
MORE MYSTERY
While Adele and Everett had been exploring the island, Madge Peterson and Eva had been comfortably seated under the pine-trees, sketching the point of rocks. At first Eva had felt shy and embarrassed, but when she found that Madge was not watching her, she lost her self-consciousness and began to draw, and when the sketch was finished she laughingly exclaimed, “I really ought not to show it to you. I’m afraid I never shall make an artist.”
“Indeed you will,” Madge replied brightly. “You have natural talent, and now I have a beautiful plan to suggest. Have you a guardian or any one especially interested in you?”
Eva shook her head sadly. “No one,” she replied simply.
“Then the matron of the Orphanage is the one whom I must ask if I wish to obtain permission for you to do something, is she not?” Madge questioned.
“Yes, Mrs. Friend is the only mother I have, but she is truly kind. Every one is kind. Adele has been just like a sister, and now you—”