"Yes; but we brought our own luncheons," said Laura. "We didn't expect you to do anything for us—-unless you boys had happened to catch a mess of fish."
"We were planning to go fishing this morning," Tom Reade explained, "although we do not know whether the fishing near here amounts to much. May I pass you some of this sirloin, Miss Marshall?"
Gay spirits ruled, as they usually do and always should when young people are together out in the open, far from studies or from any of the other cares of life.
Dick told the story of the stampede, while Mr. Ross added much about the peculiarities of stampeding cattle and the impossibility of controlling the animals while their mad fright lasts.
"I am certain that this is the finest meal I have ever eaten," declared Mr. Page, who, up to the present, had been rather silent.
"There is only one thing it needs," rejoined Mr. Ross. "If we had about six roasted ears of corn for each diner then this barbecue would be a huge success."
"Not even the corn could improve it," declared Laura Bentley, as Dick helped her to more of the roasted meat.
"Don't forget that pudding, ladies and gentlemen!" called out Jim Hornby, from where he sat. "That pudding is my best kind, and the best one of its kind that I ever turned out. When you have the pudding you won't be thinking of a little thing like roasted ears of corn."
"No more, thank you," replied Clara Marshall, as Greg tried to secure her plate in order to help her to more food.
"Until the pudding comes on," prompted Jim Hornby.