“Will our things be safe here alone?” inquired Betty doubtfully, when they were ready to go down to the lower end of the lake.
“I’ll stay with it,” offered Rhoda.
“Oh, no,” protested Anne. “Come on down with us and swim.”
“I can’t swim,” replied Rhoda, “and I don’t care for bathing. I brought a book along, and I’d just as soon as not stay here and read until you come back.”
Seeing that the maid really meant what she said, Anne followed the rest of the girls who were already half way down the hill.
“Where’s Rhoda?” asked Patricia, looking around, when they reached the beach and were about to dive into the water.
“I should think she’d like at least to come and watch us,” said Patricia, when Anne had explained. “I’ll go up after a while and bring her down.”
Swimming in the open was very different from swimming in a tank, and after fifteen minutes of strenuous exercise the girls came out to lie on the sand in the warm sun for a little rest.
“Lend me your cloak, Anne,” requested Patricia, “and I’ll run up for Rhoda.”
“Don’t believe she’ll come,” replied Anne, handing Patricia her woolly bath cape.