'All right,' said Allan, 'but we must be quick.'
'Is this where you stay when it is wet,' said Harry, as they pushed open the door of the cottage. 'What a jolly place. Can you light fires on the hearth?'
'Of course we can,' said Marjorie, 'and bake bannocks—why, Allan; some one has been here since we left!'
'Nonsense,' said Allan, looking about him. 'Why, I declare, some one has!'
'There has been a fresh fire lighted on the hearth,' said Marjorie, 'and the things are not as we left them. There are marks like footprints on the floor too.'
'What impudence,' said Reggie, with a darkening face. 'We must put up a notice board. No one has any business to come here except ourselves.'
Allan had been looking about him, and he suddenly darted forward and took possession of some object lying upon the floor. After a glance at it he turned white, gave an odd little gasp and slipped it into his pocket.
'What is it, Allan?' asked the others, crowding around.
'Nothing,' he said; 'nothing at all. I don't think any one has been here; it's all fancy.'
Reggie's eyes looked very much astonished at this change of front.