“Did it do that?” cried Mabel.
“It sure did!” cried Jack.
“What—what did it look like?” whispered Natalie. “That face I saw——”
“We didn’t see a thing,” declared Blake, “nor hear a thing. I tell you we slept through it all like innocent little babes. The ghost might have carried us off to its den—that is if ghosts have dens—anyhow it could have carried us all off for all of Phil.”
“Say, you quit!” begged the badgered one. “I’m no worse than either of you two. I’ll tell you something, girls.”
And he proceeded to relate how, taking the first watch, he had slumbered through it, but how his chums were equally responsible.
“It’s too bad,” said Marie. “All your work gone for nothing!”
“Oh, we had a good time,” said Blake. “But we’re dead tired now. It was harder work than going fishing.”
“Come on in and we’ll give you some coffee,” invited Natalie and the boys eagerly availed themselves of the chance.
At breakfast they talked over again their experiences of the night. The girls were very nice about it, and didn’t laugh any more than they really felt obliged to.