"I'm very sorry that we've had to put Nalla away off there with the circus animals," said Nadine in a tone of regret. "If he were only right beside our van we needn't worry at all, for he'd take care that no bad character got too near us."
"Yes, indeed," replied Cæsar. "With Nalla on guard we could sleep as soundly as we pleased."
"Look here, Cæsar," exclaimed Nadine, her face brightened by a happy thought which had just come to her. "I know what we can do. As soon as we have had our supper the whole four of us can go down where Nalla is, and sleep there under his protection. What do you say to that?"
"A capital idea, sister," answered Cæsar. "If we were quite sure that there is any real danger. But you see we are not, and if we leave our van and go down to the stables for the night the people might suspect us of some evil intentions. No—no—we will all stay here, and I will be sentinel while the rest of you sleep comfortably."
Considering all the hard work and the excitement that Cæsar had been having it was certainly very unselfish on his part—especially as he really felt no anxiety—to undertake to keep awake all night, and Nadine, striving to throw off the depressing nervousness which had come upon her, declared that it really was not necessary, that she would put the bag of money under her pillow, where it could not be touched without awaking her, and that Cæsar must go to bed like the rest, or she would sit up to keep him company.
The result of it was that they succeeded in reassuring one another so completely as to decide that no one should remain on guard, and in excellent spirits they sat down to their supper, for which they had all the best of appetites.
It was a capital supper, too, as Nadine, the careful little housewife, felt justified by their extra earnings during the week in providing something better than their ordinary fare. So the table showed a plump roast chicken, a succulent salad, a large loaf of white bread with a fine brown crust, a generous pat of golden butter, and a steaming pot of fragrant coffee.
The four young people ate and drank and talked with all their might. Everything was delicious except the coffee, that had a strange taste to which Cæsar was the first to call attention.
"Why, Nadine!" he exclaimed after swallowing half-a-cupful at one draught. "What's the matter with the coffee? It tastes so queer."