“Maybe they will make trouble for us here. It is rather isolated, you know, and I can’t help remembering that we’re on the coast, and that a few miles away the coast is that of Bessie’s state—the state she mustn’t be in.”
“That’s so,” said Margery, gravely. “You mean that if they managed to get hold of Bessie or Zara, and took them out to sea and then landed them in that state they’d be able to hold them there?”
“It worries me, Margery. The trouble is, you see, that once they’re in that state, it doesn’t matter how they were taken there, but they can be held. If Zara’s father gets free, why, he would be able to get her back, I suppose. Mr. Jamieson says so. But there’s no one with a better right to Bessie, so far as we know. I’m really more worried about her than about Zara.”
“We’ll all be careful,” promised Margery, with fire in her eye. “And I guess they’ll have to be pretty smart to find any way of getting her away from us. I’ll talk to the girls, and I’ll try to be watching myself all the time.”
“I’m hungry,” announced Dolly. “Just as hungry as a bear! Can’t we have supper pretty soon, Miss Eleanor?”
“Supper?” scoffed Miss Eleanor. “Why, we haven’t had our dinner yet! But we’ll have that just as soon as it’s cooked. I’ve just been waiting for someone to say they were hungry. Dolly, you’re elected cook. Since you’re the hungry one, you can cook the dinner.”
“I certainly will! I’ll get it all the sooner that way. May I pick out who’s to help me, Miss Eleanor?”
“That’s the rule. You certainly can.”
“Then I pick out all the girls,” announced Dolly. “Every one of you—and no shirking, mind!”
She laughed merrily, and in a moment she had set every girl to some task. Even Margery obeyed her orders cheerfully, for the rule was there, and, even though Dolly had twisted it a bit, it was recognized as a good joke. Moreover, everyone was hungry and wanted the meal to be ready as soon as possible.