They had hurried on and Tommy was obliged to run to catch up with them. Miss Elting was lighting a swinging lamp when they entered the cottage, which consisted of one room, above which was an attic, but with no entrance so far as they were able to observe. Six rolls of blankets lay on the floor against a side wall ready to be opened and spread when the girls should be ready for bed. One solitary window commanded a view of the sea. Tommy surveyed the place with a squint and a scowl. There was not another article in the place besides the blankets.
"There ithn't much danger of falling over the furniture in the dark, ith there?" she asked.
"Not when we have a Torch Bearer with us," answered Buster, from the shadow just outside the door.
"Thave me!" murmured Tommy.
"Oh, my stars! We'll laugh to-morrow, darlin'. It's too dark to laugh now. Come in and sit down, Buster. It isn't safe to leave you out there. No telling what you might not do after having given out such a flimsy 'joke.'"
"Where shall I sit?" asked Margery, stepping in and glancing about the room.
"Take the easy chair over there in the corner," suggested Harriet smilingly.
"But there isn't any chair there."
"That ith all right. You jutht thit where the chair would be if there were one," suggested Tommy.
"No sitting this evening," declared the guardian. "You will all prepare for bed. At least two of you need rest—I mean Harriet and Tommy."