The girls regarded them with puzzled looks.
“Have they gone crathy?” questioned Tommy apprehensively, ready to run the instant she was thoroughly satisfied that the Tramp Boys really had lost their minds. They had for the moment lost their heads, but not their minds. They were howling in sympathy with George Baker, who appeared to have good reason for all the noise he was making.
Miss Elting sat down and laughed heartily. Then, bethinking herself of the fact that George had been reading the paper at the time of his outburst, she reached for the paper, which he had by this time tossed aside, and began reading the headlines.
“It’s there, it’s there!” howled George. “I tell you it’s there. We’re saved. The thing is as good as done. Oh, who would have thought it! I said there were no miracles that could happen up in these woods. One has come to pass. Do you hear me? A miracle, and nothing less!”
“What’s the row about, if I might pause long enough to inquire?” asked Sam Crocker.
“Give me a piece of paper—quick!” commanded the captain. Harriet got a sheet of writing paper from the tent, but not before Tommy had handed him the newspaper. “Yes, it’s writing paper I want. You’ve a head on your shoulders, Harriet.”
“I thought you considered me a hopeless case,” laughed Harriet.
“I’ll tell you what I think of you after I’ve got this off my mind. Oh, this is great!” George began scribbling on the sheet of writing paper.
“It is,” agreed Sam. “I’m taking your word for it, you see, not having been let into the mystery.”
“Who is the fastest runner in the outfit?” demanded Baker, standing up and glaring about him.