“Mr. Baker tells me that Earlington Disbrow is a friend of yours and that he is coming down here from Boston to-morrow.”
“Yes, Mr. Disbrow has been good enough to take an interest in our work,” answered Miss Elting innocently. “We shall be glad to see an old acquaintance again.”
Mr. Herrington bowed low, expressing his pleasure at having met so renowned a party as the Meadow-Brooks, and, requesting that they call upon him for anything in his power to grant, returned to his supervision of the courts.
As they neared the edge of the wood the tents began to stand out more plainly. These were just within the edge of the grove. Out in the field a short distance from the edge of the grove they saw a number of khaki-clad boys at work. So busy were the latter that up to this time they had failed to observe the approach of the motor car.
Jane blew her horn. The boys heard and recognized the sound.
“It’s the Meadow-Brooks!” shouted George Baker. “Give ’em a cheer, fellows. Hurrah!”
The boys tossed their hats in the air and whooped so loudly that the men at work on the courts at the opposite end of the field paused in their work to look and listen. The Meadow-Brook Girls answered with their club yell, the car came to a stop in front of the boys and the girls hopped out. Hand-shaking was the order of the day for the next few minutes, during which the girls were overwhelmed with questions.
“Fit as fiddles all around,” declared George after a critical look into the smiling face of each girl. “Miss Brown is the only soft one in the party.”
“I’m not soft,” flung back Margery indignantly. “I’d have you know that. You ought to know it without my telling you.”
“Don’t get angry over it, Miss Margery,” answered George laughingly. “I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. What I meant was that you were not in the pink of condition like the other girls. They have been in training for some weeks, you know, so you could not be expected to come up to them.”