Penny blushed at the mention of Peter Wyland’s name. Even though he was an old friend and the Allens had known him for years, he had just recently shown his preference for Penny’s company and Penny was still not used to being teased about it.
Phil shrewdly guessed that Penny had been in love with Peter ever since last winter. That was when they had discovered that Peter was a secret service man in the employ of Mr. Prentice. Phil had not talked to Penny about Peter even when he noticed that she seemed to get letters from Wyland quite regularly. Philip’s mind these days was much preoccupied with thoughts of Adra Prentice. He seemed unable to get her out of his mind, and he found that no matter what he was doing, his thoughts would always go back to Adra.
Both Phil and Penny knew that Jimmy and Marjorie would never stop teasing them about their feelings, so, contrary to their usual method of discussing everything among themselves, they had not said anything about this. Nevertheless, it seemed to be more or less understood, and although Penny couldn’t help blushing, she pretended to ignore Jimmy’s teasing remark.
“Get along with you,” Phil said to his younger brother. “If you don’t plant those beans soon they’ll sprout in your pocket.”
Jimmy departed, laughing. “Come on, lazy-bones,” he called over his shoulder to Marjorie. “I’ll let you help me for a change. Even you can’t botch up a job as simple as planting beans.”
“Thank you, no,” Marjorie said with dignity. “I weeded all day yesterday while you were fishing.” Marjorie had not missed Penny’s blush, and couldn’t resist a chance for teasing her older sister. “Why are your cheeks so pink, Penny?” she asked carelessly.
“She’s getting sunburned,” Phil said, quickly coming to Penny’s rescue. “If you spent more time looking in the mirror, Marjorie, you’d see that your own nose is as red as a beet.”
Just then an old Ford drew up in front of the house. Pat Ryan got out, followed by the new summer help. Theresa, who was Pat’s sister and lived in the nearby village, had a smile on her broad Irish face. The Allens loved her Irish brogue and her tremendous bulk. Marjorie said she was worth her weight in gold.
“It’s glad I am to be here working for the Allens,” she said.
Penny welcomed her and said, “It’s we who are glad you could come, Theresa, and the rest of you too. We’d never be able to swing this experiment if it weren’t for the Ryans and you, and we think you’re bricks to do this on a co-operative basis, because right now we don’t know if we’ll make a profit, or lose money.”