“Yes, but I’m awful busy now. Besides, wouldn’t it be a nice birthday present—making you a full partner in the hideaway. I’ve got a lot of things there I bought at the grocery store and you can have half of them.” Jim hoped she would forget about the matter in three weeks. He didn’t expect it, but it was a possibility.
“All right, on my birthday.”
“O.K. Give me the blankets and remember, don’t tell anyone.”
“Oh, I won’t, now that everything is going to be half mine!” said Jean with decision. “What are you going to do with all the stuff anyway?”
That question rather stumped Jim. He hadn’t gone into the reason behind all his activity in stocking the cave. He had long ago forgotten his idea of going there to live the life of a hermit. In the thrill of secretly gathering a hoard of food and utensils he hadn’t given much thought as to the purpose of it all.
“Well, I hadn’t thought about that too much,” he admitted frankly. “It’s just fun to have the stuff in the cave. I can pretend I’m an outlaw hiding out. Maybe Mother will let me camp out all night sometime.”
“Well, we could pretend we were shipwrecked on an island or that we were in a war and surrounded by enemies, and lots of things,” suggested Jean.
“Good ideas,” said Jim. “Well, I better be going. I’ll take you there on your birthday.” He rode off feeling that Jean might not be such a bad partner to share his hide-out. She was resourceful and she had imagination. Also, there was still three weeks in which he could enjoy the secret in solitary splendor.
Jean watched her brother disappear down the road. She had earned a victory, but three weeks was a long time. She walked back to the house with a very thoughtful look on her determined young face. She had been doing much thinking and observing, and she wasn’t going to stop and wait calmly for her birthday.
Jim delivered his blankets to the cave. After gloating over his very respectable pile of provisions, he made himself a pot of coffee. It was a lot of trouble, and he didn’t care too much for coffee, particularly with a lot of grounds, as his somehow always managed to have. Still it was fun. He washed the pot in the stream, scouring it carefully with sand before replacing it in the cave.