The party made merry in the town, going into the "Emporium," for ice-cream sodas; and even the presence of Maurice Whitlow at the other end of the counter, where he was imbibing something through a straw, could not daunt Alice's high spirits. Whitlow smiled and smirked in the direction of his acquaintances, but he received no invitation to join them.
As Estelle was going out in the rear of the party, the extra player slid up to her and asked:
"Mayn't I have the pleasure of buying you some more cream?"
"You may not!" exclaimed Estelle, not turning her head, and there were snickers from the other patrons in the place. Maurice turned the shade of his scarlet tie, and slid out a side door.
"You're getting too popular," chided Alice to her friend. "First it's the young lieutenant, and now it's your former admirer."
"I can dispense with the admiration of both!"
"Even the lieutenant?" asked Ruth, meaningly.
"Oh, he wasn't so bad," and Estelle either was really indifferent, or she assumed indifference in a most finished manner that would have done credit to a more experienced actress than she was.
"What's the matter—are we late?" asked Paul, as, on the way back to Oak Farm, he saw Russ look at his watch and then speed up the car a bit.
"Yes, a little. Mr. Pertell said he wanted to begin that skirmish scene at eleven exactly, and it's ten minutes to that now. We can just about make it. The sun will be in just the right position for making the film. It's in a thicket you know, and the light isn't any too good. That's the scene you girls are in," he went on.