“I wish that rain would stop,” sighed Grace, uneasily. “The sound of it in the woods outside makes me think I hear footsteps all the time.”
“I don’t believe we’ll be bothered any more to-night,” said the Little Captain.
“And to-morrow,” added Amy thankfully, “the boys will be here.”
After a while, since the storm seemed destined to continue through the night and since they could not very well sit up till morning, the Outdoor Girls finally turned out their lights and went to bed.
They passed an uneasy, comfortless night with one or the other of them forever getting up to steal over to the tent flap and peer fearfully into the darkness beyond. It is safe to say that not one of them slept two solid hours of the time.
And when morning came, revealing a dreary dark day, they felt, as they looked, hollow-eyed and spiritless.
“The weather looks just the way I feel,” remarked Grace, as she went mechanically about the preparing of breakfast. “I’m so sleepy I can hardly keep my eyes open.”
However, later in the morning, it seemed as though nature relented of her harsh treatment and decided to give the girls a bit of sunshine. And it is remarkable what a difference a little sun will make.
The girls perked up miraculously and began clearing up the camp in anticipation of the boys’ arrival.
“I wonder when they’ll be here,” mused Mollie, as she gathered all paper and bits of refuse from in front of the tent and made them into a neat pile ready to be burned.