"Our trip?" echoed Mollie. "Why I thought of course we would give that up."
"I did too," explained Grace. "But when I spoke of it to Dad, he said we were to do nothing of the kind. He said we couldn't do poor Will"—in spite of all her resolution her voice broke on the name—"any good by staying at home and moping, and that he would let us know as soon as he had any authentic word from Washington. And he insists on mother's going too."
And so it happened that a few hours later a very sober group of Outdoor Girls started on what should have been a joyful trip, with heavy hearts and gloomy foreboding. Even the new racer did not serve to liven the party.
The only time they laughed was when they found Dodo and Paul, the incorrigible twins, hidden away under some raincoats in Mollie's car.
"Oh, but we want to go 'long," Dodo protested vehemently when discovered.
"We just got to go 'long," Paul had added.
"No, you mustn't 'got to,'" Mollie contradicted them, while the others looked on amused. "Come, Dodo, honey, be a good girl for sister and come down. You too, Paul. We're in an awful hurry."
"But we not goin' to come down," Dodo insisted.
"'Less," Paul added diplomatically, "we get tandies."
"Lots of tandies," Dodo supplemented.