"Come over to the fire and tell us all about it," Betty commanded. "Allen told us something, but we want to know the whole story—every little bit of a detail."
Will fairly beamed and entered into the story with the greatest enthusiasm.
"I really didn't do anything much," he finished modestly. "And at the end it was you girls that did all the work. I was just an 'also ran.'"
"But, isn't there something you left out?" drawled Frank, pretending to yawn and gazing into the fire. "It seems to me——"
"Gee," said Will, surprised at himself, "if I didn't really forget the most important part——"
"Now what are you talking about?" cried Mollie, while the girls pricked up their ears and began to scent a new mystery. "What did you forget?"
"Well," said Will, his eyes twinkling, and speaking with exasperating slowness, "do you happen to remember an eventful night on Pine Island, when Roy went to sleep——"
"Aw, cut it out," grumbled Roy. "I guess I'll never be able to live that down."
"Well, what about it?" cried Betty, at the limit of her patience, while the other girls looked threatening. "Please, Will——"
"Do you happen to remember," drawled Will, "that on that same night you lost some jewelry?"