"You think it was somewhere about here, don't you?" Anita asked. "It ought to be easy enough to find."
"That's what we thought before we started," said Grace, "but after you have been hunting for an hour or two you begin to realize your mistake. I vote we do something else."
"Grace! And leave the cave?" Amy cried, amazed at her friend's lack of romantic fervor.
"Why not?" said Grace. "It won't run away. Besides, I guess everybody's forgotten this is the day we set for the race."
They stared at one another dumbfounded. It was as Grace had said—this was the day they had decided on for the race and they had forgotten all about it. Had ever such a thing happened before in the annals of history? If so, they could not remember it.
"A race?" demanded Anita. "What race?"
Betty looked at her dazedly. "What race?" she repeated. "Why, the race, of course. Oh, I beg your pardon—I forgot you didn't know. The fact is, we have been planning a swimming race for—oh, ever so long—and now this gypsy-cave business put it clear out of our heads. Oh! how could we have forgotten it?"
"Well, it isn't too late yet," said Will, practically. "That is, if you aren't too set on finding this elusive cave to do anything else."
"Oh, that's safe enough where it is," said Allen. "If we can't find it, it's a pretty safe bet that nobody else can."
"I vote we get into our bathing suits just as fast as we can," said Frank. "That is, if our visitors don't mind seeing a crazy race," he added, half-apologetically; for he remembered his manners just in the nick of time.