“Rosa—”
“Hush,” warned Nancy. “Can you get your brother?”
“Yes. He started at the other end. Don’t leave this spot. See, it’s the big post—” and Dell was off to locate her brother.
Briefly, very briefly, Nancy attempted to give Dell and Garfield some account of Rosa’s troubles, as presently they were all hurrying toward the sequestered spot where Rosa waited. She did not mention Orilla—somehow she felt that Rosa would not have wanted her to. Better let her cousin explain that angle, Nancy wisely decided.
But before they had actually come up to Rosa, Nancy saw that she was alone: that Orilla had left her!
“Oh, you poor darling!” exclaimed Dell with genuine sympathy. “To think you were here all alone, and we were hunting—”
“Slipped off into the rocks,” said Rosa simply, “and not even a life-guard around. Gar, how are you going to tow me in?”
“How come?” asked the boy. “Something ‘busted’, really?”
“A leg or two,” replied Rosa, “and it hurts like thunder, if you must know the horrible details. Give me a lift. Margot will have the fire department out—”
“Wait till I get the car. There’s a lane along here—”