“Oh, never mind, Boots,” he replied, just giving the willful one a playful shake. “Give dad a kiss and promise—promise to be good.”
Whereat Rosa actually sprang upon the foot with the injured ankle, hugging her father so impulsively that Nancy instantly decided she was just like Ted.
Is there anything lovelier than the calm after the storm? Arm in arm Rosa and Nancy sauntered off, their happy laughter ringing through old Fernlode, their voices blending in genuine affection until reaching the water’s edge, Rosa showed Nancy how she “megaphoned” down the lake to No Man’s Land, a little island, desolate and alone. Nancy did the phoning by cupping her hands and shouting in the weird way that always provokes an echo.
“Ted was such a funny little fellow when he was very small,” Nancy told her cousin. “He used to say he loved to go under bridges, where he could hear his voice after he was finished with it.”
“Finished with it?” queried Rosa.
“Yes; that’s the way he used to describe an echo.”
“Oh, how funny!” yelled Rosa. “Let’s give a couple of echoes for Ted.”
They shouted again and again, until the echoes became a mere jumble of sounds.
“I must read Mumsey’s letter,” insisted Nancy presently. “Just let’s sit in the boat and—read it.”
The steamer letter proved the treat it was bound to be, Nancy hugging every word, every syllable, while Rosa leaned over, fascinated.