As if the expressed thought had ticked off a message, scarcely had Grace uttered it than Peg and Shag came racing over the hills.
“Here she comes!” sang out the impetuous Helen.
“Oh, say, girls!” Peg called on ahead of herself. “Don’t you want to come up and see my cabin?”
“Do we?” The enthusiasm of Cleo’s tone was pure compliment.
“Just wait until we get these papers in the incinerator,” panted Julia. “We will all be off duty then and glad to go up to your cabin.”
Everyone felt that way, which was evinced by the unusual haste made in the slicking-up process.
Peg looked like a different girl! She had discarded the mountaineer’s costume and wore a simple white dress. The effect was startling. All that severity of outline had vanished. Even the slick black hair seemed to turn up just a little—perhaps with the heat or was it from excitement?
The girls were surprised but hid the fact completely. With a word to Miss Mackin—who like the others was hurrying, although her task was to finish a very pretty basket for her mother—they all raced off with Peg and Shag. The big dog was frantic with delight. It was very evident he had taken a real liking to the little Scouts.
“You will have to overlook some things,” warned Peg, as they neared the bungalow, “for although auntie is a crackerjack housekeeper she has me to battle against.”
Awe, the concomitant of enthusiasm, possessed the girls as they stood on the threshold of that mystery house. As Peg ushered them in, however, each expressed surprise.