“We are ready to start, but where are the twins?” exclaimed Jinks impatiently. Jinks was Meredith Starr’s chum who lived next door to the Starrs.
“Why, they were here but a moment ago!” said Mete.
“Perhaps they ran on to Mossy Glen without us,” came from Lavinia Starr, two years older than the twins, who were eight.
A shrill whistle from the woods then told the three waiting children that Don and Dot Starr were half-way to the meeting place. The Blue Birds and Bobolinks were going to meet at the barn, known now as the Publishing Offices, to start thence for the ten-forty train to New York.
“Hurry up, we’ve wasted three minutes waiting for those awful twins!” sighed Vene—the nickname for Lavinia.
At the Publishing Offices on the Mossy Glen estate, the three late arrivals found all the members assembled. Ruth and Ned Talmage had not far to walk as their home was at Mossy Glen, and the Starr children including Jinks were now accounted for. Besides these two groups, there were the other girl-members of the Blue Bird Club, or Nest, and the boys who founded the society called Bobolinks, that published the magazine and other important printed matter—such as tickets, notices, programmes, etc.
“Here come Ike and Jim—can we all crowd into those two autos, do you think?” asked Ned, anxiously.
“It will not be the first time they’ve carried such a load,” laughed Jinks.
Just as the children climbed eagerly into the two cars, Mrs. Talmage appeared hurrying along the path from the house.
“Now Ned—remember! Don’t allow anyone to go other than the way I’ve directed you. This is the first time that we grown-ups consented to have you children go to New York alone, and you must be careful to follow all advices from us,” declared Mrs. Talmage, with a note of anxiety in her tone.