“Was that window unlocked?” asked Belle. “Why, our things might have been stolen!”
“Just wait until I open the door,” ordered Ed, “then you there—Walter and Jack—you may take the job of portering.”
“I‘d rather ’buttle,’” objected Walter. “There’s more in it. First shot at buttling!”
It seemed jolly already. The door was thrown open, and Ed made all sorts of bows and bends in inviting the ladies to enter.
In the sitting room a paper dangled from the lamp that hung in the center of the apartment.
“Directions!” announced Jack. “Don’t blow out the gas! Don’t waste the water! Don’t break any dishes!”
He had taken the paper down. The room was rather dark, and he stepped to the door to read the penciled words.
“It’s for—Cora,” he announced. “Now who on earth knew that Cora Kimball was coming down to Clover!”
They all stood spellbound!
That a letter for Cora should hang there in a cottage closed up—certainly the doors had not been opened!