"There come the boys now," announced Hazel. "They look sort of-gloomy."
Cora glanced out of the window and saw Ed, Jack and Walter strolling along the path. She, too, thought they looked "gloomy," but it was not her practice to anticipate trouble.
The "hellos" were exchanged before the young men had time to enter the camp. Then Belle asked:
"Aren't we going canoeing?"
"Guess not to-day," replied Ed, his handsome black hair almost sparkling in the sunshine as he tossed his head in nonchalance. "We are still too cramped up. Had to sleep on the roof last night."
"Why?" demanded Cora.
"Choosin' that. My little joke," he replied, "Girls, I'm cuttin' up," and he tried to hide a serious air with a ridiculous remark. "But we'll do something. We'll go fishin"' he declared.
"We thought it best to keep out in the cove this morning," Jack was explaining to Cora. "There is so much going on around the landing."
"What is going on?" she asked rather nervously.
"Oh, that Peter's affair," replied her brother with assumed indifference. "They are looking him over to-day to see how much he's hurt."