No word was spoken for a few moments. Belle dropped back a little as if to allow the others to face the strangers first. Of course Cora, always being the leader, boldly made her way along.
They had to pass almost under the tree to reach the path, but there was no halting once the girls started out.
Finally they had passed in perfect safety, but as they were almost out of earshot one of the men said:
“I thought she’d be with him—that old Denny!”
The rest of the remark was lost, but this fragment served to put Cora on her guard.
CHAPTER VI
THE “CHELTON”
“Oh, isn’t it exciting?” cried Marita, who had managed to have Jack help her over the dunes on the way to the dock.