There was a little coldness among the girls and boys–on the side of the girls–when they stopped for dinner at a country hotel. Nothing of moment had occurred on the road, save that Cora got a puncture, and Jack and the other boys had no little difficulty in getting off an old shoe that had not been removed in some time.
A little later something went wrong with the carbureter on the car of the twins. The boys took turns trying to adjust it, as they were far from a garage. It was Norton who discovered the trouble–a simple enough matter–and remedied it.
“Doesn’t that entitle me to a rebate of punishment?” he asked of Belle.
“I’ll see,” she answered, but her glance was not as stern as it had been, and she ventured to smile a little.
With the offending placard removed, the cars proceeded onward again. They had planned to take the trip leisurely, and to stop over night at another hotel. The day following that would bring them to Sandy Point Cove in good time to settle the bungalows before dark.
“We’re going to the theatre to-night,” Jack announced, shortly after the arrival in Duncan, where they were to spend the night. He had gone out after reaching the hotel, and purchased the seats for a popular comedy then running.
“Oh, are we?” asked Cora with a lifting of her eyebrows, a signal, that had Jack but known it, meant more than he suspected. “That’s awfully nice of you, really.”
“It’s a fine show,” declared Norton. “A friend of mine saw it in New York.”
“What time are we to be ready?” asked Belle, with a look at Cora.
“It begins at eight, if you start now putting on your hats you’ll be ready in time, it’s only a little after six,” remarked Ed.