"Madame Amoureux!"
She thought she heard a groan and went to the counter. Behind it, doubled up, her legs and arms bound, the landlady was lying with a handkerchief covering her mouth.
"Hurt?" asked Dorothy when she had freed her from the gag.
"No ... no ..."
"And the children?" said the young girl in a shaky voice.
"They're all right."
"Where are they?"
"Down on the beach, I think."
"All of them?"
"All but one, the smallest."