“Louise and I will stay here now while you return to the dock,” Penny declared. “Better call our parents when you get there and break the news as gently as possible.”
“What will you do for lunch?”
“Maybe we can beg a sandwich or a fried egg from Old Noah,” Penny chuckled. “We’ll manage somehow.”
“Well, whatever you do, don’t leave the boat unguarded,” Sara advised, starting away. “As soon as it gets dark I’ll come back.”
Left to themselves, Penny and Louise explored the locality thoroughly. Not far away they found a log which offered a comfortable seat, and they screened it with brush.
“Now we’re all ready for Mr. Saboteur,” Penny said. “He can’t come too soon to suit me.”
“And just what are we going to do when he does arrive?”
“I forgot to figure that angle,” Penny confessed. “We may have to call on Old Noah for help.”
“Noah will be busy doing a washing or giving the goat a beauty treatment,” Louise laughed.
The sun lifted higher, and steam rising from the damp earth made the girls increasingly uncomfortable. As the hours dragged by they rapidly lost zest for their adventure. Long before noon they were assailed by the pangs of hunger.