“Stony broke—that’s us.”
“How can you be so cheerful about it?” Louise asked crossly. “We can’t walk home—it would take us all night!”
“There’s only one thing to do, Louise. We’ll have to go back and talk to Bill. At least he should be able to loan us bus fare.”
By this time the girls had lost all enthusiasm for saboteurs and sleuthing. As they recrossed the river in Bill’s boat, they vowed that never again would they involve themselves in such a ridiculous situation.
“And just wait until I see Sara!” Penny added feelingly. “If I don’t tear into her for playing a shabby trick on us!”
“She probably skipped town along with her brother,” Louise replied. “I’m beginning to wonder if that motorboat we guarded so faithfully ever belonged to the Ottmans.”
Landing not far from the mouth of Bug Run, the girls proceeded afoot to the site where Bill Evans last had been seen. To their relief, he had not deserted his post. Cold, his face swollen by mosquito bites, he hailed them joyously.
“Thought you were never coming back! I’m getting out of here, and how!”
“What happened while we were gone?” Penny asked sympathetically. “Didn’t Sara come?”
“No one has been here.”