“Are they good to eat?” Sunny inquired.
“No, the nuts are quite bitter,” the teacher replied. “I should advise you not to sample any of them.”
Eileen made a pencil sketch of the tree for her nature notebook. Then, aware that time was elapsing, the girls hiked on toward the tree house.
“What time is it now?” inquired Veve anxiously.
“Fifteen minutes after eleven,” Miss Gordon said, looking at her watch. “We’ll have just time enough to set the luncheon table.”
“I’m sure Mr. Vincent won’t come,” Jane said pessimistically. “He only said he would to be polite.”
“Well, if he fails to show, we’ll have more food for ourselves,” laughed Rosemary. “I wish though, that we were having a hot meal.”
The cool air and the long hike had given all the girls hearty appetites. To wait very long for their invited guest might be rather trying, they thought. But having extended the invitation, politeness required that they postpone their own meal for at least twenty minutes past the noon hour.
The girls had reached the base of the oak tree. Veve stared at a cluster of footprints plainly visible in the soft earth.
“Say, someone has been here while we were away!” she exclaimed indignantly.