“When we found that water bucket, you might know we were more worried than ever,” Miss Gordon resumed her story. “We were afraid you might have been carried away by a tramp.”
“I guess we did make a lot of trouble,” Veve sighed. “When we climbed into the circus car the engine wasn’t hooked on. We never dreamed the train would start off.”
“Finally, we learned that the circus train had gone through just about the time you two girls turned up missing,” the leader of the Brownies continued. “We began to put two and two together.”
“Was Mother real worried?” asked Connie.
“She was as soon as she learned that you were missing. And so was Mrs. McGuire. I wired both your mothers at Rosedale. Mrs. Williams started immediately for Shady Hollow. Before Mrs. McGuire could come, a wire arrived from the circus people, telling us you had been found.”
“I already was at Shady Hollow with my car,” Mrs. Williams completed the account. “So it seemed advisable to start here at once. The trip was rather hard on everyone. We must return early in the morning.”
After hearing the story, Connie and Veve knew that the Brownies could not have had too pleasant a time during the past few days.
Not only had the camping trip been interrupted, but both Mrs. Williams and Miss Gordon had spent considerable of their own money on the long automobile journey.
However, no one blamed the two girls for the way matters had turned out. Being good sports, the Brownies all said they didn’t really mind missing several days of camping fun.
“But they do,” Connie whispered to Veve. “I’m as ashamed as I can be for having upset everyone’s plans.”