“You’ve been in a bad mood ever since we got back from Crystal Cave,” Louise observed, coming out of the tent. “But why take it out on that poor creature?”
Penny raised herself on an elbow. She scowled and did not reply.
Louise moved over to the fire, seating herself on a log beside her chum.
“Oh, brace up,” she said, slipping an arm about Penny’s shoulders. “In all my life I’ve never seen you act so discouraged.”
“I feel lower than the worms. Nothing’s gone right since we came to Sunset Beach.”
“On the contrary, I can’t see that anything has gone so very wrong.”
“Wasn’t our trip to the Crystal Cave a bust?” Penny demanded.
“Well, it wasn’t a success.”
Louise smiled wryly at the recollection. With Jerry and the Army men, she and Penny had spent the afternoon searching various caves along the water front. Not a trace had been found of the mysterious radio station which so plagued local authorities. The search had been a long and exhausting one. In the end, though the others kept on, she and Penny had been compelled to give up.
“My feet hurt yet from scrambling over the rocks,” Penny declared. “I suppose Jerry and those Army officers will keep searching half the night.”