"Oranges, I declare!" exclaimed Mary.
"How lovely!" cried Tommy, forgetting all her fears, and running forward to pick an orange from the ground.
Her sisters followed more leisurely, but before they reached her Tommy suddenly uttered a cry of terror. The orange she had taken fell from her hand. The other girls ran to her side and found her pale with fright.
"There!" she said, pointing towards a clump of hibiscus.
"What is it, dear?" asked Elizabeth.
"In the bushes—a little brown face!" whispered Tommy, with trembling lips.
CHAPTER X
ANXIOUS DAYS
For a moment, under the shock of the startling piece of news, Elizabeth was tempted to seize her sisters by the hand and run. Tommy was so practical and unimaginative a young person that she could hardly have been altogether mistaken, and a "little brown face," if face it was, must belong to a native. But Elizabeth thought quickly, and even while her heart was galloping with nervous excitement, she made up her mind that to run away now was not the right course. A show of bravery was much more likely to serve them. If there really was a native in hiding, he would certainly have seen them, and to run or slink away now would merely provoke pursuit, in which the fugitives would be at a great disadvantage. Summoning all her courage, therefore, Elizabeth advanced towards the bush to which Tommy had pointed.