Five minutes afterwards Ned remarked weakly: “I think it’s about a quarter-past three.”
“We ought to be going,” sighed Dan.
“We ought,” groaned Ned. After that silence fell again.
But presently a motor began to throb around the corner of the house and a big touring car, dusty and dirty, backed up to the curb before the door. The two boys opened their eyes with sighs and frowns and watched. A party of two men and two ladies emerged from the hotel. The man at the wheel of the car called to them:
“See if you can find someone to bring that suitcase out, Jim,” he said. “It’s in front of the desk there.”
Ned’s chair came down with a bang and he jumped to his feet.
“Yes, sir; right away, sir!” he said briskly. In a moment he had dashed into the office and out again, bearing a big leather suitcase. Dan’s chair came down and he stared in bewilderment.
“Where shall I put it, sir?” Ned was asking solicitously.
“Stick it in back there, my boy. That’s it.”