“It surely does,” Bob agreed. “But we’ve had a pretty good time so far, haven’t we?”
“Dandy!” said Tom. Nelson laughed.
“We’re forgetting about being robbed, and going hungry, and all the rest of it!”
“That’s so,” answered Dan. “Gee! Weren’t we a disgusted lot the day we trailed into Millford? For two cents I’d have jumped a train and gone home!”
“Guess that was the way with all of us,” said Bob. “Only we didn’t have the two cents!”
The next morning when they tumbled out of their beds they found the rain dashing against the windows, and an old-fashioned sou’easter having things pretty much its own way. To continue their journey in the face of such a storm was out of the question, and so they got their soiled clothes together, and made arrangements to have them washed in the hotel, and dried in time for them to go on the next day.
There were few guests left, and the Four had the house almost to themselves that day. After breakfast they got into their rubber ponchos, and braved the tempest. The surf was fine, and they watched a long time from the shelter of an old hut on the point, about a mile from the hotel. They got pretty wet, but it was great fun; and the roaring fire in the hotel soon dried them off after they got back. The rest of the day passed quickly enough with books and cards, and they went early to bed.
The next morning the rain still fell, but the wind had died away, and after a consultation they decided to go on. Their clean clothes were brought up to them, and after they had put some of them on, Nelson said he felt respectable for the first time in three days. The walking was hard, but they did five miles by half-past eleven, and stopped at Seapoint for luncheon or dinner, whichever it might turn out to be. It happened to be dinner, and, as they were all frightfully hungry, they ate a good deal, and felt very little like continuing their journey afterwards. Tom was for spending the night where they were, but he was overruled, and at two o’clock they set out for Beach Neck, eight miles farther east. The rain, which had once or twice sobered down to a drizzle, now held up entirely, although the clouds still hung low and ominous. The road, however, constantly got worse, and it was slow going.
“I see where we get a late dinner to-night,” said Dan, at about three o’clock. “I’ll bet we haven’t gone two miles in the last hour!”
“Told you we’d ought to stay where we were,” said Tom.