“We’ll stand you for the duration if you’ll only stay,” the Lieutenant exclaimed.
At Harbor Bells there was both a large and a small dining room, with a huge fireplace, and plenty of cozy rooms upstairs. When the girls had eaten a hearty meal of fried swordfish steak, baked potatoes, blueberry pie, and coffee, and had settled themselves in their rooms, they were for the most part ready for a good long sleep.
Not so Norma and Betty. Mrs. Monahan had kindled a fire on the open hearth. Before this they dragged large, comfortable chairs and settled themselves for a good chat.
“This,” said Betty, “is the real thing! But boy! Is it going to be hard to work here! It’s too much like Natoma Beach in Florida. Dad has a shack down there. Oh, quite a place! And that’s where we have our fun—or did, before the war.”
“We have a shack—a real one,” Norma said. “Nothing fancy—not even a fireplace, just a big kitchen stove—up on Isle Royale, in Lake Superior. It’s really grand!” There was a pause.
“Work?” she murmured. “Oh, I guess we’ll work right enough, and hard.”
“You’re just right you will!” It was Lieutenant Warren who spoke.
“Oh!” Norma exclaimed. “Let me drag you up a chair.”
“No. Sit still. I’ll get it.”
“No! No!”