“Billy! The music has stopped!” She rose hastily and started down the path.
“Oh, I guess it’s only the wait between dances.” But he was suddenly conscious that it had been long, and hurried after her.
They turned the point where the pavilion came to view to see it looming dark and deserted. From the wharf the noise of embarking came warningly.
“Gee! They’re going!” Billy caught her hand and ran with her down the steep hill.
But they were too late. When first they started, the steamer was setting off. Now she was well out in the lake, headed northward.
Billy called at the top of his voice; and Erminie added her frantic shriek to his; but the band was playing, the young people shouting and “jollying,” and no one heard. The two could hear sudden gusts of laughter rising above the music, and after that the steady rhythm and beat of the instruments.
“Oh, Billy, it’s no use!” Erminie sobbed, as the boat grew smaller and smaller on the gray water.
“I guess we’re in for a night of it on a desert island.”
They faced each other there in the moonlight, silent, wondering, perplexed.