CHAPTER XVII
THE MYSTERIOUS LETTER
It was a lovely picnic. The girls could not remember when they hadenjoyed anything so much.
The boys put themselves out to be entertaining, the weather wasexcellent. No one had ever tasted such nectar as those “hot dogs”cooked in the open, corn boiled in a big, blackened pot over thecampfire and fairly dripping butter. Clarice’s chicken mayonnaisesandwiches were not neglected, nor the cake with its filling of thickalmond cream. Never was such a feast. The young folks ate to repletion,and then ate some more.
Only Edina Tooker seemed to have lost her appetite.
After the luncheon they sat around for an hour or two, too absolutelycomfortable and lazy to move.
“Like anacondas, sunning themselves,” observed Vi lazily.
Laura, half-asleep, opened one eye to stare at her reproachfully.
“How complimentary you are! I refuse to be compared to any snake--evenan impressive one like the anaconda. Now, if anybody has anything moreto say, please don’t say it. I’m going to sleep!”
After a while they roused themselves sufficiently to make a tour of theisland. Finding a little pool among the bushes, they made themselvescrude fishing tackle of tree branches, a ball of cord convenientlyproduced by Chet from a roomy pocket, and a few fishhooks left bysomeone in one of the boats.
During an hour or two of fishing, Edina succeeded in hooking one poorlittle fish which was so tiny and, Vi declared, looked at her sopathetically she had not the heart to keep it. At any rate, she removedit with gentle fingers from the hook and flung it back into the cooldepths of the little pool.
“A fine fisherman you’d make!” scoffed Ferd. “Here you hook the bestcatch of the afternoon and you aren’t sport enough to recognize goodfortune!”
Edina shook her head, answering his badinage seriously.
“It was too little to be any use, anyway. And I never could killanything just for the fun of killing it.”
Here was a new light on Edina’s true character. How cruelly the girlsat the Hall had misjudged her, thought Billie. At heart Edina waskindly and gentle, sympathetic and loyal. How gently she had removedthe poor little tortured fish from the hook! And yet the girls stillcalled her the “lion cub!”
“She’s a darling,” thought Billie warmly. “And I’m glad I’ve stood byher. I’d do it all over again if I had to!”
After a while the young folks resumed their stroll and wound up finallyat the site of the campfire.
Here they discovered that their appetites had miraculously revived.Whereupon they fell upon what remained of the provisions and gobbledthem up.
“What a swarm of locusts we are!” chuckled Laura, regarding the ruinsof their feast. “I’m not sure that I’ll ever be able to eat again.”
“Until to-morrow morning,” observed Billie drily.
The premature shadows of autumn were falling over the lake when theyreluctantly decided that it was time to go back.
Like all good woodsmen, they cleaned up the scene of their picnic untileverything was as neat and orderly as they had found it.
“I hate to go,” said Vi, looking back longingly. “It’s probably thelast picnic we’ll have this year.”
“Probably,” agreed Billie. “It’s always a little sad, saying good-by tosummer. And this year, what with the treasure hunt and Sun Dial Lodge,we have had such marvelous fun.”
Later, as the little fleet moved slowly across the water in thedirection of Three Towers Hall, the young folks sang, joining theirvoices in the sweet old melodies of Juanita, Suwanee River, and endingwith the solemn and beautiful Now the Day Is Over.
When they landed on the dock the shadows had descended in a gentle mistover everything, touching familiar objects with a mysterious magic,wrapping the young folks about in a pleasant isolation.
In the shadows close to her, Billie heard some one sob. She turnedabout, surprised, to find it was Edina who had made that choking,desperate sound.
“Why, Edina! What is it, dear? Edina, tell Billie!”
“I love it all so!” said Edina, in a curious, harsh voice. “It’s beensuch a wonderful day. I never knew what it was to be so happy!”
“But, Edina, that’s nothing to cry about!”
“That--that’s all you know! You shouldn’t ’a’ been so nice to me--youshouldn’t, you shouldn’t! If I have to go away from here now--itwill--just clean--break my heart!”
Edina whirled quickly and vanished in the mist and the shadows, leavingBillie to wonder if she had not dreamed the curious interview.
“What’s the matter with her?” Vi stood at Billie’s elbow. “She’s upsetabout something, isn’t she? Could it be anything Paul Martinson said ordid, do you suppose?”
Billie shook her head.
“Paul has been a lamb. I overheard him invite her to the hop at Boxtonon the third.”
“What then?”
“I don’t know.” Billie spoke wearily. Her knee was beginning to hurtagain--and the tennis tournament was only a little over two weeks away!“Unless there was bad news in the letter I gave her to-day,” she added.“I thought there was at the time. Now I am practically sure of it.”