Tommy chuckled and nodded to herself as she increased her pace and joined her party.

“When we get to camp I’m going to take a bath in the thea,” she announced carelessly.  Miss Elting regarded her sharply.

“Camp?  Sea?” questioned the guardian.

“Yeth.  I thaid ‘camp’ and ‘thea.’”

“Where do you think you are going, Grace?”

“Why, to the thea thhore of courthe.  But there ithn’t anybody there.”

“Tommy, you’ve been spying.  I am amazed at you.”

“No, I haven’t been doing anything of the thort.  It ith true, ithn’t it?”

“I shall not tell you a single thing.  You are trying to quiz me.  That isn’t fair, my dear.”

Tommy chuckled and joined Harriet, linking an arm with her and starting a lively conversation.  Harriet, instead of growing weary, appeared to be getting stronger with the moments.  Her step was more and more springy, and her face had resumed its usual healthy color, but this was the longest five miles she remembered to have traveled.  The others felt much the same.  It must be remembered that they had had neither supper nor breakfast, except for the cup of coffee that they had taken before starting out on their tramp.  The guardian had hoped to reach her destination in time for luncheon, when she knew the girls would have a satisfying meal.  However, the hour was near to one o’clock when finally the boy shouted to them.

They halted and waited for him.

“Lonesome Cove down there, ’bout a quarter of a mile,” he informed them, jerking the butt of his whip in the direction of a thin forest of spindling pines to the right of the highway.  “Ocean right over there.”

“I hear it,” cried Harriet.  “Doesn’t it sound glorious?”

“We thank you.  You may unload our equipment and pile it by the side of the road.  We will carry it down to the beach, and again I thank you very much.”

Jane and Hazel assisted in the unloading.  They would permit neither Harriet nor Miss Elting to help.  The boy was paid and drove away whistling.  He had made a good deal, and knew very well that the folks at home would find no fault over his delay when they learned that he had earned two dollars.

“Now, girls, do you know where you are?” asked the guardian, turning to her charges.

“Lost in the wilds of New Hampshire,” answered Jane dramatically.

“No, not lost.  We shall soon be among friends.  I promise you a great surprise when we get down so near the sea that you hear the pounding of the breakers on the beach.”

“I gueth you will be thurprithed, too,” ventured Tommy.

“What do you mean, Grace?” demanded Miss Elting.

“I would suggest that we get started,” urged Harriet.  “I’m hungry.  I want my supper, breakfast and luncheon all in one.  You forget that I am a drowned person.”

“We are not likely to forget it,” answered the guardian, smiling faintly.  “Yes, we will carry our equipment in.  Jane, suppose we break it into smaller packs, so it can be the more easily carried.  I think we are all ready for a good meal, and that is what we are going to have very shortly now.  You know you always get good meals at Wau-Wau.”