et, you
sit down in the sun and rest; we will take care of the meal-getting."

"You treat me as though I were an invalid. I am able to do my share of
the work, and to eat my share of the food, as you will see when we get
something cooked."

Jane already had run back toward the road to bring some dry sticks
that she had discovered when coming in. Miss Elting began opening the
packs.

"Oh, this is too bad!" she cried. "We must have left that coffee pot
with the other things out by the road."

"I'll get it." Tommy bounded away. Hazel assisted the guardian in
getting the cooking utensils ready, Margery walked about, getting in
the way, but not accomplishing much of anything else. There were cold
roast beef, butter and plenty of canned goods. The bread that they had
brought with them had been dissolved in the water of the ice pond, as
had the sugar and considerable other food stuff.

Jane came in with an armful of wood and quickly started a fire. Tommy
arrived some moments later with the coffee pot and other utensils.
While all this was going on Harriet was spreading out their belongings
so these might dry out in the sunlight. But the water for the coffee,
secured some distance back, was brackish and poor. They made it do,
however, and as quickly as possible had boiled their coffee and
warmed over the beef and canned beans as well. As for drinking water,
there was none at hand fit for this purpose. Dishes were somewhat
limited, many of theirs having been lost when the automobile went into
the pond. But they were glad enough to do with what they had, and when
Jane sounded the meal call, "Come and get it!" there was not an
instant's hesitation on the part of any member of that little party of
adventurous spirits.

"Now take your time, girls," warned Miss Elting. "We will not gulp our
food down, even if we have a walk before us this afternoon. And we may
have to sleep out-of-doors, but it will not have been the first time
for the Meadow-Brook Girls."

"Ith thith the thurprithe that you were going to give us?" asked Tommy
innocently.

"It is a surprise to me, dear. This isn't the place I thought it was
at all. The joke is that I don't know where the right place is."

"Perhaps, if you would tell us where you wish to go, we might be of
some assistance to you," suggested Jane McCarthy.

"You can't get the secret from me, Jane," answered the guardian
smilingly. "I am going to keep that little secret to myself at all
co