rls and boys trooped down to meet Ed and
Cora.

As was anticipated, hunger prevailed, and when it was found that stores
of eatables were in the tonneau of the _Whirlwind_ even the most
helpless, nervous ladies at the hotel wanted to help get the
refreshments into the house.

"But where can they be cooked?"

"What can we cook on?"

"There is no gas stove!"

"Not even an oil stove!"

"We can't eat bacon raw!"

"The bread is all right, anyway!"

Such was the volley of remarks that came out from the crowd.

"We will manage somehow," said Cora. "Our boys are used to emergency
work in the line of eating and fixing meals."

"Seems ter me," whined a wizen old lady, "thet the girls knows
somethin' about it, too!"

In the dining room on the second floor were two chandeliers. Under
these were, of course, tables, and before the anxious ones had time to
settle their fears there stood on these tables Cora, Bess and Belle,
and on the other Ed, Jack and Walter. Each of our friends had in his
or her hand something that answered to the pan or pot brand of utensil,
and in the pan or pot, which was held over the gas, was something that
began to "talk-talk" out loud of good things to eat, sizzling and
crisping.

It was very funny to see the young folks cooking over the handsome
chandeliers, from which, of course, the glass globes had been removed.

"Well, did you ever!" exclaimed more than one.

"Those young folks do beat all! I used to think ma and pa brung us up
right, but whoever on earth would have cooked bacon and eggs over a
lamp," ejaculated an old man.

"I guess driving them machines makes them smart," said another guest,
as she took the pan Cora handed down and gingerly slopped the stuff
over on a wooden plate. "I guess it is a good thing to know how to
drive an automobile. Makes you right smart! Whew! but that was hot!"
and she put the overheated fingers into her mouth.

"Put another dish over it to keep it hot," Cora ordered. "And can't
some one set a table? That is not such a difficult thing to do."

"See here!" called out Ed, "this is no pancake party. I am not going
to stay up here cooking all night. I am going down to eat. We have
enough of tomatoes warmed to fill the wash bowl, and I love canned
tomatoes if they are out of a washbowl. We washed the bowl, and
sterilized it, and it's as good as a soup tureen."

There stood the white wash basin almost filled with the steaming
tomatoes. As