Agony looked at Oh-Pshaw standing beside Miss Judy at the wheel,
laughing with her at some joke; at Sahwah and Undine sitting together in
the canoe right behind the launch, leaning luxuriously back against
their paddles, which they were using as back rests; heard Jean
Lawrence's infectious laugh floating back on the breeze; and she began
to regret that she had stayed at home. She found she was no longer in
the mood to finish her letter; she lingered on the pier after the
floating caravan had disappeared from view behind the trees on
Whaleback.

She looked up in surprise at the sound of Mary Sylvester's voice coming
from behind her on the dock.

"I thought you had gone to the village with the others," she said. "I
was almost sure I saw you in the boat with Pom-pom."

"No, I didn't go, you see," replied Mary. "I am going off on an
expedition of my own this afternoon. The woman who took care of me as a
child lives not far from here in a little village called
Atlantis--classic name! Mother asked me to look her up, and Mrs. Grayson
gave me permission to go over this afternoon. I'm going to row across
the river to that landing place where we got out the other night, leave
the boat in the bushes, and then follow the path through the woods. It's
about six miles to Atlantis--would you care to walk that far? It would
be twelve miles there and back, you know. I'm just ripe for a long hike
today, it's so cool and clear, but it's not nearly so pleasant going
alone as it would be to have someone along to talk to on the way.
Wouldn't you like to come along and keep me company? I can easily get
permission from Mrs. Grayson for you."