"For goodness' sake, let's talk of something pleasant," said Grace, rising
suddenly and going over to the window. "If you want to sit on that old
bench all day, you can."

It appeared that the girls had no intention of sitting on the bench all
day. They got up and sauntered about the room, examining the skins on the
walls and looking, but without much curiosity, at the rifles. They
lingered longest before the shelves of butterflies and beetles, for some
of the specimens were really beautiful and very rare.

After they had examined everything in sight they began to grow restive.
They must have been in the place nearly an hour and it suddenly occurred
to them to wonder where their host had been keeping himself all this time.

"I wish we could get started," worried Mollie, looking out upon the sodden
landscape. The rain was apparently coming down just as hard as ever. "I
hate to leave the car all by itself out there. Somebody might steal it."

"I wish I knew where that man was," said Grace nervously. "I never trust
strange men. He may set the house on fire for all we know."

The words were hardly out of her mouth when the door opened and the topic
of conversation himself entered, carrying a tray so big and heaped so high
with sandwiches that one could scarcely discover the man behind it.

Betty and Amy ran to his assistance, and between them they got the tray
safely to the bench. In one delighted glance the girls saw that not only
sandwiches, but a steaming pot of coffee and the remains of what had been
a great, three-layer chocolate cake were on the tray.