Page:Betty Gordon in the Land of Oil.djvu/211

Rh scythe I found as I was crawling over the floor," said Bob. "Then, of course, I could pull out that nasty gag and untie my feet. I was a bit stiff at first, and I guess I fell down the hay loft ladder, but I was in such a hurry I'm not sure. The sharpers had left their club, and I brought that along for good luck. And, Aunt Hope, I'm starving to death!"

"Bless your heart, of course you are!" And Miss Hope hurried out to the kitchen, tucking Mr. Gordon's check into her apron pocket as she went "I'll stir up some waffles, I think," she murmured, reaching for the egg bowl.

Mr. Gordon would not stay for dinner, for he was anxious, he said, to get to a telephone. He would spend the night with the Watterbys and be back the next morning with "an important some one."

"I'm so excited I can't walk straight," declared Betty, skipping between table and stove in an effort to help Aunt Hope with the dinner. "Goodness, it seems forever till to-morrow morning!"

Miss Hope and Miss Charity went about the rest of the day in a daze, and Bob and Betty, who could not settle down to any task, went out fo the barn and enacted the scene of Bob's imprisonment all over again.

They were up at daybreak the next morning, and Miss Hope insisted on dusting and sweeping