Page:Cornelia Meigs--The island of Appledore.djvu/119

Rh one word of what you are talking  about.”

She took him out into the kitchen, such a warm, bright, cheerful place that he felt his  spirits reviving at once.

“Sit down there,” she said, pointing to the red-covered table, “and now tell me how long  it is since you had anything to eat.”

Billy had breakfasted on the ship, but that had been exceedingly early, and he had eaten  nothing since. That, he thought, must be part of what made him feel so queer. Sally flatly refused to let him talk any more until  he had begun his supper.

“You can tell me about it while you are eating, even if you have to speak with your mouth full,” she said. “It seems as though Captain Saulsby was sick and you want me to go somewhere with you, so I’ll have to be getting  things together anyway. There won’t be any time wasted.”

“Aren’t your father and mother here?” asked Billy anxiously.

“No; they took Jacky and went over to the mainland on the afternoon boat, and won’t be  back tonight. There’s no one here but my