Billie Bradley on Lighthouse Island Part 11

Billie stood staring after Miss Arbuckle, lost in thought about her, until Laura and Vi, hurrying up, caught her by the arm and hustled her through the front door, down the steps and into the waiting carryall. The carryall, by the way, was to make many trips that day, even though a great many of the girls had automobiles belonging to their relatives or friends which would take them straight to their destination.

When the girls had climbed inside, the boys jumped in after them, and the carryall, having by this time all that it could hold, started down the long, winding driveway to the road.

"Good-bye, Three Towers, for a little time, at least," cried Billie, while she felt a curious lump in her throat. She was terribly afraid she was going to cry, so she stopped talking and turned to stare out of the window.

"We've had a wonderful time there," said Laura in, for her, a very sober tone. "Better than we expected."

"Which is going _some_," finished Vi slangily, and as slang from Vi somehow always made them laugh, they laughed now and felt better for it.

"Well, we didn't have such a very slow time ourselves," said Billie's brother Chet, his good looking face lighting up with eagerness.

"And it's something to have made a friend like Paul Martinson," spoke up Ferd Stowing from where he was squeezed in between Laura and Vi.

"You bet--he's some boy," added Teddy heartily, forgetting for the moment that there had been times when he had longed to throw Paul Martinson into the lake--or some deeper place--because he had talked too much to Billie.

But here was a beautiful long train ride before him when he could talk to Billie--or any one else--all he liked without having any Paul Martinson trying to "b.u.t.t in" all the time. No wonder he was friends with all the world.

"Where is Paul? Why didn't he come with us?" asked Billie.

"He went home with his dad," Chet explained. "Of course he was crazy to see his motor boat, and then he had to make arrangements for our cruise.

Oh boy, think of cruising around the coast in a motor boat!"

"We wanted Connie to come along with us," said Billie. "But she said she would have to go home first."

"When are you girls going to start for Lighthouse Island?" Ferd asked with interest. "Have you set any time yet?"

"Not a regular date," answered Laura. "But it will be in a week or two I think. We'll have to have time to get acquainted with the folks again and have our clothes fixed up----"

"And then Connie's coming on to North Bend," Vi added eagerly. "And we'll all go together from there to the coast. Oh dear, I can't wait to start."

"Well, I guess you'll have to," said Billie, with a sigh, "since we haven't even reached home yet."

"That reminds me," said Laura, turning upon Billie accusingly. "What were you doing standing in the hall just now and looking as though you had lost your last friend when Vi and I came along and woke you up? Come on, 'fess up."

Billie could not think for a moment what she had been doing, then she remembered Miss Arbuckle and the rather peculiar way the teacher had thanked her for the return of the alb.u.m.

She told the girls about it, and they listened with interest while the boys looked as if they would like to have known what it was all about.

"Now I wonder----" Laura was beginning when Billie suddenly caught her hand and pointed to the road.

"Look!" she cried. "It's Hugo Billings, our sad, faced man again. Oh, girls, I wish we could do something for him."

She leaned far out the window, smiled and waved her hand to the man, who was standing moodily by the roadside. At sight of her he straightened up and an answering smile flashed across his thin face, making him look so different that the girls were amazed.

But when they looked back at him again a few seconds later his smile had gone and he was staring after them gloomily.

"Goodness, I never saw a person look so sad in all my life," murmured Vi, as a turn in the road hid the man from view.

"Well, I have," said Billie. "And that's Miss Arbuckle!"

"There must be some sort of mystery about them both," remarked Laura.

"Maybe that man has a whole lot on his mind."

"And maybe Miss Arbuckle isn't miss at all," added Vi. "Perhaps she's Mrs. Arbuckle and those children were her own."

Billie did not reply to this. She heaved something of a sigh. She was unable to explain it, but she felt very sorry for both the teacher and the queer man. Would the queer mystery ever be explained?

CHAPTER XI

AT HOME

A few hours later a train puffed noisily into the familiar station at North Bend, and as it came to a stop three boys and three girls tumbled down the steps of a car and literally ran into the arms of their waiting families.

At least, the girls did; the boys considered themselves far too dignified. However, they soon forgot dignity and everything else in a noisy and joyful recital of all the good times they had had during their year of absence.

Of course there had been others from the Military Academy and Three Towers Hall on the train whose friends and relatives had also come to meet them so that it was a very much excited crowd that wound its way up the ordinarily quiet main street of North Bend.

Gradually the crowd separated into little groups, each going its separate way to its separate home, and so at last, after many promises between the boys and girls to "call each other up right after dinner," the Bradley family found itself alone.

"Well," said Mr. Bradley, beaming proudly upon his children, who seemed to him to have grown at least twice as large during their absence, and three times as handsome, "you thought you _would_ come back to your poor old country relations, did you? Your mother and I," he glanced fondly at his wife, "thought perhaps you had forgotten us by this time."

"We weren't very much worried, though," said Mrs. Bradley, looking so lovely in her happiness that Billie had to snuggle close to her to make sure she was real. For Mrs. Bradley was really a very beautiful woman, as well as a very sweet one, and Billie was growing more like her every day.

"And there's the darling old house," breathed Billie happily, "looking just the same as it did when I left it. Mother dear, and, Dad----" here she reached a hand out to her father----"I think I'm the very happiest girl in all the world."

For a day or two after that it seemed the best thing in the world just to be at home again. But the third day the girls began to feel a little bit restless. They were longing to be off to Lighthouse Island with Connie Danvers. But they had not heard from Connie yet, and until they did there was nothing to be done but get things in shape and wait.

"Suppose she should change her mind," remarked Laura dolefully on the noon of the third day.

"Change her mind!" burst out Vi. She turned enquiringly to Billie. "Do you think Connie would do anything like that?" she demanded.

"Certainly not," was Billie's quick reply. "Connie isn't that kind of a girl. Besides all the arrangements have been made. It is more than likely she has been so busy with a number of details that she has simply forgotten to write or telegraph."

"Well, anyway, this waiting is getting on my nerves," declared Laura.

"Let's do something to make the time pa.s.s more quickly," suggested Billie. "What do you say to going down town for a bit of shopping?"

"That suits me," answered Vi. "And we might have some ice-cream sodas while we are down there."

This suited all of them, and soon they were on the way to the shops where they spent the best part of the afternoon.

Then one day, over a week later, when they had begun to think that Connie had forgotten about them, a telegram came from her, saying that she was starting for North Bend the day after the next and she would be in on the six o'clock train. Would somebody please be there to meet her? Her mother and father had gone on ahead to Lighthouse Island to get everything ready for the girls when they arrived.

Would they be there to meet her! Billie was so excited that she couldn't eat her supper, and as soon as she could get away from the table she rushed over to Laura's home to tell her the joyful news. From there the pair called up Vi and invited her to come and celebrate.