Tommy Tucker was flying down to the lake before half of this explanation was given.
"Have you a holiday, too?" Betty asked. "We're out to get decorations for the play."
"It's the colonel's birthday," explained Bob, "and the old boy gave us the day off. Here come the fellows."
Half a dozen more cadets joined them, all boys the girls had met at the games. They were loud in their expressions of sympathy for the disappointed picnickers and promptly offered their potatoes as refreshments when they should be done.
"Oh, we're going to get that lunch back," announced Bob Henderson confidently. "Look here!"
He pointed to some footprints in a bit of muddy ground.
"Cadet shoes!" cried Tommy Tucker. "Jimminy Crickets, I'll bet it's that Marshall Morgan and his crowd!"
"But this is a girl's shoe," protested Betty, pointing to another print. "See the narrow toe?"
"Ada Nansen or Ruth Royal!" guessed Bobby quickly. "They're the only ones who won't wear a sensible shoe."
