Page:Ruth Fielding at Lighthouse Point.djvu/114

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104
RUTH FIELDING AT LIGHTHOUSE POINT

charge of Mr. Stone's little fleet. "Phin is a great cook and he'll get us up a regular fish dinner——"

"Oh, dear, Jennie Stone! how can you?" broke in Helen, with her hands clasped.

"How can I what, Miss?" demanded the stout girl, scenting trouble.

"How can you, when we are eating such a perfect dinner as this, be contemplating any other future occasion when we possibly shall be hungry?"

The others laughed, but Heavy looked at her school friends with growing contempt. "You talk—you talk," she stammered, "well! you don't talk English—that I'm sure of! And you needn't put it all on me. You all eat with good appetites. And you'd better thank me, not quarrel with me. If I didn't think of getting nice things to eat, you'd miss a lot, now I tell you. You don't know how I went out in Mammy Laura's kitchen this very morning, before most of you had your hair out of curl-papers, and just slaved to plan the meals for to-day."

"Hear! hear!" chorused the boys, drumming with their knife handles on the table. "We're for Jennie! She's all right."

"See!" flashed in Mercy, with a gesture. "Miss Stone has won the masculine portion of the community by the only unerring way—the only