It had been decided that all were to take part in the race--consequently all were bent on losing not one moment of practice. They swam, off and on, for the whole morning--occasionally throwing themselves upon the mossy bank, to rest and get their breath, then going at it again with renewed vigor and resolve.
It was only when the position of the sun and acute pangs of hunger warned them that it was long past their luncheon hour, that they decided it was time to turn their attention to other things.
"I left the basket back at the house," said Mollie, when they had come to this conclusion. "I thought probably we would like to get dressed before we ate."
"Oh, why?" Will protested. "It's a scorching hot day, and we'll probably want to go in for a swim later on, anyway."
"Why not slip a skirt and middy over our bathing suits?" Betty suggested. "By the time we reach the house, our suits will be dry. Mine is almost, now."
"Good!" said Grace. "We'll feel more respectable, and if we do want to go in for a swim later it won't be any trouble at all to take them off."
So it was decided, and they all tramped off through the woods, laughing, merry, and friends with the world.
Upon reaching the house the Outdoor Girls ran upstairs while the boys went back to camp to get some things they thought they might need. A few moments later the girls rejoined them.
"Where shall we go?" Roy, who was leading the van, paused and looked behind him. "Let's take some different part of the wood--some place we haven't explored yet."
"There is some place, for we have not yet found the gypsies Mollie's old store-keeper told her about," put in Betty.
"Very well, then, trot ahead, Roy, we'll follow you."
"All right, but don't blame me if we are lost."
"Oh, if there is any danger of that," said Amy, pulling away and looking back longingly, "perhaps we better stick to what we know."
"Oh, Roy is only talking to hear himself talk," Will assured her. "It isn't possible to get lost on this island, even if you wanted to. All we would have to do would be to follow the shore and sooner or later we'd be bound to come upon 'The Shadows.'"
Amy saw the reason in this and was reassured. "All right," she said; "but it wouldn't be very much fun to get lost."