"Ahem! I see the point, Laura," Mrs. Cupp observed. "But it does not change the facts. A rule of the Hall has been broken--flagrantly broken. That you girls fled away to this spot for your reprehensible act adds to the offence. We are responsible to your parents and guardians for your health and safety. The result of an escapade like this nobody can foretell. Something might have happened in this old boathouse to harm you girls and bring ill-repute to the Hall."
The party of school-law breakers looked rather solemn. Mrs. Cupp folded the napkin she had used and brushed the crumbs from her black broadcloth skirt.
"Nothing excuses an infraction of the rules. But I am inclined to show leniency to everybody but the prime mover in this affair. And that is----"
"Me!" gasped Bess Harley. "Nan would never have thought of having a supper but for me."
"But I chose this place for it, and it was my money paid for it," cried Nan.
"How much did it cost?" asked Mrs. Cupp, briskly.
"More than twenty-five dollars," confessed Nan, blushing.
"Mercy on us! What extravagance!" cried the matron. "You shall be punished for that, if for nothing else, Nancy Sherwood," and she got up quickly. "Now, girls, is there anything left?"
"Some cream and cake, Mrs. Cupp," Amelia promptly announced.
"Take it up to the Hall for Susan and the other maids," ordered the matron. "Miss Sherwood, Miss Harley, Miss Polk and Miss Boggs may come down here some time to-morrow and clean up. I will speak to Dr. Prescott about the punishment to be meted out to the chief offender. She will be vexed about it, I have no doubt."
Laura sidled up to her as the matron prepared to set forth with the truants for the Hall, and whispered:
"But wasn't that mayonnaise lovely, Mrs. Cupp?"
"You cannot cajole me, Miss Polk," the matron said.
This speech gave the fun-makers a feeling of dejection. Most of them did not know how clear Dr. Prescott's sense of justice was. It looked as though Nan Sherwood was in for a lot of trouble. And she had given them such a delightful supper!
It so troubled their minds that even the timid ones thought no more of "the black dog" as they filed out of the boathouse. Nan locked the door, and she and Mrs. Cupp came in the rear as the whole party scuttled up the long flight of steps to the brow of the bluff. Mrs. Cupp walked slowly and leaned upon Nan's arm.