"It's a fine show," declared Norton. "A friend of mine saw it in New York."

"What time are we to be ready?" asked Belle, with a look at Cora.

"It begins at eight, if you start now putting on your hats you'll be ready in time, it's only a little after six," remarked Ed.

"Smart!" exclaimed Bess. "We can be ready as soon as you!"

After supper--or dinner whichever you prefer to call it--the boys went to their rooms to get ready for the little theatre party. The girls, with much whispering and not a little laughter proceeded, apparently, with the same object.

But a little later the motor maids, accompanied by their chaperone, Mrs.

Fordam, slipped down a rear stairway, out into the ladies' parlor of the hotel, and thence into two big limousine cars that awaited them. The girls had on semi-evening dress, with some flimsy chiffon veils over their heads in place of hats, which might account for the speed with which they got ready.

"Isn't it nice we met those boys!" exclaimed Eline.

"They came just in time to make it possible for us to retaliate," remarked Cora. "And our boys need a lesson."

In the somewhat luxurious autos that had drawn up in front of the hotel were four young men in evening dress. They greeted the girls enthusiastically.

"It's awfully nice of you to come on such short notice," said one to Cora.

"Oh, we were only too glad to" she answered.

CHAPTER XII

AT THE COVE

"Well, what do you know about that?"

"It--well, so long as there are none of 'em here I'll say it--it's the limit!"

"They got back at us all right!"

"And to think we never suspected."

"What will we do with these theatre tickets?"

Four young men, in freshened attire after their auto ride, stood disconsolately in the hotel parlor. Jack was fingering a note that a bell boy had brought him. Walter, Ed and Norton, with the a.s.sistance of Jack, had given voice to the expressions with which we have begun this chapter. The note read:

"Dear Jack:

"We don't seem to care about the theatre this evening. I met Harry Dunn, and his two cousins--also another young man--Ralph Borden--and they asked us to go to a little private dance. Mrs. Fordam is with us. We met Harry at Lake Como last year, you remember. He is that tall, dark, distinguished-looking fellow. So we thought we'd prefer the dance to the theatre, especially as Belle and Bess have seen the play. Sorry to have to waste so many good tickets, but perhaps you boys will have time to paint another honeymoon sign.

"Cora."

It was this note which had been handed to Jack as he and his companions had been waiting in the parlor for the girls, that had caused all the trouble.

"So, that's their game!" exclaimed Cora's brother, as he crumpled the paper up in his hand. "They've played a trick on us all right!"

"To get back at us for that sign on the auto, and the rice," added Ed.

"I wonder if they really did go off to a dance?" asked Walter.

"Oh, yes, I know this Dunn chap--not half-bad," put in Jack. "Sis and I did meet him last year. His folks have a country place somewhere round here. But how did he meet the girls and get them to come?"

"I have it!" cried Norton.

"Pa.s.s it over!" commanded Walter.

"You know that time my car developed a kink," he continued, "and you stopped yours, Jack?"

"Sure," a.s.sented Cora's brother.

"Well, the girls went on, you know, and when we caught up to them I saw a couple of autos speeding down the road, as though they had been acting as escorts. I guess those fellows must have met the girls on the road, proposed the dance, and the girls accepted."

"That's it!" declared Jack. And so it proved, as they found out later.

"Well, there's no help for it," sighed Walter.

"We'll have to go to the show alone," added Ed.

"If we could only find some nice girls," spoke Norton.

"We don't know a soul in town," declared Jack. "If that Dunn fellow had been half-way decent he'd have made some arrangement about us after he stole away the girls. Well, there's no use wasting all the tickets. Come on to the show."

So the boys went, but they did not have a very good time by themselves, and there was some amus.e.m.e.nt among the audience over four good-looking boys occupying eight seats.

As for Cora and the girls, they had a delightful dance. It had turned out as Norton had said. The girls, proceeding on ahead with Mrs. Fordam, after Jack and the boys had stopped to look after Norton's car, had met young Dunn and his companions out for a spin. Cora knew them at once, and the young men, delighted at the prospect of such charming partners at a dance they had almost elected to forgo, invited the motor girls to it.

Mrs. Fordam, who was a distant relative of young Dunn's father, had consented to the arrangement. The girls and she slipped away after Jack came in with the theatre tickets, proceeded to attire themselves most becomingly, and had been met by their escorts, who lavishly hired big cars to take their friends to the affair. Then Jack and his chums had been handed the note which Cora left for them. It had all been very simple.

"Wasn't it glorious!"

"The floor was just splendid!"

"And those boys knew so many nice fellows."

"My card was filled almost before I knew it."

"The music was lovely!"

Thus chattered the motor girls as they came back to the hotel rather late--or was it early? with Mrs. Fordam. They saw Jack sitting disconsolately in the parlor, trying hard to keep awake by reading.

"Well, so you're back!" he exclaimed to Cora, rather shortly.