In something between a wail and a howl, the three boys took up the refrain, and kept at it until the girls begged them to stop. Then Ed fell in a heap on Walter's neck, and the two foolish young men pretended to cry, and moaned aloud without pretense. Jack found a big dishpan and he struck up a tattoo on that with a carving knife and fork. Cora was not going to let the boys make all the noise so she procured the dinner bell and rang it violently. When the din subsided, the boys suggested that the windows be opened, and the place aired before the arrival of the train that was to bring to Lookout Beach Mrs. Robinson and Miss Steel. What fun it was to be in actual possession of a house! True it was a very small house, compared with that occupied by the Robinsons in Chelton, but then there were no maids, and there was no formality. Just a perfect little cottage with everything in it for real housekeeping! "A regular playhouse!" commented Cora. "I wish we could keep it all to ourselves without Nettie, or any other maid." "You must come and see our house when we get set up," said Ed. "We are going to do it all alone. Take turns at cooking, and, I suppose, take turns at eating." Bess and Belle were busy making a room ready and comfortable for the arrival of their mother, and her guest. "I am sure mamma will like this room best," said Bess, "for it looks out over the bay and has such a lovely tree just on the east end, where the sun might have been troublesome at daybreak." "Yes, what a perfectly delightful room," exclaimed Cora, assisting in arranging the bed with the white coverlets, that had been placed within reach, all ready for the first comers. "We never before had a furnished house," went on Belle, "and just see! A cake of soap and box of matches in each room! Now that is what I call _real_ furniture." And so they went on from room to room, the girls selecting and arranging according to what seemed most practical, and most pleasing. The fright of the "suicide note" was almost forgotten in the joys of exploring and experimenting. Then the boys discovered that it was almost lunch time, and this was the signal for "a raid" on the town stores. Ed and Jack jumped into the _Get There_, and were off before Bess or Belle had a chance to tell them what might be "nice for lunch." "Oh, we may as well try our hand all alone this time," commented Jack, "and if we fail in buying the right things, it will add to our general knowledge in managing 'our bungalow.'" So they drove off, while Walter assisted in spreading rugs on the porch, and putting up hammocks. "Wouldn't have missed this for anything," Walter declared, when Cora asked him to help put the leaves in the dining-room table. "Isn't this just playing house, though!" "And to think that we do not have to wash any old, dusty dishes," remarked Cora. "Dear me! I wish we could get some tangible clue to the actual whereabouts of those two lone, miserable, runaway girls!" CHAPTER XIX