midday
`` Well , we shall have to think up some other punishment for you , '' decided Jess ; `` a quarter mile dash across the desert , for instance . '' `` Well , is n't that the utmost , '' snorted Jimsy ; `` here I try to cool you girls off by describing the delightful surroundings of a soda fountain and then you threaten me with bodily violence . 'T was ever thus , ' '' and Jimsy , with an assumption of wounded dignity , strode off to where old Mr. Bell was already busy over the cooking fire . The midday meal passed off more brightly than might have been expected considering the circumstances in which the adventurers found themselves . `` At all events , we ca n't starve an the desert , '' Jimsy , `` even if we do run short of water . '' `` How is that ? '' inquired old Mr. Bell innocently , although the twinkle in Jimsy 's eye had put the others on their guard .