SPRINGING A LEAK
"You do us too much honor," said Paul, making a low bow in his best
Chesterfieldian manner.
"I know that perfectly well," replied Cora; "but I happen to feel in a
condescending mood."
"Good gracious, girls!" exclaimed Belle, consulting her watch, "do you
know that it's nearly twelve o'clock? We've been working here all the
morning."
"_We've_ been working!" repeated Jack with marked emphasis. "I can see
that you're all out of breath."
"'Those also serve who only stand and wait.'"
"That's the kind of job I'd like," said Walter, wiping the perspiration
from his face.
"No chance," opined Paul. "The girls have got in ahead of us."
"Well, I notice you wouldn't have been very far ahead if Cora hadn't
found those rings," retorted Bess.
"You boys are well enough where only muscle is concerned," said Belle
patronizingly, "but when it comes to a matter of brains you're not in the
same class with us."
They hurried back to the house, where they found a substantial meal ready
for them. Then the girls put on their boating togs, and they started out
to try the sailing qualities of the rejuvenated _Water Sprite_.
The boys cast off the moorings, and Cora, who could run a boat as well as
any one, took her place at the wheel. Jack stayed near the engine, where
he could keep an eye on its workings, and the rest disposed themselves
wherever they could be most comfortable.
There was hardly any wind blowing and the water was scarcely stirred by a
ripple. It was an ideal day for boating and they were prepared to enjoy
it to the full.
The boat darted away from the dock as though it shared the jubilant
spirits of the party, and Jack observed with great satisfaction that the
engine was chugging away without missing a beat.
"She's working like a dream," he announced.
"And look at the way she minds the wheel," said Cora. "She yields to the
slightest touch. It's no trouble at all to handle her."
"That's where she differs from most members of the fair sex," hazarded
Walter.
"And see how fast she's going," said Bess, ignoring the gibe. "We're half
a mile from shore already."
"Let's hug the shore and go all the way around the lake. We may be able
to pick out some splendid spots to go picnicking in."
"And on the way back let's land on the island," suggested Bess. "I wonder
if anybody lives there."
"Joel told me that there was a man who had a cabin over there and comes
up here almost every summer," replied Jack. "He lives all alone, and
spends his time in collecting plants and flowers. Joel can't understand
that. Thinks he's a bug. I suppose he's a botanist or something of the
kind."
"Well, he ought to have plenty of chances on that island," remarked Cora
as her eye took in the luxuriant verdure of the place.
"Perhaps he wouldn't care to have us break in upon him," observed Belle.
"He may be of the crank or hermit type."
"Or a woman-hater," laughed Bess.
"If he is, you'll cure him," declared Walter gallantly.
"I guess he won't object," said Paul. "Anyway, he doesn't own the island.
He just camps out on it, and we have as much right there as he has."
They had quickly reached the further end of the lake, and kept up a
running fire of delighted exclamations at the beauties that nature had
flung about this favored place with reckless prodigality.
"If a painter could only put it on canvas," sighed Cora.
"He never could!" exclaimed Belle. "The best he could do would be a poor
imitation."
Suddenly Bess drew up her foot.
"Oh," she exclaimed, "my foot is soaking wet!"
Jack looked at the bottom of the boat.
"It's a little water that's seeped in," he remarked. "We'll get the
bailer from the cabin locker and throw it out."
Walter bestirred himself and got the bailer. But after he had used it for
a minute, a puzzled look came into his face.
"It's coming in faster than I can get it out," he said.
Belle uttered a little cry, and Bess became a trifle pale.
The other boys crowded around Walter.
"It is coming in pretty fast for a fact," muttered Paul.
"We'll all have to get at it," said Jack soberly.
There was only one bailer in the boat, and there was nothing else in the
shape of a can or pail.
"Take off your sweaters," said Jack to the boys. "Soak up the water and
wring them out over the side of the boat. Lively now!"
A moment more and the boys were working like beavers.
"It must have been the straining of the engine," explained Jack. "It's
started a board in the old tub. Work like the mischief, boys!"
Bess and Belle were huddled together in alarm, but they said nothing to
betray the panic that was growing upon them.
Cora's lips were pressed a little more tightly together and her cheeks
were a trifle pale. But her eyes were glowing like stars, and were full
of courage and determination.
She gave the wheel a turn and headed straight for the island, which was
the nearest land.
The water continued to gain, and as the boat settled a trifle in
consequence of the added weight, its progress was necessarily slower.
The boys were working frantically. Bess and Belle would have gladly
helped, but in the narrow limits of the boat they would only have been in
the way.
The open space in the bottom of the boat was yawning now. Jack doubled up
his sweater and thrust it into the opening, while the others continued to
bail.
Still the water gained, and the boat was perceptibly settling. But they
were near the island now, and Cora turned the bow toward a low, shelving
part.
A moment more and, with a sensation of infinite relief, they felt the bow
slide into the mud of the bottom. Jack leaped to the engine and stopped
its chugging. Then all took a long breath and looked at each other.
The faces of the boys were white and in the eyes of the girls there was
more than a suspicion of anxiety.
"Land ho!" exclaimed Jack, giving his sister a hug.
"Castaways!" cried Paul dramatically.
"But not on a desert island, thank heaven!" said Bess.
"But how are we to get on shore without getting wet?" queried Belle, a
lesser anxiety seizing her, now that the greater one was dispelled.
"Can you ask that," said Walter reproachfully, "when there are three
husky sailors here who ask nothing better than to carry you to the
shore?"
"It's only a foot deep near the bow," declared Jack. "Over we go, boys,"
and he set the example, that was instantly followed by his comrades.
Each took one of the girls and landed her safely on the shore. With the
exception of Bess' wet feet, the girls were almost as fresh and unruffled
as ever, but the boys with their dripping trousers clinging closely round
them presented a comical picture.
"That's right, laugh at us!" said Walter, as the girls looked at them
with mirth in their eyes. "Here we risk our lives for you and that's all
the reward we get. Suppose a shark had bitten us when we were wading to
the shore with our cargo of beauty. Suppose----"
But his diatribe was interrupted by the appearance of a man who stepped
from the trees that came down near to the water's edge.
He looked at the party with a whimsical smile.
"Why, it's Mr. Morley!"
"So it is," echoed Bess and Belle.
"The very same," smiled the newcomer. "And you are the young ladies that
came to my help the other day when I ran my car into a tree. Who would
have supposed that we would meet again so soon and under such different
circumstances?"
He shook hands heartily with the girls, and then was introduced to the
boys.
"You've had something like a shipwreck, I see," he said, as he looked at
the boat.
"Nothing very serious," replied Jack. "Although it might have been, if
we'd had much farther to go to reach shore."
"It's too bad," returned Mr. Morley. "However, I'm very glad it wasn't
worse. But come up to my cabin. It's only a little way from here. You can
build a fire outside and stand about it until your clothes are dry. I
live rather simply here, but I can offer you some refreshments. After
that, we'll see what we can do toward patching up your boat."
He led the way, chatting with Cora, and the rest followed. A few minutes'
walk brought them to the cabin. It was a small, one-story structure, with
three rooms. One served as a living room, dining room and kitchen
combined, while the others consisted of a sleeping room and a room where
Mr. Morley kept his specimens.
"'A poor place, but mine own,'" quoted their host, with a smile. "I spend
most of my summers here looking for specimens. The rest of the year I
teach botany in a college. Now I'm going to bring out some cakes and tea
and put the young ladies in charge, and we'll have a regular afternoon
tea."
While the girls fluttered about inside, preparing the refreshments, Mr.
Morley and the boys built a fire a little way from the door, and in a
little while the youths were dry and comfortable again.
It was a gay party that a little later sat around the table where the
girls had spread the refreshments. Mr. Morley seemed genuinely glad to
have them with him, and the boys and girls were in the highest spirits.
What might have been a disaster had developed into a lark.
While the girls were clearing up the things later, their host went down
with the boys to the boat.
He had brought along some boards and oakum, together with necessary
tools. His own rowboat enabled them to board the _Water Sprite_ without
getting another wetting. Once there, the boys took off their shoes,
rolled their trousers to the knees and set to work. In less than an hour
they had repaired the damage. Then they bailed out the water and watched
anxiously to see if any more came in.
But their anxiety was needless. The work had been well done, and the boat
floated high and dry on the water.