THE RESCUE
The four little Blossoms crowded to the rail of The Sarah and
stared dumbly at the slim girl in a pink frock who had been waving
the oar.
"Why, if it isn't Letty Blake!" said Captain Jenks cheerfully.
"How long have you been living on Kidd's Island?"
To the surprise of the children, Letty Blake flung her oar to one
side and sat down in the sand and cried.
Captain Jenks hastily tied his boat to the wooden post and jumped
ashore.
"You're all right now, child," he told the girl, patting her
kindly on the shoulder. "Look at all the crew who offered to come
help me rescue you. And who are these small tykes?"
The two little boys came closer to Letty. "They're my cousins,"
explained Letty, drying her eyes. "They came to visit us last
week; and I took them for a row this morning and we wanted to get
some flowers. I thought I tied the boat, but when we looked up it
was drifting off. Oh, dear!"
"There, there," said Captain Jenks comfortably. "Nothing to cry
about, Letty. Lots of people find out too late they didn't fasten
the boat. Hop ashore, youngsters, and I'll introduce you to new
friends."
The four little Blossoms, though bursting with curiosity, had
remained politely on deck. Now at Captain Jenk's invitation, they
joined hands and jumped, landing like four plump little ducks.
"Letty," declared the captain gravely, "here are four mighty good
friends of mine, Meg and Bobby and Dot and Twaddles Blossom. They
don't use any other names in the summer time."
The four little Blossoms giggled at this and Letty Blake smiled a
little. She was a pretty girl, apparently about twelve years old,
with dark blue eyes and a tanned skin that showed she was used to
outdoor living.
"These are my cousins, Nelson and Albert Bennett," she said,
pulling the two boys forward.
"Hello!" beamed Twaddles, who seldom suffered from shyness. "We
came to rescue you."
"Don't want to be rescued," said Nelson suddenly. "Do we, Letty?"
"Of course we do," retorted his cousin. "How do you expect to get
any lunch if we have to stay on this island? And where would you
sleep? We're going on board The Sarah this minute and Captain
Jenks will take us home."
Letty had stopped crying, and now she shouldered the oar, ready to
carry it to The Sarah.
"How's it come you have one oar?" asked Captain Jenks, plainly
puzzled. "Where's the other?"
"In the boat," said Letty. "We brought this ashore because the
boys wanted to play jungle travelers and carry things slung on a
pole over their shoulders. But the oar was too heavy for them to
lift."
Captain Jenks laughed as he marshaled the children on the boat.
"I suppose Uncle Silas will be put out over the boat being lost,"
said Letty thoughtfully, pulling Nelson and Albert out of the
captain's way as he started the engine. "He had just painted it
and the oarlocks were new this year. I wish I had made sure that
knot was tied."
"No use grieving over what's done and past," said Captain Jenks
wisely. "Meg, we're going to lose Dot overboard again, if she
isn't removed from that railing."
Sure enough, there was Dot half way over the railing, her small
sandals hooked around a cleat in an endeavor to keep her balance.
Just as Meg opened her mouth to call her, she turned.
"Ship ahoy!" she cried, trying to imitate Captain Jenk's most
nautical term.
"Starboard or port?" asked the captain gravely, though his eyes
twinkled.
The four little Blossoms had picked up several odds and ends of
navigation in the few weeks they had known the captain, but Dot
was too excited to remember what she had learned.
"It's right HERE" she shouted. "Oh, you'll run into it!"
"The rowboat! The rowboat!" cried Letty, dancing up and down. "Oh,
Captain Jenks, what do you think of that? It's Uncle Silas's boat
and the oar is in it, and our sweaters and everything!"
"Fine! But don't lose your heads," said Captain Jenks placidly. No
one had ever seen him agitated. "Bobby, you take the wheel and
hold it steady."
Bobby proudly took the wheel, and Captain Jenks, while the others
watched breathlessly, brought the rowboat alongside with a long
iron hook and with another drew up the long rope that was tied to
an iron ring in the prow.
Then the rowboat was fastened to the stern of The Sarah, and, as
Captain Jenks remarked, the rescue was complete.
Soon they reached the wharf on Apple Tree Island, and the four
little Blossoms were put ashore, after saying good-by to Letty
Blake and her cousins. She lived in Greenpier, and Captain Jenks
had known her since she was Dot's age.
"Let's have lunch ready by the time Daddy and Mother come back,"
suggested Meg. "We can do it every bit ourselves."
Working like four beavers, they soon had lunch--and a good lunch,
too--set out on the table. They had promised never to light the
oil stove, so they could not make tea, but Mother Blossom could do
that in a very few minutes when she came.
When the table was ready Meg ran out for some red clover and tall
grasses for a bouquet and Bobby followed her, leaving Dot and
Twaddles alone.
"I think we ought to have some jelly on the table, don't you?"
said Dot. "We never have enough jelly. Mother likes currant."
"You get it, and I'll open it," promised Twaddles. "Bobby never
lets me have the can opener."
Dot got a chair and climbed up on it. She was just able to reach
the shelf in the closet where the tumblers of jelly were kept. She
knew that currant jelly was red and she handed down a ruby red
glass to the waiting Twaddles.
"Don't cut yourself," she admonished him as he punched the can
opener into the tin lid.
Twaddles and Dot did not know that jelly tumblers are not opened
with can openers. Mother Blossom and Norah always pried off the
tin lids and used them the next year for other glasses.
"Oh, gee, there's a lot of wax on top," Twaddles reported when he
had torn a jagged hole in the lid and found the jelly was
protected with a layer of paraffin. "How'll I get that off?"
"Take a fork," advised Dot. "Here--I'll show you."
She seized a fork and jammed it into the paraffin. Bits of wax and
jelly flew from the glass, splashing Twaddles' clean blouse and
plentifully decorating Dot's white apron.
"Mother's coming!" cried Meg, rushing into the kitchen with her
flowers. Then she stopped. "Dot Blossom, look what you're done!"
she wailed.
Well, there was not much use in scolding, after it was done, and
Daddy and Mother Blossom said that since the twins had been so
good about helping to get lunch, that they should not be punished
beyond having to go without any jelly for that meal.
Of course the four little Blossoms had a great deal to tell about
the children they had helped Captain Jenks to rescue from Kidd's
Island. Daddy and Mother Blossom had seen the captain in Greenpier
and already knew of the rescue, but did not know many of the
details that the children now gave them.
"We saw Mr. Harley," said Mother Blossom, bringing out her darning
basket after lunch to one of the pretty trees where the family
were fond of sitting.
"I wish he could find Mrs. Harley," grieved Meg. "Yesterday, when
we were playing at Mr. Harley's house, we found a little hobby
horse, that must have belonged to one of the boys. I s'pose there
wasn't room for it in the trunk."
"I don't think poor Mrs. Harley packed a trunk," sighed Mother
Blossom. "Mr. Harley says he believes she walked out of the house
and took nothing with her except the clothes she wore. She had a
suitcase of things for the children, Polly said, and that was
all."
"Well, if that's the case, it's funny we can't find a clue,"
remarked Daddy Blossom. "I've looked, and I know Dick has looked,
everywhere for some kind of note or even a letter she might have
left. There isn't a scrap to build on."
A few days after this Daddy Blossom announced that he was going to
Greenpier on important business.
"I know, Daddy," shouted Twaddles. "Fireworks for the Fourth of
July."
Father Blossom was going over on the morning boat to do his
shopping, and soon after he had gone down to the wharf the four
little Blossoms decided to go to "Mr. Harley's house" to play.
Mother Blossom, who was writing a long letter to Aunt Polly, was
willing, and the four trotted off down the little path their own
feet had worn.
"Let's go another way," suggested Meg suddenly. "We've always said
we'd go through the woods, and we always come this same old way.
Come on, Bobby, we can't get lost."
The "woods" that Meg spoke of were mostly underbrush and second
growth of trees, with here and there a fine old oak that had
escaped the wood-chopper's ax. The children scrambled through the
bushes, climbed over the big gray rocks that stood half hidden
under a covering of dead leaves and creeping vines, and finally
came out behind the Harley shack.
"I never saw this side of it, did you, Meg?" asked Bobby. "Look,
this must have been the lean-to where Mrs. Harley did the washing.
Yes, here's an old wooden tub all fallen to pieces."
The children poked about in the rubbish carelessly until Twaddles
happened to spy one of the apple trees on the point.
"They're ripe!" he cried in great excitement, though he had had
his breakfast less than an hour before. "The apples are ripe, Dot!
Mr. Harley said we could eat 'em!"
He and Dot raced for the tree, while Meg followed more slowly.
Bobby remained to turn more stones over with his foot.
Presently the others heard him shout.
"Meg! Oh, Meg! Hurry up and see what I've found!"