DOLL OVERBOARD!
The next morning Dotty and Dolly went with the Fayre family to breakfast
in the hotel dining-room.
Very fresh and pretty the girls looked, Dolly in a pale blue linen and
Dotty in pink linen with a black velvet belt.
The great dining-room was large and airy, and the sunshine and sea
breeze came in at the open windows.
The Fayres' table was pleasantly placed overlooking the ocean, and
Dotty's black eyes roved round the room in delighted appreciation of the
surroundings.
"Oh!" she exclaimed suddenly, "there are the twin Browns! Did you know
they were here, Dolly?"
"I thought they would be; they come here 'most every summer." And Dolly
smiled across the room at Tod and Tad, who bobbed their heads and
grinned in response.
"I'm glad they're here," Dolly went on; "it's so nice to have some one
you know to start you getting acquainted."
"It won't take you long to get acquainted," said Trudy, smiling, "for
all the children of your age who are here are waiting for you. I've told
several that you were coming, and I expect the Brown boys have made all
sorts of plans for your entertainment. We won't bathe to-day until after
luncheon; you can spend the morning on the beach or go for a motor ride
with me, whichever you like."
As the girls hesitated over their decision, the Brown twins came over to
their table and greeted them gaily.
"Thought you girls would never get here," said Tod, though really it
mattered little which of them spoke, for they were so precisely alike it
was impossible to tell them apart.
"Jolly to see you again," said Tad; "do come out on the beach with us as
soon as you finish your breakfast, won't you?"
"Yes," said Dolly; "I guess we won't go with you, Trude, this morning; I
want Dotty to get acquainted with the ocean."
And so when the girls left the dining-room, they found not only the
Browns, but several other young people waiting on the veranda to escort
them down to the beach.
There were general introductions, and as they went down the long flight
of the hotel steps, Dolly found herself walking beside a girl named
Pauline Clifton.
Pauline was rather tall and seemed to have an air of authority. Though
not exactly pretty, she was striking-looking, with brown eyes and hair
and a complexion of rosy tan. She wore a white dress and a red sweater
and white stockings with red shoes, and she put her hand through Dolly's
arm with a decided air of possession.
"I like you already," she said, "and I'm sure we're going to be chums.
Are you rich?"
The question struck Dolly as funny, and she turned to look into
Pauline's face. But the brown eyes were serious, and evidently the
Clifton girl wished an answer and was prepared to rate her new friend
accordingly.
"No," said Dolly, returning the frank gaze; "we're not rich. We live in
a small town, and we have about everything we want, but I'm sure we're
not what you'd call rich. Are you?"
It would never have occurred to Dolly to ask this question, but it
seemed to follow naturally after the other's.
"Oh, yes," Pauline said, "we're awfully rich. We live in New York, and
my father has a yacht and lots of motor cars and everything."
"I should think you'd have your own summer home, then, and not come to a
hotel."
"We have; two of them. One on Long Island and one up in the mountains.
But Father takes freaks. I haven't any mother, and he jumps around
wherever he feels like it. So he picked this place for August and here
we are. There's only me and Carroll, that's my brother. He's that boy on
ahead, with his cap on the back of his head."
"Who looks after you; your father?"
"Yes; but he isn't here much. We have a kind of a nurse-governess; that
is, she used to be our nurse when we were little and she has always
stayed with us. She's a funny old thing, Liza her name is, but she can
manage us better than anybody else. Father tried a French governess for
me and a German Frauelein, and Carroll has a different tutor about every
month, but Liza just stays on through it all. I know all about you from
the Brown boys. Aren't they ducks! They told us about you before you
came, and about Dotty Rose. Isn't she pretty? You're awfully pretty,
too, and you two look lovely together."
Pauline rattled on, scarcely giving Dolly a chance to reply to her
observations. Meantime the group had come to a standstill and were
selecting a nice place on the beach to spend the morning hours.
Dotty was enchanted with her first real experience of the seashore.
She sat down in the sand with the rest, but quickly made her way to the
front of the group and as near as possible to the edge of the waves in
her effort to get an unobstructed view of the ocean. The surf was
rolling in and the great breakers filled her with awe and delight.
"Come farther back, Dotty," Tad Brown called out, "or you'll get caught
by some of those swells."
Dotty drew back just in time to escape a wetting from a big wave whose
white foam rolled up the sands to her very feet.
"Isn't it wonderful!" she cried; "I could sit right here all day and
never take my eyes off those waves!"
But the sight was not so novel to the others, and they talked and
laughed and threw sand at each other and built forts and watched for
passing steamers and made plans for future amusements.
"That's the worst of the seashore," said Pauline, discontentedly;
"there's so little to do. Just walk the boardwalk or sit on the sand or
bathe; that's about all."
"Nonsense, Polly," said her brother Carroll; "there's lots else to do.
Going motoring or walking in the woods, and there's a bowling alley at
the hotel and tennis courts--there's millions of things to do, only
you're such an old grouch you never see the fun of anything."
Pauline paid no attention to this brotherly remark, but said to Dotty,
"Come on, let's go for a walk; I want to get acquainted with you."
"Get acquainted here," said Dotty, laughing. "I'm too comfortable to
move."
The Brown boys had banked up a big hill of sand behind Dotty, and she
leaned back against it, still fascinated by the wonderful blue of the
distant ocean sparkling in the sunlight and the mad onrush of the great
breakers as they dashed on the shore.
"Then you come," said Pauline to Dolly; "let's go off by ourselves and
walk along toward the casino and the shops.
"All right," said Dolly, who was tired of sitting on the sand and quite
ready for a walk. Moreover, she was curious to know more of Pauline. She
wasn't sure she should like a girl who asked her point blank if she
were rich, and yet Pauline didn't seem ostentatious or vulgar, but was
quick-witted and full of fun.
The two walked away, leaving the rest of the crowd, some six or eight of
them, on the beach.
As the morning passed, others joined the group and some went away, but
Dotty remained, still unable to tear herself away from the glorious sea.
"I say, Dot Rose," Tod Brown exclaimed, "you _are_ stuck on that big
pond, aren't you? But there are other days coming when you can gaze at
it. Come on, now, and let's do something. I'll race you to the end of
boardwalk."
"What's there, when you get to the end?" demanded Dotty.
"Nothing much, but some fishermen's shacks and nets and things. Come on
and see it. The fishermen are a queer-looking bunch and not very
good-natured, but it's fun to tease them. Come on, anyhow."
Dotty got up, somewhat cramped by long sitting, and was glad after all
for a brisk walk in the sunshine. They didn't race, but swung along at a
good pace, Dotty with her eyes still seaward.
Nearly at the end of the boardwalk, on a bench, was a large and handsome
French doll. It was dressed as a baby, with a long white frock, a lacy
cap and a knitted pink sacque.
"Oh, look at that!" cried Dotty. "I know whose it is; it belongs to that
little golden-haired child at the hotel."
"That's so," said Tod. "The kiddy must have left it here. I saw her
lugging it around this morning, and it was about all she could do to
carry it. Shall we take it back to her?"
"Yes," said Dotty; "I'd just as lieve carry it."
"You bet you'll carry it, if either of us does. Do you s'pose I'd go
round lugging a wax infant?"
"It isn't wax," said Dotty, picking it up; "it's light as a feather.
It's one of those celluloid things, but I never saw such a big one
before. Yes, I'll take it back to little Yellowtop. If it's left here
somebody will steal it. Shall we turn back now?"
"No; come on to the end of the walk and let's have a look at the
fishermen."
They went on and soon reached their destination. It was a picturesque
place, but the cabins were deserted and only a few empty boats were in
sight. The beach was littered with old fish nets and various sorts of
rubbish, while a few piers ran out into the sea.
"Everybody's gone fishing," said Tod. "Nothing much to see here; let's
go back."
"Let's go out to the end of that pier," said Dotty. "There's no danger,
is there?"
"Danger? No! But nothing to see out there. Come along, though, if you
like."
Good-naturedly, Tod went with Dotty along the old pier. Reaching the
very end, they sat down for a few moments, their feet hanging over the
edge while they clung to the uprights.
"Oh, isn't it grand!" cried Dotty, looking down into the blue water as
it rippled against the piles at some distance below.
"Don't fall in," warned Tod.
"Never fear, I'm not that kind of a goose! I love it, but I'm scared to
death all the time, and I keep a good grip on this rope."
"That's right. Oh, here comes a fishing-boat; see, 'way out there in the
distance. We'll wait for that to get in, and then we'll go."
The two stood up, and hanging onto the ropes, leaned far over to see the
boat as it came in.
A sudden breeze made Dotty cling closer to the upright she was leaning
against, and as Tod put out his hand to steady her, somehow or other the
big doll dropped into the water.
"Oh, my goodness!" exclaimed Dotty in dismay, "there goes the baby's
doll! What a pity. Can we get it, Tod?"
"I don't know. If it doesn't drift the wrong way, maybe the fishermen
will pick it up as they come in. If I had a hook and line I could hook
it up."
"Don't lean over so far, Tod; you'll fall in," and Dotty tried to hold
back the boy as he leaned over the edge of the pier. "Oh, see, there's a
fisherman or somebody, coming out of that cabin. Maybe he'll bring a
pole or something and help us get the doll. Ask him to."
Tod shouted at the man, who had just appeared in the cabin door. It was
some distance and the boy's voice did not carry well over the breakers
between them, but finally Tod succeeded in attracting the man's
attention.
"Bring a pole!" Tod shouted, "or fish line. Help us!"
"Hey?" shouted the man, his hand to his ear. "What's the matter?"
"Doll overboard!" Tod yelled back, but the breeze was off shore and the
man could not get the words. But he saw the two children as they pointed
out on the water, and then, as he saw the big doll, he very naturally
thought it was a live baby and immediately he became excited. He ran
back into the cabin and returned with a boat-hook. He jumped into a boat
and endeavoured to put out to sea through the breakers. But at every
attempt, the waves dashed him back on the shore. Determinedly, he tried
again and again, and finally succeeded in getting beyond the surf,
though he was now at some distance from the pier. He began to row
desperately, but made little headway toward the floating doll.
"He thinks it's a live baby!" cried Tod, roaring with laughter. "Oh,
Dotty, what a joke! Keep it up! Pretend it is."
Willingly enough, Dotty caught at the idea and began wringing her hands
and screaming frantically.
"Oh, save her, save her!" she yelled, tearing around the pier like a mad
person, while Tod, hanging on to a post, leaned far over the water and
waved his hand frantically to the boatman.
The fisherman redoubled his efforts and slowly drew nearer the floating
doll, whose long white dress was whirled and tossed about in the eddy.
The boatload of fishermen which they had seen in the distance drew
nearer, and the man in the row-boat communicated to them by shouts and
signs and made them aware of the catastrophe.
The incoming fishermen saw the baby in the water, and saw the two
children screaming and wailing on the pier, and they put forward with
all speed to make a rescue.
Tod and Dotty were really doubled up with laughter, but pretended they
were in agonies of grief as the two boats made desperate attempts to
reach the drowning child.
"The old idiots!" exclaimed Tod; "they might know that a live baby
wouldn't float around like that. It would have sunk long ago."
"Of course it would," agreed Dotty. "Won't they be mad when they get
it!"
The fishermen, having had little experience with French dolls the size
of live babies, assumed, of course, that it was a real child in the
water, and they wasted no time in marvelling as to why it should
continue to ride blithely on top of the waves. They simply put forth
every effort to reach the white object, whatever it might be, but the
perversity of wind and wave continued to thwart them.
At last, however, very near shore, the fishermen drew near enough to
grab the doll and draw it into their boat, just as they rowed in on top
of a huge breaker and beached near the pier.
Tod and Dotty ran swiftly to them, eager to see their chagrin and
dismay at having rescued the doll.
The men were all out on the beach and they showed a belligerent
demeanour as the children appeared.
"Ye little wretches," cried one big rawboned man, "what d'ye mean by
foolin' us like that?"
His manner even more than his words were distinctly threatening, and
Dotty was scared, but Tod answered him directly.
"We didn't fool you! We dropped the doll in the water by accident, and
we sung out there was a doll overboard and we asked a man on shore to
help us get it. If you people thought it was a live baby, that isn't our
fault!"
"That don't go down!" and another man stepped forward and shook his fist
at the children. "Ye know right well ye fooled us a-purpose."
"We did not!" and Dotty, her temper now aroused, stamped her foot at
him. "We told the man it was a doll, but if he couldn't hear us, we
couldn't help that."
"Now, now, little lady, ye know better." The big brawny fisherman came
nearer to Dotty and scowled at her. "I seen you jumping around there and
play-actin' like you was wild with grief! Don't deny it, now! Ye know
well enough I say true!"
He glowered at Dotty, and as he came nearer to her his big fierce eyes
frightened her and she quickly stepped behind Tod.
"Don't you speak to the lady like that!" the boy cried. "If you've
anything to say, say it to me. I called to the man for help to get that
doll out of the water. It belongs to a little friend of ours and we want
to take it to her."
"Well, ye'll never take it!" and the fierce-eyed man picked up the wet
and dripping doll, and with a mighty sweep of his long arm, he flung it
far out to sea. The deed was merely an impulse of his angry wrath at
having been fooled by the children, and he faced them with a defiant
air.
"You had no right to do that!" cried Tod; "go right out in your boat and
get it."
"Ha! ha!" laughed the man with a loud, boisterous chuckle. "Go out and
get it, is it? Not much I'll not go out and get it! And, what's more,
I'll report you two to the life-saving station people, and I'll have you
arrested for false pretences."
Tod was pretty sure that this was all a bluff, but the other men
gathered about and promised the same thing. So threatening were they,
that Dotty was thoroughly scared, and Tod, though not really afraid of
arrest, began to think that these men could make things very unpleasant
for them. He knew by hearsay of the rough manners and ugly tempers of
this particular lot of fishermen. He had heard stories of their dislike
for the summer guests, who sometimes visited them out of curiosity and
looked upon them patronisingly.
Tod realised that nothing incensed their rough natures like being made
the subject of a practical joke and this, though unpremeditatedly, he
and Dotty had done. He thought best to drop his indignant air and try to
propitiate them.
"Oh, come now," he said; "honest Injun, as man to man, I didn't mean to
fool you. We dropped the doll in the water and I yelled for help. Now,
I'll own up that when you fellows seemed to think it was a live baby, we
did kind of help along a little but we didn't mean any harm. S'pose I
give you a dollar to forget it."
Tod spoke in a frank and manly way, and his good-natured face ought to
have evoked a pleasant response. And it did from most of the men, but
the fierce black-eyed one, who seemed to be the leader, was possessed of
a sense of greed, and his one idea regarding the "stuck-up summer
people" was to extract money from them whenever possible.
"A dollar," he said, with an unpleasant sneer; "not enough, young sir!
Show us ten dollars, and we'll try to forget the insult you offered us."
"I didn't offer you an insult, and I haven't ten dollars with me, and I
wouldn't pay it to you if I had!"
Tod was angry now, and his eyes blazed at the rude injustice of the
demand.
But the fierce-browed man was not abashed. "You gimme ten dollars or
I'll make trouble for you! If you haven't got it, you can get it. Gimme
your word of honour--you look like a gentleman--to bring me that ten,
and I'll promise to make no trouble."
Tod hesitated. Had he been alone, he would have refused them at once,
but he felt that he had the responsibility of Dotty's welfare, and he
paused to reflect. The men were very rude and uncontrolled, and Tod
didn't know what further menace they might offer.
As he hesitated, the big man spoke more threateningly. "Be quick, young
man; give us your word, or we'll put you under lock and key for awhile
to think it over."
This speech was accompanied by growls of assent from other members of
the group, and one or two stepped forward as if to carry out the
suggestion.