THE MERRY GOAT
Bunny Brown, who had been sitting near his sister Sue on the deck of the
_Fairy_, had jumped to his feet and run to the rail, or side of the
boat, as the little girl cried out that their craft had run over the
canoe. That was really what had happened. The two young men and the
young women in the canoe had got in the way of the motor boat, and had
been struck.
"Man overboard!" yelled Bunny. He had often enough heard that cry on his
father's boat and on the pier, for more than once boys or men had fallen
off into the water. Sometimes on warm summer days the boys pushed each
other off, just for fun.
And often, at such times, the cry would be raised:
"Man overboard!"
Bunny knew what that meant. It meant that somebody ought to jump to the
rescue or throw into the water something the person who had fallen in
could grab. There were, on his father's dock, a number of life
buoys--round rings of cork covered with canvas and having a long rope
attached to them. And there were some of these same things on the deck
of the _Fairy_.
"Man overboard!" cried Bunny again, and, running to the nearest life
ring, he took it off the hook and sent it spinning into the water. Bunny
knew that the end of the rope was fast to the rail, so the buoy would
not be lost.
Bunker Blue also acted quickly. Near the wheel by which the _Fairy_ was
steered was a wire, which, when pulled, shut off the motor down in the
hold of the craft. Bunker Blue pulled this wire, and the boat began to
slow up. Then Bunker leaped to the side of the _Fairy_ near Bunny, and
Bunker caught up another life ring and tossed it over the rail.
As Bunny and Sue leaned over to catch sight of the four people in the
water, Captain Ross and Daddy Brown came hurrying up on deck from the
little cabin, where they had been talking with Mrs. Brown.
"What's the matter?" cried Captain Ross. "Did we hit anything, Bunker?"
"Yes, a canoe with four people in it. We ran 'em down. They crossed
right in front of our bows! I'll get 'em!"
The next minute Bunker peeled off his coat, slipped from his feet the
loose, rubber-soled shoes he wore, and leaped over the rail.
"Oh! Oh!" gasped Sue.
"He's going to save 'em!" cried Bunny. "I wish I could jump in and----"
"Don't dare try that, Bunny Brown!" cried his mother, who heard what he
started to say, and she put a hand on his shoulder to hold him.
"They're all right," reported Mr. Brown, looking over the side of the
boat. "All four of them can swim, and the young men have given the young
ladies the life rings. They don't seem to be much frightened. Bunker is
swimming for the canoe. I guess they'll be all right."
"Yes, it looks so," said Captain Ross, also taking a look over the
side. "Though the canoe may be stove in so it'll leak. Mighty foolish of
'em to try to cross in front of our bows! I expect we'll have to take
'em all on board here."
"Oh, yes, we must!" cried Mrs. Brown. "But what shall we do about dry
clothes for them? Possibly I can let the young ladies have some of my
extra dresses, but the young men----"
"Oh, I guess we can fit 'em out," broke in Captain Ross. "It's warm, and
they won't want much. First thing to do is to get 'em on board I reckon.
How about you?" he called down to the struggling people in the water.
"Need any more help?"
"We're all right," answered one of the young men. "But will you take us
aboard? The canoe's smashed!"
"Sure, we'll take you on board," answered the captain.
And then, as Bunny and Sue watched, they saw their father and Captain
Ross help pull up to the deck of the _Fairy_ first the two young women,
dripping wet. They looked very much bedraggled, but they were laughing
and did not seem to mind what had happened.
Next the two young men scrambled up, pulling themselves by means of the
ropes from the life buoys. And last of all came Bunker Blue. He had the
rope of the smashed and overturned canoe in one hand and was towing it
along as he swam slowly. It was not easy work to drag the canoe through
the water, submerged as it was, but Bunker did it, fastening the canoe
rope to the rail of the _Fairy_.
Then he scrambled up on deck, shook the water from his face and hair,
and said:
"I'll get a boat hook and fish up the paddles. They're floating around
down there."
"Oh, don't bother," urged one of the young ladies. "It was all my fault.
I steered the canoe right in your way. We ran into you--you didn't run
into us."
"Well, I'm glad you feel that way about it," said Captain Ross, while
Bunny and Sue watched the little puddles and streams of water dripping
from the recent occupants of the canoe and from Bunker Blue.
"Is the canoe worth saving?" asked Mr. Brown, as he looked down to
where it now floated at the side of the _Fairy_, held fast by the line
Bunker had brought on board.
"I don't think so," said one of the young men. "It was an old one, and
now the side is stove in. Let it go. It will drift ashore anyhow, and we
can get it later if we want to. You might save the paddles if you can.
I'll help," he offered.
"I'll help," offered the other young man, and while these two, with
Bunker, sought to save the paddles with boat hooks, the broken canoe was
cast loose from the _Fairy_ and allowed to drift off.
"If you'll come down to the cabin with me," said Mrs. Brown to the young
ladies, "I'll see if I can lend you some other clothes while yours are
drying."
"Oh, don't bother!" said one of the young ladies. "It was all just fun.
We had on old clothes, for we half expected to be upset before we got
back."
But Mrs. Brown insisted on making them change, and so she led them down
into the cabin. Uncle Tad helped in the work of recovering the paddles,
and then he suggested that the two young men might also like to take off
their wet things.
"Oh, not at all," said one. "We're used to being wet. And we'll soon
dry, anyhow. It was very decent of you to jump in after us," he said to
Bunker. "As it happens, we can all swim pretty well, and it isn't the
first time we've been upset. But I was afraid one of the girls might
have been hurt. As it is, we're all right."
"And mighty lucky you are to be that way," commented Captain Ross. "I'm
glad it was no worse. Now where do you want to be set ashore?"
"We're staying at that hotel," said Mr. Watson, for such was the name of
one of the young men. He pointed to a large seaside resort on the shore
not far away.
"Well, we'll head for the dock," decided the captain, and soon the
_Fairy_ was moving along again, the floating paddles having been
recovered.
The young ladies soon came on deck, wearing some garments belonging to
Mrs. Brown. They were laughing and joking at the upset. The young men
refused to change, saying it was not worth while.
"It's too bad you lost your canoe," said Bunny, as he and his sister
listened to the talk of the rescued party.
"Oh, it was only an old one I owned," said Mr. Watson. "It isn't a great
loss. I'm afraid you girls had some things sunk, though," he added.
"There wasn't much time to save anything."
"I lost my pocketbook," said one of the young women, who was called
Mildred by her companions. "There was only about a dollar in it,
though," she added.
"My mother lost her pocketbook, and it had five dollars and her diamond
ring in it," put in Sue.
"Did you? Do you mean to-day?" asked the other young lady, who had been
addressed as Grace.
"Oh, no. It was some time ago," explained Mrs. Brown.
"A dog took it," volunteered Bunny. "And he ran into a carpenter shop,
and we ran after him--Sue and I did--and we got locked in and I busted
a window and----"
"He's going into all the details!" laughed Mr. Brown.
But the young men and the young women were so interested in what the
children said that they had to hear the whole story.
"I'm sure I hope you get your engagement ring back," said Mildred to
Mrs. Brown, and the young lady looked at her own hand, on which sparkled
a diamond. Perhaps it was her engagement ring.
"It is too much to hope for," replied Mrs. Brown. "I am trying not to
think of it."
"Did you see me throw the life buoy to you?" asked Bunny, changing the
subject.
"I'm afraid I didn't," answered Grace with a laugh.
"And my eyes were too full of water," added Mildred.
"Well, anyhow, I threw one in to you," went on Bunny.
"And I yelled when I saw you get run over," added Sue, just as if that,
too, had helped.
"I'm sure you did all you could," declared Mr. Watson. "And it was all
our own fault that we got in your way. But no one is hurt, and we're
little the worse for our adventure."
The _Fairy_ slowly headed toward the dock near the big summer hotel,
which was one of a number at a well-known resort on the bay. Some other
boats had come up after having seen the canoe run down, but when it was
found no help was needed, they sheered off again.
"How can we return your things to you?" asked the young ladies of Mrs.
Brown, as they prepared to go ashore when the boat tied up at the dock.
"There is no special hurry," was the answer. "We are going to Christmas
Tree Cove for the summer. You can send them there."
"I have a better plan," said Mr. Brown. "Why should we not stay here
over night? We can tie up at this dock and go ashore for an evening of
enjoyment. That will give the young ladies a chance to get into other
dry clothes and give you back yours," he said to his wife.
"Oh, yes! Let's stay!" cried Bunny. "We can have a lot of fun on shore!"
"And there's a merry-go-round!" added Sue. "I can see it!"
She pointed to one of the popular summer attractions set up near the
hotel on the beach.
"Very well, we'll stay," said Mother Brown; and so it was arranged.
The four young people went ashore, the young ladies in borrowed clothes,
and the men, in their own damp garments, carrying the paddles. They
attracted some little attention from the crowd on the dock. It was very
evident what had happened. But as canoe upsets are very common at shore
resorts in the summer, no one took it very seriously, especially as no
one was drowned or hurt.
"We'll send back your things in the morning," called Mildred and Grace
to Mrs. Brown, as they went up to the hotel.
"You'll find us right here," said Captain Ross. "I'm mighty glad it was
no worse," he said to his friends on the _Fairy_. "I should hate to have
your summer outing spoiled by an accident, even if it was the fault of
those in the canoe. But it reminds me of a riddle. See if you can guess
it, Bunny and Sue. What goes under the water and over the water and
never touches the water?"
"A fish!" guessed Bunny.
"A fish is always in the water," cried Sue, laughing.
"Oh, so it is," said her brother.
"Say it again," begged Sue.
The jolly captain did so, and when Bunny and Sue gave up, after several
wrong guesses, the seaman said:
"A man walking over a bridge with a pail of water on his head. He goes
_over_ the water, and he's _under_ the water in the pail, and yet he
doesn't touch the water."
"Oh, that's a good riddle!" laughed Bunny. "I'm going to fool Bunker on
that."
"If the water pail upset and spilled on him then the water would touch
him," said Sue, after a moment of thought. "And if he fell in the water
he'd be wet."
"Yes, but you aren't supposed to do that in riddles," returned Captain
Ross.
After supper on the _Fairy_, Uncle Tad took the two children on
shore, Bunny and Sue having secured their mother's permission to ride on
the merry-go-round. It was a big affair, playing jolly tunes, and the
animals were large and gaily painted.
Bunny and Sue had a number of rides, always begging for "just one more,"
until Uncle Tad finally said:
"No, that's enough! You'll be ill if you whirl around any more. Come,
we'll walk around and look at things, and then we'll go back to the
boat."
He led them around to see the other attractions at the little park near
the big hotel. Somehow or other, Bunny wandered away from Uncle Tad and
Sue while Sue and the old soldier were looking at a man blowing colored
glass into birds, feathers, balloons and other fantastic shapes.
But finally Uncle Tad said:
"Come, Sue, we must be going now. Where's Bunny?"
"He was here a minute ago," answered Bunny's sister.
She looked around. They were on a plaza, or open space, at one end of
which stood the musical merry-go-round. At the other end was a drive
where little ponies and carts could be hired for short rides.
As Sue and Uncle Tad looked, there suddenly dashed from this place a
large, white goat. And on the back of the goat was Bunny Brown, clinging
fast!
"Oh, look! Look!" cried Sue. "It's a merry-go-round goat! It's a merry
goat, and Bunny's having a ride on his back!"
As she spoke the animal dashed straight for the whirling carousel, and
Bunny's face, showing some fright, was turned toward his uncle and his
sister.