A CRASH
Bunker Blue, who was at the steering wheel of the _Fairy_, heard the
dull noise, felt the shock, and saw the boat tip over to one side.
Instantly he pulled the wire which shut off the motor, and then he
turned the steering wheel over, trying to make the boat come upright
again.
This the craft did, though Sue kept on calling:
"We're going to sink!"
Soon the boat was resting quietly in the water, on a "level keel," as a
sailor would say, and floating slowly along.
"Now we're all right, Sue!" said Bunny. "Stop your yelling! We're not
going to sink!"
"How do you know?" she asked. "We bumped into something, and maybe
there's a hole, and the water's coming in, and----"
Just then Mr. and Mrs. Brown came running up on deck, followed by Uncle
Tad and Captain Ross. The old seaman, with an anxious look around,
called to Bunker Blue.
"What happened? Did some one run into us?"
"Felt more as if we ran into something," Bunker answered. "But I didn't
see so much as a canoe."
"We struck something under water, of that I'm sure," said Captain Ross.
"We'd better take a look. We're near shore, anyhow, and it won't take
long to row over if we have to," he added. "But we surely did hit
something."
"Maybe it was a whale," suggested Sue.
"Whales don't come up in the bay. They're too big and fat," declared
Bunny.
"Well, maybe then it was a shark," the little girl went on. "They're not
so fat."
Captain Ross and Mr. Brown hurried below deck again, but presently came
up, and the seaman said:
"We can't find anything wrong below--no leak or anything. We may have
hit a big, submerged log or piece of a wreck. Start the motor again,
Bunker, and we'll see if that's all right."
The gasolene engine was not damaged, but something else was wrong. As
soon as the machinery started there was a trembling and throbbing
throughout the whole boat, but she did not move ahead.
"I see what the matter is!" said Captain Ross. "The propeller is broken.
It hit something."
"Oh, can't we go to Christmas Tree Cove?" asked Sue.
"We'll get there somehow," answered Captain Ross. "But the propeller is
surely broken."
And so it proved. The propeller, you know, is something like an electric
fan. It whirls around underwater and pushes the boat ahead. The
propeller on the _Fairy_ had struck a floating log and had been broken,
as they found out later.
"If we can't go by means of the engine we can sail," remarked Captain
Ross, when it was found that the boat would not move an inch, no matter
how fast the motor whirled around. "Hoist the sail, Bunker. We'll get
Bunny Brown and his sister Sue to Christmas Tree Cove yet! Hoist the
sail!"
"Oh, it's lots of fun to sail!" cried Bunny.
"I like it better than motoring!" added Sue, who was no longer yelling.
Soon the white sail was hoisted, and, as the wind blew, the _Fairy_
slipped easily along through the water. There was no "jiggle" now, as
Bunny called it, for the motor was not running like a sewing machine
down in the hold of the boat.
Nearer and nearer the boat approached the shore. The clumps of green
trees became more plain. Soon little houses and bungalows could be seen.
Then the children saw a long dock extending out into the water.
"That's where we tie up," said Captain Ross. "I think the wind will hold
until we get there."
"It's too bad you had such bad luck bringing us here," said Mrs. Brown.
"I'm sorry, Captain, that your boat is broken."
"Oh, a smashed propeller isn't anything," he answered, with a laugh. "I
was going to get a new one, anyhow. I'll just land you folks and then
I'll sail back to Bellemere and have my boat fixed."
"And then you can come back and get us," said Sue; "but not for a long,
long time, 'cause Bunny and I are going to stay at Christmas Tree Cove
and have fun."
"That's what we are!" said Bunny Brown.
Slowly the boat swept up to the dock. Then the sail was lowered, and she
was tied fast. Next began the work of unloading the things the Browns
had brought with them to keep house all summer in the little bungalow,
which was not far from the dock.
Mr. Brown, Uncle Tad, Captain Ross and Bunker Blue unloaded the things,
and Mr. Brown hired a man to cart them to the bungalow. Bunny and Sue
said good-bye to Captain Ross, who, with the help of a man whom he could
hire at Christmas Tree Cove, would sail his boat back later that day.
Then the children, with their mother, walked up a little hill to the
little house where they hoped to spend many happy days.
"Oh, isn't it pretty!" exclaimed Sue, as she strolled up the path,
bordered with clam shells. "It's awful nice here."
"I hope you will like it," said Mrs. Madden, the woman who had been
engaged by Mr. Brown to open the bungalow and sweep it out in readiness
for the family. "I live near here, and we like it very much," she added,
as she held the door open for Mrs. Brown and the children.
"Can you catch any fish?" asked Bunny, looking down toward the water and
the dock where his father and the others were lifting things out from
the boat.
"Oh, yes, there's fine fishing and clamming and crabbing," said Mrs.
Madden. "My boy and girl will show you the best places."
"That will be nice," said Mrs. Brown. "Now we'll have a look at the
place." Neither Mother Brown nor the children had yet seen the bungalow
which Mr. Brown had engaged for them.
They went inside, and while Mrs. Madden was showing Mrs. Brown about the
house Bunny and Sue ran off by themselves to see what they could find.
Mrs. Madden was just pointing out to Mrs. Brown what a pleasant place
the dining-room was, giving a view of the bay, when suddenly a great
crash sounded throughout the house. It was followed by silence, and then
Sue's voice rang out, saying:
"Oh, Mother! Come quick! Bunny's in! Bunny's in!"