The Castaways of Pete's Patch

by Carroll Watson Rankin

  CHAPTER IX

  An Exciting Afternoon

  IT was three o'clock before the speck on the water began to show signsof life.

  "Hurrah!" cried Bettie, who spent much time lying on her stomach on thebeach with her heels in the air, since she was not permitted to usethem recklessly for walking purposes. "I hear something 'chugging.'Listen, everybody."

  "I do believe it's really coming," announced Marjory, who was perchedon a fallen pine tree, whose upturned root rested edgewise on thebank while its trunk, firmly upheld by the stout stubs of its brokenbranches, extended far out over the shallow water. Light-footed Marjorydelighted in running the length of that log, or in perching at itsouter end. Henrietta enjoyed it, too. Sometimes all the girls sat on itin a giggling row, with their feet dangling over the water.

  "Yes," said Mr. Black, rolling up his sleeves (there would be plentyof work for all hands when the boat should arrive), "that craft iscertainly headed this way."

  "By the way," said Mr. Black, with a comprehensive glance that sweptthe entire group, "how many of you would like to go home when that boatgoes back?"

  "Not I," cried Bettie.

  "Not I," echoed Jean.

  "Nor I," said Marjory.

  "I'm going to stay forever," declared Henrietta.

  "As for me," said Mabel, "I feel as if I'd only just got here!"

  "You don't look it," said Henrietta; "there's a suspiciously dark ringabout your neck, your wrists are black, and you're fairly bursting outbetween your buttons."

  "Well," retorted Mabel, "there isn't much use in taking a bath whenyou haven't any soap or towels or clean clothes. You just wait tillmy--gracious!"

  "What's the matter?" asked Jean; for over Mabel's plump and notover-clean countenance had spread a look of blank dismay.

  "I never asked for a thing but bananas," groaned the youngest member ofMr. Black's flock.

  "You can string the skins and wear those," suggested Henrietta,wickedly, for she delighted in teasing Mabel. "You've seen pictures ofFiji Islanders, haven't you? Well, no doubt you'll come to that."

  "Never mind," soothed Jean, the peacemaker. "Mother always sends a lotmore of everything than anybody needs; so perhaps I'll be able to lendyou a thing or two. I'd do anything to stay."

  "How is it with you, Sarah?" asked Mr. Black. "Do _you_ want to gohome?"

  "Peter," replied Mrs. Crane, "this _is_ home."

  "I'm beginning to think," said Mr. Black, "that we were all born wildIndians. I don't want to go home myself; and I hope that Saunders won'tsend any news that will make me feel that I ought to. How about you,Ambrosial Delight? Do _you_ like the woods, little cat?"

  The frisky kitten, always responsive to attention, scrambled up Mr.Black's leg, leaped to his broad shoulder, and began running in acircle round and round Mr. Black's neck.

  "He says," interpreted Henrietta, "that he wouldn't go home for thebest cow's milk in the country."

  At last the boat, headed straight for the shore, was so near that thecampers could see that every available inch of the craft was filledwith boxes, bundles, and baskets. The excited little girls prancedso recklessly on the edge of the bank that a lot more of it crumbledand rolled to the beach, a youngster or two with it. Mabel, anxiousto obtain a closer view of the boat's cargo, as Captain Berry droppedanchor, rushed recklessly toward the end of the long, prostrate pine.

  "Oh!" shrieked Marjory, "you're shaking the whole log! Oh! Oh! Don'ttouch _me_!"

  But Marjory's admonition came too late. Plump, clumsy Mabel, feelingthe need of some other support than the log afforded, flung her armsabout her slender comrade. There was another alarmed shriek fromMarjory, two wildly scrambling figures clutching at empty air--and aprodigious splash. The water at this point was just knee deep; enoughof it, fortunately, to break the girls' fall and not enough to drownthem.

  Dave and his dog plunged overboard from the launch and waded rapidly tothe rescue. That is, Dave waded and Onota swam. Mr. Black, too, wadedhurriedly to the spot where Mabel, on all-fours, was endeavoring tostand upright and where Marjory was thrashing about like a frenziedtrout.

  Dave seized one, Mr. Black the other, and, in another moment the girlswere safe on their feet, gasping, sputtering, and trying to wipe theirwet faces on their wetter skirts.

  "It's a good thing," said Mr. Black, leading his half of the rescuedvictims ashore, "that your dry clothes are in sight."

  "I only hope they are," breathed Mabel. "I didn't _ask_ for any."

  As there was no dock, the launch could not be taken very close toshore, so her cargo was carefully unloaded by Captain Berry into one ofthe three small boats that he was towing. Dave, already so wet that alittle more moisture did not matter, pushed this smaller craft ashore.The boat's nose was drawn up on a strip of wet sand, perhaps three feetacross. Next to this came about twenty feet of dry, white sand. Afterthat a sand bank eight feet high led by a steep path to the grassyplateau above.

  "All hands unload," shouted Mr. Black, seizing some of the lighterparcels and tossing them up to Mrs. Crane, who carried them back a fewyards from the edge and piled them under a tree. The girls grabbedbaskets and bundles, too, and scrambled up the steep bank with them andscurried down again for more. Mabel and Marjory worked also, which wasbetter than sitting still in wet clothes; and Dave, Captain Berry, andMr. Black toiled up the bank with the heavier articles. When the firstboat load was cared for, the little craft was rowed back to the launchfor another cargo--it made four trips.

  Two of the small boats that Captain Berry had towed behind the launchwere pulled high on the beach, with oars and oar-locks laid carefullyinside. The girls were delighted when they learned that they were to beleft at the camp.

  Some of the baskets and bundles were addressed to the little girls andyou may be certain that it wasn't long before those eager children hadthe wrappings torn from their many parcels.

  "Hey!" shrieked Mabel, prancing heavily on one foot and waving aloft apair of stockings and a freshly laundered petticoat, "they _did_ sendmy clothes, and my bananas, too. Now I can dress up."

  Everybody laughed, because, if ever a human being looked in need ofclean garments, Mabel did. Her tumble into the lake, followed by sundryother tumbles up and down the sand bank, had certainly not improved theappearance of Mabel's pink gingham frock.

  "I've two clean dresses, too," added Mabel, after another excursioninto her basket, "and a cake of soap."

  At sight of the soap, the girls fairly shrieked with mirth.

  "For goodness' sake," advised Marjory, "go use it."

  Mr. Black found the hammer he had sent for (fortunately Saunders hadmarked the outside of all the parcels that he had packed, so thatone could be reasonably certain as to the nature of the contents)and knocked the covers off all the boxes in order to ascertain ifeverything he had ordered had been sent. When he and Mrs. Crane weresatisfied as to this matter, they told Captain Berry that everythingwas all right.

  "But," suggested Mrs. Crane, "hadn't he better come back in about aweek to see if we need anything? And there's the Whale----"

  "We can send Dave to town again if we find we need provisions. AndSaunders writes that he couldn't tell from Dave's directions how toreach us with horses and would await further orders concerning thecar. Now that I have tools I can build a temporary shelter over theWhale."

  "I'll have to be starting homeward pretty soon," said Captain Berry,who had been casting anxious glances at the sky. "Those clouds aretraveling pretty fast and there's considerable ripple on the water.There'll be something doing before morning."

  "Rain?" asked Mrs. Crane, anxiously.

  "Wind," said the Captain, "but there may be rain, too."

  "If that's the case, we'd better get those tents up at once," said Mr.Black, "and then we shan't care if it does rain. We have five tents andplenty of blankets."

  "Well," offered Captain Berry, "if you've five tents to put up, I guessI'd better help you; but you mustn't keep me too long."

  Fortu
nately, poles and stakes came with the tents and the ground in thegrassy clearing was level. Soon, with valuable assistance from Dave, alarge octagonal tent of gaily striped canvas was in place.

  "This," said Mr. Black, viewing it with satisfaction, "is ourdining-room."

  Next, the three men hurriedly put up a large, straight-walled sleepingtent that looked very clean and new.

  "This," said Mr. Black, wiping the perspiration from his brow, "is foryou five girls--you'll have room for your bed and space enough to dressin."

  Of the remaining tents, one was for Mrs. Crane, another for Mr. Black,and the third was for the provisions. As soon as the tents were up,and good Captain Berry was chug-chugging away as fast as he could inhis very much lightened launch, there was plenty of work for all handsto do. Provisions were placed under cover, fresh balsam beds werearranged in the three sleeping tents--Dave brought the boughs and madethe beds--and the girls stored their bundles of clothing in their bigbedroom.

  In addition to garments for their charges, the three mothers, Marjory'sAunty Jane, and Henrietta's grandmother had sent large baskets ofdelightful things to eat. Mrs. Slater had sent two roasted chickens,some bread, a huge frosted cake, and some oranges; besides all thethings for which Henrietta had asked. Mrs. Mapes had dispatched bread,doughnuts, and three gigantic apple pies. Mrs. Bennett's contributionswere some fine home-made rolls, a large veal loaf, a big box ofcookies, besides a huge basket of bananas for her daughter Mabel. AuntyJane had sent four kinds of pickles, four kinds of jelly, four kinds ofjam, and a large beefsteak. Mrs. Tucker had added a large jar of bakedbeans, a generous salad, and two big pans of gingerbread.

  "I guess," said Mrs. Crane, almost overwhelmed with these contributionsto her pantry, "we won't have to use the flour, the yeast cakes, andthe tin oven I sent for, just yet awhile."

  "Nor the potatoes, canned things, and other provisions that _I_ordered," said Mr. Black. "We're certainly bountifully supplied withfood."

  "We'll have a ready-made supper to-night," promised Mrs. Crane.

  "If you'll wait half an hour," said Mr. Black, "we'll have a table toeat it on. Now that I have nails and a saw, we can have real furniture."

  Dave and Mr. Black made not only a table but four benches, each longenough to hold four persons. The table had to have a hole in the centerto accommodate the tent pole; but Mr. Black managed that. Then hefastened two lamps with reflectors to the pole, Mrs. Crane spread abig sheet of white oil-cloth over the table, and the dining-room wascomplete.

  Jean begged a number of wooden boxes from which the contents had beenremoved. "We can put our extra clothes in them," said she, "and keepour toilet articles on top. I'm so glad to have a hairbrush that I feelas if I ought to frame it."

  "Anything more to build?" asked Mr. Black.

  "I'd like a cupboard for my dishes," said Mrs. Crane, who was settingthe attractive table. "But you needn't make it to-night. It's a goodthing the plates came--our wooden ones wouldn't have stood anotherwashing. And I'm glad to have a dishpan."

  "Wasn't the lake big enough?"

  "It wasn't in the right place. Where's Dave? He seems to think hebelongs to us. Hadn't we better give him some supper?"

  "Yes. If you'll put something on a plate I'll carry it to him--he'sgone to his wigwam. I want to tell him that we took his venison andpotatoes. Here, that's enough--I can't carry _three_ plates."