Jane, receiving no answer to her calls, ran up on top of the house. A quick glance about showed her that Harriet was nowhere in sight. Jane did not dare to dive, knowing that the water was shallow. She jumped, feet first, instead, landing in the shallow water with great force.
"She's under there!" cried the girl, staggering toward the bow of the houseboat. Putting her shoulders against it she shoved the heavy boat back a little. Harriet Burrell came to the surface, then made a feeble attempt to swim. Jane picked her up and carried her ashore; or, rather, dragged her there, for, impeded by the water, Jane found Harriet too heavy a burden.
Harriet was gasping. She had held her breath until she could hold it no longer. The result was that she had swallowed considerable water. Crazy Jane was working over her. It was but a few minutes before Harriet Burrell had wholly recovered from the effects of the recent catastrophe. She was considerably bruised and was rendered nervous by her trying experience.
"Is—is the small boat damaged?" she gasped.
"Never mind the small boat. There are more boats where that came from," answered Jane. "You lie down here while I go for another boat. Shall I get some one to help us?"
Harriet shook her head.
"If we are going to be fresh water sailors we must learn to do things for ourselves."
"That's what I say," agreed Jane, nodding with great emphasis. "But are you sure you are all right?"
"I'm awfully wet, Jane."
"That's nothing. We'll be wet many a time before we get through with this cruise."
"We shall have to get started first," answered Harriet, chuckling. "Run along for another boat. I'll try to keep the 'Red Rover' off the shore while you are gone. Hurry!"
Jane ran toward the landing, still some distance away. There were several boats tied up there. She helped herself to one and rowed back with all speed. She espied Harriet out in the lake with the houseboat, where the latter had succeeded in pushing it and was doing her best to keep the craft from drifting back to the shore. Jane brought a rope with her that she had taken from a third boat. This she quickly made fast to the scow, then began pulling it out into the lake. The wind had died out and the rowing was found to be much easier, though of course, the "Red Rover" was as heavy and cumbersome as before.
"We'll make it," cried Jane encouragingly.
It was a full half hour later when Harriet steered the houseboat alongside the pier. The girls made fast, then threw themselves down on the dock, utterly exhausted from their efforts.
In the meantime, Miss Elting and the other girls, becoming worried over the long absence of Crazy Jane and Harriet, had left the hotel, starting out for Johnson's dock on foot. They found Harriet and Jane making the boat more secure, preparatory to leaving for the hotel.
"Why, girls, whatever is the matter? You are wet through! Go up to the hotel and get into dry clothes at once. You will both catch cold. You are too late for breakfast, too. What happened to you?" exclaimed Miss Elting. "You are certainly bedraggled looking specimens."
Harriet told the guardian of their search for the "Red Rover." Miss Elting frowned. The message from her brother was still in her pocket. She recalled the peculiar actions of Dee Dickinson, wondering if perchance he had anything to do with the casting adrift of their houseboat, Harriet had not told the guardian of having found a hot stove on the occasion of their first visit to their summer home. That, perhaps, might have enlightened the guardian.
Now that Miss Elting and the other girls were there to unload the automobile, Jane and Harriet turned to go.
"We will begin to settle while you girls go to town for breakfast," called the guardian after them.
"You will have to wait a while until the rear end of the boat dries out," returned Harriet. "I don't think it will take long. But, in the meantime, there are the windows and the walls that need fixing."
The other girls and the guardian fell to work while Jane and Harriet were at breakfast, and dainty chintz curtains were draped over each window. There were green shades hung over the windows also, but these, during the day, were to be rolled up out of sight.
Jane and Harriet changed their wet clothing, ate breakfast and returned early in the forenoon. With them they brought a chart of the big lake that they had bought of a boat owner. While in the village Jane also had paid for the damaged rowboat and arranged for another, as it would be necessary to have a rowboat with them at all times. A new anchor, this time a real one, was purchased and piled into the automobile.
The girls worked all that day setting their cabin to rights. It was to them a delightful task, and late in the afternoon the cabin of the "Red Rover" was as homelike a place as one could wish. Covers had been made for the folding cots, so that by day they offered attractive lounging places. The upper deck had some rough seats, made by the carpenter who had put up the awning. Then there were boxes for plants, in case the girls should wish to have flowers. But it was the interior of the cabin that was the real delight. The white walls and green trimmings gave it a fresh, cool appearance. One could scarcely have believed this to be the lumbering, dirty, old fishing scow of a few days since. Bert Elting never would have recognized the craft in its new dress.
That night the Meadow-Brook Girls decided to have their first meal on board. They also decided to clear away and set sail before sitting down to the meal. Jane drove her car to town, leaving it at a garage, after which she walked back to the dock. She found the "Red Rover" ready to sail. The girls were discussing the question of where to go for an anchorage for the night.
"Is that all?" called Jane. "Leave it to the boat. She'll find a place for herself. Say, I'm not going to try to tow that house out of here with all these boats about."
There were launches and steamers coming in constantly. The waters in that vicinity were dotted with rowboats and small skiffs as well. Jane did not like the idea of dragging out the "Red Rover" through that gathering of craft. Neither did Harriet Burrell. Jane was looking over the launches and their occupants as they came up to the dock either to take on or discharge passengers. All at once she pounced upon two boys, who had left a third boy on the dock and bade him good-bye.
"Will you give us a tow?" demanded Jane.
"Where do you want to go?" answered one of the lads, touching his cap.
"Which way are you going?"
"Down the lake."
"That's the way we are going. Say, which way is down the lake?" she asked Harriet in a whisper. The latter indicated the direction by a wave of the hand.
"We'll give you a rope and tell you when you are to drop us," added Jane.
The boys regarded the houseboat rather dubiously. They did not know whether or not their little launch would be able to tow it. Jane and Harriet explained to their companions that they were to have a tow. Then the two girls made fast the line, carrying the latter to the motor boat, after which they cast off from the pier.
The Meadow-Brook Girls uttered a cheer, as the "Red Rover" slowly drifted sideways clear of the dock. The dock was thronged with people, all of whom were now observing the houseboat. The latter's upper deck held the girls, with the exception of Jane, who was at the helm to steer as soon as their craft had been turned about and headed in the right direction. The houseboat came about slowly; then, as the motor boat chugged away the line grew taut and the "Red Rover" began to move.
"You give me steering directions, Harriet," cried Jane.
"I will wave to you. That will be better than shouting."
"Whatever you say."
"Look out!"
A heavy shock, following Harriet's warning, caused Jane to shove the tiller hard over. The girls were piled in a heap on the upper deck and it seemed as though the front part of the houseboat must have been crushed.
Loud, threatening voices forward brought Crazy Jane to the upper deck instantly. Then she saw what had occurred. The "Red Rover" had taken a sudden dive to the left, colliding with an anchored sailboat.
"If you don't know how to steer, keep off the lake!" raged the owner, shaking both fists at the red terror.
"If you don't know how to keep out of the way, then you ought to get pushed off the lake," flung back Jane McCarthy defiantly.
Harriet laid a hand on her arm.
"Don't argue with them, Jane. It isn't well-bred to do a thing like that."
The launch was sputtering away trying to extricate the "Red Rover" from its position, which, by this time, was broadside against the sailboat. The "Red Rover" was rising and falling, each time rubbing off some red paint onto the white sides of the yacht. With each blotch of paint, so acquired, the anger of the owner of the yacht increased. It was fortunate for the Meadow-Brook Girls that they succeeded in getting away promptly. Jane was getting more and more angry, and Harriet had all she could do to restrain her companion.
But their troubles were not yet ended. The "Red Rover" plunged through the fleet, smash-into a sailboat here, nearly sinking a rowboat there, grazing the side of a steamer, rubbing off some more paint in the operation, and continuing her voyage of destruction by smashing in the gunwale of a launch that was unfortunate enough to be anchored within range of the "Red Rover's" tow line. Jane's steering was anything but skilful. She steered too much, not giving the boat half a chance to respond to one turn of the tiller, before she turned it the other way. But Harriet Burrell offered no suggestions. At least, she remained silent until after the "Red Rover" had upset a canoe, spilling a young man and two girls into the lake. It was then that Harriet sprang down and casting off the rowboat pulled to their rescue. It was well that she did so, for neither of the girls could swim.
The motor boat that was towing the "Red Rover" had stopped instantly but the "Red Rover" was still drifting, managing to collide with two more small boats before finally coming to a stop. In the meantime, Harriet had hauled the dripping girls aboard her rowboat, and assisted the young man to right his canoe. The girls refused to get into it again.
"Bring the young ladies aboard and let us give them some dry clothes," called Miss Elting.
"They wish to be put ashore here," answered Harriet.
"We are very sorry that we have caused you all this trouble. Our boat doesn't seem to steer well. I don't know what the trouble is," continued the guardian.
The two girls were very courteous about the matter. They assured Miss Elting and Harriet that they knew the accident had been unavoidable, and that it had been more their fault than the "Red Rover's." The young man, however, was inclined to grumble. Harriet put the wet girls ashore, where they were followed by their companion. The "Red Rover" then moved on, following a zig-zag course, narrowly missing running into other boats, until finally one of the lads in the motor boat put his hands to his lips and shouted:
"How much farther are you folks going?"
Harriet consulted with Miss Elting.
"If you will be good enough to tow us into that cove just ahead, we shall be very much obliged," answered Harriet. The motor boat was instantly headed toward the cove. Harriet chuckled. "They are eager to be rid of us, and I don't blame them at all."
"They look like nice boys. I think I will invite them to come aboard," decided the guardian. Harriet nodded her approval. When, finally, the houseboat had been dragged in, Harriet shouted to the boys to cast off. It was then that Miss Elting asked them to come aboard. The boy at the wheel said they would come some other time, that they were obliged to get back to their camp farther down the lake. They would accept no pay for their towing and chugged away, waving their hands, leaving a snowy wake behind them.
Harriet had already climbed down, and, with a long string, at the end of which had been tied the piece of broken poker from the old stove, was taking sounding to get the depth of water.
"Eight feet. That's deep enough. Jane! Come help me put over the anchor, please," she called.
The anchor went over with a splash, after which the rope was tied to a heavy hard wood cleat that the carpenter had secured to the forward lower deck. The "Red Rover" drifted to the end of its anchor rope, then swung to the gentle breeze that was blowing.
"Thank goodness we aren't at the bottom of the lake," exclaimed Crazy Jane.
"It's the other folks who have reason to be thankful," answered Harriet smilingly. "Now let's get supper. We have a lot to do, and even more to discuss."
"Had we not better work in closer to shore?" questioned the guardian, regarding the wooded cove critically.
"No, I think not. I have my reasons for wanting to be away from the shore," answered Harriet.
It would have perhaps been better had they chosen some other location for their anchorage, for the night in the cove was to be a trying one for the Meadow-Brook Girls and another of those mysterious happenings that had so disturbed them was to overtake them at the very beginning of the cruise of the "Red Rover."
"There! I knew we had forgotten something."
"What have we forgotten, Jane?"
"An ice box, Miss Elting. How are we to keep our food without an ice box?"
"But, my dear, what would be the good of an ice box without ice?"
"That's so. I hadn't thought of that. Where would we get our ice?"
"That ith eathy," piped Tommy. "Get your ithe out of the lake, of courthe. I never did thee thuch thtupid people. Did you thuppothe they got ithe on land? That it grew in the fieldth?"
"No, darlin'. We didn't suppose anything of the sort. But knowing so much, please tell us how we are to get ice from the lake in the good old summer time? Answer me that question, will you now?"
"That ith tho," reflected Tommy. "Really, I hadn't thought of it that way. I gueth I wath too previouth."
"Grace!" rebuked Miss Elting, "I am amazed at your using such expressions. You really must be more careful of your language."
"Yeth; I will."
"Until the next time," muttered Harriet, an amused smile hovering about the corners of her mouth. Harriet was busily engaged in getting supper. "Bring me a pail of water, please," she called. "We must put the water on to heat so that we can wash dishes directly after supper. Dishes mustn't go unwashed on board the 'Red Rover,' no matter whatever else may be neglected."
Jane was setting the table. The dishes that they had purchased were not expensive. Rather were they strong and serviceable, but even at this, the table looked very pretty. Miss Elting had gathered a bunch of wild flowers and these had been placed in a pitcher and stood in the centre of the table. Of course the chairs were camp stools. In this instance they were provided with backs, which made them quite comfortable. Soon beefsteak was broiling over the fire, potatoes were frying in the pan and the tantalizing fragrance of coffee filled the air.
"Bring the drinking water, Tommy. And look out that you don't fall with it. We can't afford to buy dishes every day. Will you be careful?"
"Yeth; I'll be careful."
"Hurry back. Supper will be on the table by the time you get below again."
Tommy, pitcher in hand, ran up the ladder to the deck above, Harriet and Miss Elting, in the meantime, putting the food on the table.
"Tom-m-m-y-y-y!" called Jane after some minutes had elapsed. "The little girl has gone to sleep up there, I'll wager."
A scream, followed by a loud splash, startled the passengers on board the "Red Rover." They rushed for the door.
"Tommy's fallen overboard!" yelled Harriet.
Beaching the lower deck they saw one little white hand holding aloft a pitcher, and lower down, scarcely discernible, a bit of tow hair and a freckled nose.
"Thave me!" wailed Tommy.
"We ought to leave you," flung back Margery. "What's the matter? Can't you swim?"
"Yeth. But the pitcher can't."
Knowing that Tommy could take care of herself in the water, no one went overboard to her rescue. Harriet flung out a coil of rope.
"Grab it!" she commanded. Tommy needed no second invitation to do so. She grasped the rope with one hand, still clinging to the pitcher with the other and holding it above the water. In this position Harriet drew her in. The pitcher was rescued before they helped the little girl to the deck.
"Ith thupper ready?" demanded Tommy, after getting aboard.
"Yes, it is and it's getting cold," answered Harriet.
"Then I gueth I'll thit down and eat."
"Not until you get off those wet clothes," answered Jane. "How did you come to fall overboard?"
"I—I wath trying to walk on the railing," explained the girl lamely. "I thtubbed my toe and fell in."
"Oh, help!" moaned Margery. Tommy shot a threatening look at her.
"I can thwim. Buthter ith too fat to thwim." With that parting shot, Tommy hastened inside the cabin and proceeded to change her wet clothing for dry garments. The other girls sat down to their supper, without waiting for her.
None of them, ever had eaten a meal under quite such novel conditions. Through the open door at one end they could see the lake, touched with the gorgeous red and gold of the setting sun. A pleasant breeze was drifting through the cabin from door and window, while the slight motion of the boat rather added to than took from the keen enjoyment of the hour.
"I have been wondering what we shall do in case the water gets really rough?" said Jane.
"We shall have to put something on the table to keep the dishes from sliding off," replied Harriet.
"That would be like an ocean steamer. On the tables there they have racks, strips running the full length of the table—usually brass—and others standing on edge at right angles to them. This leaves squares about the size of a plate and the strips keep the dishes from sliding off the table. They are called racks by the passengers. Among sailors they are known as 'fiddles,'" explained the guardian.
"Yeth, but the thoup will thpill over jutht the thame," observed Tommy from the cabin.
"Your soup will not, for I'm going to eat it," jeered Margery.
Tommy hurried forth, fastening her collar as she walked. She was taking no chances of losing her supper.
"Speaking of food," reflected Harriet. "Why can't we take our meats and other perishable things and put them in a pail which we can weight down until it sinks? That will keep the food cool."
"Yes. But what will you do with it when the boat is moving?" asked the guardian.
"If I have to row the small boat, and pull the 'Red Rover,' it won't move fast enough to harm the pail," spoke up Jane. "Do we have to drag this tub all over the lake?"
"I am afraid we shall have to do so when we wish to move."
"Then it's my own self for a tug," declared Crazy Jane. "I shall go out to-morrow looking for a good stout steam tug. I wonder if there is such a thing in this neighborhood?"
"Maybe they have one at the farm houthe up there on the hill," suggested Tommy. But not a smile did her observation draw from her companions.
"No, Jane. We aren't going to let you spend any more money for us. We are out to rough it, and we are going to do so. We must get along by ourselves," announced Miss Elting. "Of course it was different when those young men towed us out, and now and then we may accept a tow. The way to do will be to make short journeys, not to try to take long trips. Moving by easy stages we should be able to make the complete circuit of the lake before the vacation is ended."
"How long is the lake?" questioned Harriet.
"About thirty miles in a straight line, I believe."
"Thirty miles," groaned Crazy Jane.
"Oh, help!" moaned Margery.
"Thave uth!" lisped Grace.
"I thought you girls wanted recreation and exercise," laughed the guardian.
"Why, of course we do, Miss Elting," declared Harriet.
"Of course," agreed Jane, nodding. "But dragging a house all around a thirty-mile lake is neither exercise nor recreation. It's hard labor. If you don't think so just get out and drag us around this cove once—Once!"
"I have a plan," announced Harriet.
"It's a good one, if Harriet Burrell thought it out," returned Miss Elting smilingly. "What is your plan, Harriet?"
"Some of you may not like the idea, but it is an excellent one, I am sure. This is my idea. When we decide to cross the lake, if we do, I would suggest waiting until some day when the wind is blowing directly across. Then we can tow the 'Red Rover' out with the rowboat until the wind catches us. The rower should then get aboard the houseboat, after which the wind will carry us all the way across the lake. How do you like it?"
"Oh, thave me!" piped Tommy.
"Yes. You need some one to save you about once every five minutes I'm thinking, Tommy Thompson. Now, if Crazy Jane had thought out such a plan, no one would have been surprised. But for Harriet Burrell to do so—oh, my!" exclaimed Jane.
"I do not think the plan feasible," declared Miss Elting. "I am not saying that it would not work, but I don't believe I care to trust myself to drift across the lake in a gale. No, thank you. We will keep to the shore. Remember, we are on the water, Harriet."
"Yes. And it isn't so long ago since we were in it," nodded Jane. "Tommy was the last to be in it. Please pass the potatoes. This life at sea does sharpen one's appetite. It wouldn't do for me to go to sea really. I'd get so hungry between meals that I'd gnaw the masts off short."
"I really can't eat another mouthful!" exclaimed Tommy. "I gueth I'll go up on deck and walk thome."
"And I guess you will stay right here and wash the dishes with me," commanded Margery Brown. "Do you think I am going to wash them alone, while you promenade on deck? Not I!"
"I had forgotten about the dithheth. But I've got a plan about that. You jutht put the dithheth in a bag and thouthe them up and down in the lake. Then you put them on deck till they dry off. Now, ithn't that a plan? That ith a better plan than Harriet thaid jutht now."
"I feel sorry for your house if you ever own one," laughed Harriet, beginning to clear off the table.
"Yeth tho do I. But I feel more thorry for the folkth who have to live with me."
"I propose that we all take a hand in doing the work," suggested Harriet. "The evening is so fine that we should enjoy it together. I'll clear off the table."
"And I'll brush it," offered Jane. "Then I'll sweep the floor. Say, this is fine. All one has to do with the rubbish is just to drop it overboard. The fishes will come and clean it up. It's easy to keep house on a houseboat. We're going to have a fine time this summer. I feel it in my bones."
The supper work was cleared away quickly. Jane filled the hanging lamps, while Harriet trimmed and filled the lantern that was to be put out as a night light so that other craft should not run into them during the night.
"All hands on deck!" commanded Harriet, after the last of the work had been finished.
"That reminds me. We must elect our officers," said Miss Elting, after the girls had climbed to the pleasant upper deck. "Whom shall we have for our captain?"
"I gueth Harriet will make a good captain," suggested Tommy.
The girls agreed to this.
"I suggest then, that Jane McCarthy be chief officer—that is, the next in line to the captain—with Margery as purser, Hazel as third officer, and Tommy, what would you like to be?" asked Miss Elting.
"I gueth I'll be the pathenger," decided little Tommy wisely.
There was a chorus of protests at this.
"You and I will be the fourth and fifth officers respectively," announced the guardian.
"What doeth the fourth offither do?"
"Not much of anything."
Tommy nodded approvingly.
"Then I am that," she announced. "Harriet ith a good captain. Harriet knowth thomething about everything."
Harriet shook her head. She protested that she knew nothing at all about any boat larger than a rowboat. To be the captain of a scow, was something of a responsibility. She knew that she would have to be captain in fact as well as in name, and that the navigation and protection of the craft would be on the shoulders of Jane McCarthy and herself.
"There is one thing I do not know, Tommy," answered Harriet. "I don't know how this captain is ever going to get along with the crew she has. I fear she will have to ship a new crew. Perhaps you'll be glad of that, eh, dears?"
"Tommy would be willing if, as she already has said, she could be the whole passenger list," chuckled Miss Elting.
The girls joked and talked until the night had fallen. A few faint rays of light filtered through the cabin windows and the dim light from the anchor lantern that hung at the stern of the boat was their only illumination.
Harriet got up and walked to the bow of the boat, now pointed outward. She sniffed the air.
"Well, what is it, Captain?" inquired Jane.
"Wind," answered Harriet. "The wind is freshening, and it's blowing straight into the little cove here. The 'Red Rover' will be straining at its leashes like an angry dog before morning, unless the wind veers, which I hardly think will be the case."
"Hooray for Captain Burrell!" cried Crazy Jane.
The sky was overcast and the wind, as Harriet had said, was freshening rapidly. She went to the lower deck to test the anchor rope. The anchor was holding firmly. The wind was now blowing so strongly that the girls found little comfort in sitting on the upper deck. All hands went below. With the front cabin door closed the cabin was a comfortable and cosy place in which to sit. But the cabin floor was acquiring an unpleasant habit of rising and falling. Tommy's face, ordinarily pale, had grown ghastly, but she pluckily kept her discomfort to herself. As a matter of fact the little girl was suffering from a mild attack of seasickness.
"I—I gueth I'll go to bed," she stammered. "Will thomebody pleathe take off my thhoeth? If I bend down I'll thurely fall over on my nothe."
There was a shout at this. Both Harriet and Jane knelt on the floor to remove the shoes that Tommy feared to unbutton. They assisted her into her cot, after which they arranged their own, each girl preparing for bed behind a curtain that had been strung across the cabin, thus making part of the kitchen a dressing room. In the daytime the curtain was drawn back.
Harriet was the last to retire. She sat up for an hour after the others had retired, rather anxiously watching the weather and the anchor rope, together with the behavior of the "Red Rover." The latter was riding the swells finely and with much less motion than might have been looked for in the fairly heavy sea that was running into the cove. At last, well satisfied that the boat would ride out the moderate blow, Harriet entered the cabin and extinguishing the lamp prepared for bed, leaving only the solitary anchor light outside to dispel the gloom.
As the night went on, the seas grew with it. Great swells were sweeping into the cove, and the "Red Rover" was at times rolling heavily. Once in the night Harriet got up and staggered out through the rear door, whence she made her way to the upper deck. From there, with the spray dashing over her, she gazed off over the water. The moon had come up, and she could see fairly well; some light being furnished by it, though heavy clouds intervened. White-capped waves dashed against the boat. It was unusually rough for a lake of its size. She inhaled deeply the strong, bracing air, until, discovering that she was getting wet from the spray, the girl hurried below and crawled into her cot, shivering a little. Then she fell into a deep sleep, soothed by the rocking of the boat.
Tommy was moaning in her sleep. The others appeared to be sleeping soundly. It was late in the night when Harriet was awakened by a terrific crash. It seemed to her as though something had collided with the "Red Rover." Then came a second crash, much louder than the first. The second was followed by a sound of breaking woodwork. A draught of cold air smote her in the face, then a huge volume of water swept into the cabin overwhelming and half drowning the occupants.
Cots were overturned, the oil stove went over with a crash, and the table was hurled the length of the cabin, landing bottom side up at the rear end of the cabin.
A chorus of terrified, choking screams followed the second crash, that, to their overwrought imaginations, seemed to have lasted for hours.
"Thave me! We're thinking!" wailed Tommy Thompson.
"Harriet! What has happened?" cried Miss Elting.
"I—I don't know."
The "Red Rover" lurched heavily to one side. The rush of water that accompanied the lurch tumbled the Meadow-Brook Girls to the lower side of the cabin. A volume of water rushed over them, and the furnishings of the cabin were piled on top of them; in some instances a crushing weight pinioned them to the floor.
The houseboat had sustained a severe blow, though as yet they could not determine the nature of it. To make the situation more terrifying the cabin was in utter darkness. For a moment the voices of the Meadow-Brook Girls were stilled; then a chorus of screams, more terrified than before, rose from the lips of the frightened girls.
"Please—please keep quiet," cried Harriet, making herself heard above the tumult. "Don't be frightened! We aren't sinking, and we are not going to. Answer loudly when I call your names, so that I may know each one of you is here."
"Now," she continued after the frightened girls had answered to their names. "We'll try to find out what happened. You see that the boat has stopped pitching, and the side roll isn't as pronounced as it was."
"What'th the anthwer?" piped Tommy.
"I don't know—yet," Harriet confessed. "But I'm going to know."
"The water is still coming in, and getting deeper," shivered Margery.
"Get out through the rear door," Harriet commanded. "One at a time."
"Which door is the rear one?" queried Crazy Jane. "All doors look alike to me."
"Move away from the direction that the water is coming from," Harriet continued.
Assisted by Jane McCarthy the girls obeyed Harriet's directions. Tommy and Margery first, then Miss Elting and Hazel. In the cockpit the water was not as deep, but Jane drove them all to the upper deck.
"The captain must go last, you know," laughed Harriet, as she climbed up to join them.
By this time the girls were shivering with cold. The kimonos of washable crepe in which they had elected to sleep during the cruise afforded them little warmth.
"Get close together and keep each other warm," called Miss Elting.
"What! Sit down and shiver here all night long?" shouted Harriet. "No, indeed. We must do something or we shall lose our boat."
"Wha—at happened?" shivered Margery.
"The waves smashed the front door in. That's all I know about it now."
"Oh, look!" screamed Hazel. "It's land!"
"Land, ho!" cried Crazy Jane.
"Yes, I know," replied Harriet calmly. "We are on shore. We have been blown partly ashore. I saw that a moment after we came out here. There is no danger to us, but there is to the boat."
"Did the anchor give way?" questioned the guardian, a sigh of relief escaping her upon learning that the immediate danger was over.
"I don't know. Jane! I want you. We must go to the front of the boat and see what can be done to stop the water from coming in. Are you ready?"
"All ready," called Jane. "Where away?"
"Below there."
"I want to go, too. I want to go down there and get thome dry clotheth," wailed Tommy.
"You'll look a long time on this boat before you'll find anything dry," laughed Crazy Jane. "Get up and run. Sprint back and forth along this slippery deck, and, if you don't fall down and break your precious necks, you'll start your circulation and get warm. Run for it!"
"Jane's advice is excellent, girls. Join hands and run back and forth, while Jane and Harriet see what can be done for us," answered Miss Elting.
Jane and Harriet climbed down the aft ladder and made their way into the cabin. Everything was afloat there. It was with difficulty that they made their way through and out to the forward deck over which the waves were still dashing. Both girls were knocked flat almost the instant they stepped out into the rear cockpit. They were picked up an instant afterwards, only to be hurled against the deck house by a second wave. Neither girl screamed; for a moment or two they were too nearly drowned to speak. The rear end of the boat being driven up on the shore, the forward end lay several inches lower. The lower deck in that part of the boat was entirely under water.
"What are we going to do about it?" gasped Jane finally.
Harriet was groping about on the deck, her head under water a good part of the time.
"I've found it," she cried.
"Found what?" demanded Miss McCarthy.
"The cleats."
"Well, what are they?"
"Maybe our last hope. Climb up to the top. I'll tell you my plan."
Jane lost no time in getting up where the rest of the party were dancing about the deck, trying their best to get warm, and succeeding but poorly.
"Harriet, don't you think we had better go ashore?" asked Miss Elting.
"You will be little better off there. But wait. Yes, the very thing. I was going to use that awning for something else. It is the only dry thing on the boat. Come, Jane; we'll do the best we can under the circumstances."
Together the two girls got down the awning, which had once served them as a tent. Assisted by Miss Elting they lugged it ashore and placing it back far enough to be out of reach of the water, smoothed it out on the ground. This would at least furnish them with a place to sleep. By this time Tommy, Hazel and Margery had made their way ashore.
"How I wish we had some matches now! I'd build a fire. Jane, do you think that box of matches could have kept dry through all this?" questioned Harriet.
"It wouldn't do you any good if it had. How are you going to find it if it is there?"
"That's so. Now, I think we had better take all the things out of the cabin. Most of the stuff may be gone by morning. Miss Elting, will you stay with the girls?" asked Harriet. "Then they won't feel afraid. Besides we shall only be in each other's way if more than two of us try to work in that cabin in the dark. The first thing to be done is to try to stop the water from beating in through that wrecked doorway. I have an idea. Jane, see if you can find some rope. There should be some on the upper deck."
Jane McCarthy reported that there was no rope there. Harriet decided to go on without it, believing that she knew a way to check the flood. Calling Jane to assist her, the two girls carried the dining table out to the upper deck. This they left there for the moment.
"Now hand out the cots," directed Harriet.
As this was being done, Harriet worked standing in water most of the time. She placed the cots on edge across the doorway until three of them had been set in place. Directing Jane to try to hold them in place, Harriet grasped the table. This she braced against the cots. The table held them in place.
"Hurrah! We've done it. See if you can find some blankets in there. One will do."
After some searching about Jane announced that she had found a heavy blanket. Acting under Harriet's directions Jane carried the blanket to the upper deck and lowered it over the barricade of cots, weighting it with heavy stones from the beach so that the end would remain on the upper deck.
Harriet was unable to get either to the upper deck or into the boat, without danger of pulling down her barricade, so she promptly jumped into the lake and waded ashore. She fell down several times before reaching dry land, knocked over by waves that overtook her and laid her low. She sat down on the beach gasping.
"Come over here and rest a moment, Harriet," urged the guardian.
"I am all right, thank you. I haven't time to think about resting. I am going to try to get our belongings out of the boat. We aren't so badly off as we might be."
"If I had thome dry clotheth on I gueth I'd be all right," observed a lisping voice from the darkness. "My kimono is thoaking wet."
"Now, Jane, I'm ready," finally announced Harriet. "Let's get that stove out first of all. I fear it is ruined."
"Set the girls at it with dry leaves. They can wipe it dry and the exercise will do them good," suggested Jane McCarthy.
"Fine! Come!"
The stove was carried out to the beach and stood up. Jane and Harriet gathered leaves from weeds and bushes, together with such dry grass as they were able to find in the darkness, heaping their plunder on the canvas and directing the girls to polish the stove, hoping thereby to keep it from rusting very badly. The occupation did Tommy, Hazel and Margery good. They almost forgot their troubles for the time being.
The bedding and the clothing were next carried out and spread on the ground to dry. This, too, gave the girls on shore something to do. They wrung the water out of the bedding and clothing as thoroughly as possible. The clothing was then hung on nearby bushes.
"I do not believe your clothing will be dry enough to wear until after the sun shines on it," decided Miss Elting.
The girls groaned dismally. They did not relish the idea of going about in kimonos for the better part of the next forenoon. Harriet and Jane paid little attention to their own discomfort, however, for there were still many things to be done. The cabin had held quite a stock of supplies. Cans of provisions lay all about the floor. The two girls were unable to gather up their supplies in the darkness. The water would not damage the canned goods, so they decided to let these remain where they were for the time being.
"I'll tell you what!" said Harriet, after pondering over the best course to follow. "Let's take pails and go to bailing. Of course some water will still leak in around the bottom cot, but we can bail out down to that point. The water must come out. We might as well bail now as after daylight. We won't get any wetter, and we don't mind lame backs, do we?"
"We don't, if you say not," agreed Jane. "What the captain of the 'Red Rover' orders, is to be done. Where are the pails?"
"I think I remember having carried one outside."
"Here's the other," called Crazy Jane, who, at that moment, fell over the missing pail and went sprawling in the water. She rose to her feet, dripping, but in great good humor.
The two plucky girls set to work bailing. They did not wish to call in their companions to help them, as they believed they could accomplish more by themselves. Bailing out the boat was back-breaking work, and there was so much water in the hold of the "Red Rover," that at first their bailing seemed to have no effect whatever. Now and then they would go ashore and throw themselves down for a brief rest. Miss Elting begged them to do no more, but both Jane and Harriet were deaf to her entreaties. They alternately bailed and rested until early in the morning, when utterly exhausted from the strain of the past few hours' work they were glad to throw themselves down on the canvas beside their friends for a little rest.
By this time the dawn had begun to break and soon after the sun shone brightly. The wind had died down and the lake lay smooth and glassy in the morning sunlight.
"I'm going to try to get into that big chest that holds our clothes," announced Harriet. "If it really is water tight, then we shall not have to worry long about dry garments."
"I'll go with you," said Miss Elting.
The two women made their way to the cabin of the houseboat, where they were soon joined by Jane. By their united efforts the barricade was removed from the door, and as the water had almost subsided Harriet had little difficulty in getting at the chest.
"Hurrah!" she exclaimed as she turned the key which had been allowed to stand in the lock, and lifted the lid. "Everything is all right. These things are scarcely damp! Jane will you call the girls? We ought to dress as quickly as possible."
Fifteen minutes later the Meadow-Brook Girls and Miss Elting were enjoying the luxury of clean, dry clothing. Their hasty toilets were scarcely completed, however, when they heard the steady chug! chug of an approaching motor boat. Harriet climbed to the upper deck and shading her hands with her eyes looked out over the waters. Suddenly she exclaimed: "Girls, girls! Look at that boat!"