Artie thought he was asking a riddle till he noticed that Larry was staring at the engine. Thatcomplicated affair of oily black plates and screws was coughing feebly, and as Artie looked at it that noise stopped. The boat began to drift.
"Dead!" pronounced Larry. "Well, I suppose I can start it with a little coaxing. Which one of you lads is after wanting to help me?"
All three of the boys and Jess hurled themselves forward with offers of help, but Larry selected Fred.
"The rest of you keep from falling overboard," he directed grimly. "I cannot be rescuing you in the middle of the ocean with a dead motor on my hands. If you fall over you have to sink or float without any help from me."
No one had the slightest desire to tumble into that lead-colored sea. It looked to be very deep where they were, and indeed they were out farther than they had ever been. The shore was a dim, indistinct line of gray.
Fred held Larry's tools for him, squinted obediently when told to "see if you can see where that screw has buried itself," and handed the oil can and waste rags as Larry demanded them.
"I don't know what's the matter with it, unless it is the heat," announced Larry, almost crossly. "Maybe she will start now."
But the engine refused to sputter or cough andthe boat lay as calmly on the water as though it had been anchored.
"It's half-past twelve," said Larry, glancing at his watch. "I suppose we might as well have a bite to eat and then go at it again."
Polly reached out her hand for the lunch boxes, but to her surprise, he stopped her.
"I never go without some rations," he said. "And there is drinking water. But if you don't mind plain fare, I think you'd better eat my grub. Save that stuff in the boxes, because it is wrapped up and will keep."
"My goodness, to hear you talk, you'd think we were going to spend the summer on theClara," Margy said lightly. "I'm so thirsty I could drink a barrel of water."
Larry brought out a store of cheese and crackers and passed them around, and when they had finished eating, he gave each one a small cup of water.
"Next time you can have more," he said gravely. "If we don't get started, food and water will keep you cheerful and it's better to go up in the world than to come down."
By this he meant that it would be easier for them to eat the plainer food first than to eat the best and then be forced to come to less attractive rations.
"But we won't have any time to stay at Blackberry Island, if we don't get there pretty soon," said Margy, after lunch.
Larry did not appear to hear. He was struggling into a heavy jacket that he took from a box on the floor.
"Better put on your sweaters," he advised quietly. "A blow is coming."
None of the children knew what a "blow" was, but they put on their sweaters and then looked in the direction Larry was staring.
"The ocean looks different over there. Is it the wind?" asked Polly.
Larry nodded. In a few moments they saw white caps scudding beyond them and then a murmur that was the wind rising rapidly.
"Here she comes!" cried Larry, seizing the rudder. "Hold fast!"
With a shriek, the wind pounced upon the boat and sent it scudding. Margy clung to Polly and Fred grasped Artie by the arm—he was actually afraid the lighter boy would be blown overboard. Polly opened her eyes in time to see something dark over her right shoulder. Larry shouted something she could not hear.
CHAPTER XXII
ALL ADRIFT
"Whatis it?" Polly screamed against the wind. "What are you saying, Larry?"
Larry jerked his head backward and shouted again.
"I can't hear a word he says," protested Polly, as the three girls huddled closer together in the bottom of the boat.
"It's something about Blackberry Island," Jess said, as loudly as she could.
"Oh!" and Polly seemed to understand. "Perhaps the wind is blowing us toward the island," she added hopefully.
But when fifteen minutes later a huge wave broke over the boat and Larry set the boys to bailing with heavy tin cans, Polly learned that they were not blowing toward the island.
"That was Blackberry Island we passed back there, a little after the wind came up," Larry shouted, leaning across Fred to make them hear. "We're miles beyond it now, and no telling where we'll end up."
Margy was frightened and Polly was worried because she did not see how they were to get home if they were blowing farther off the coast all the time. To Jess, it was something of a daring adventure. None of them was really aware of the seriousness of the situation. It did not occur to them that a disabled motor boat might easily be blown out to sea and either be wrecked in the storm or drift beyond the reach of help. The supply of food and water—especially water—on board was not large, and many thoughts were racing through Larry's mind of which he made no mention.
They did not ship another wave, and by the time the boys had bailed theClarafairly dry, it seemed to Fred that the wind was not blowing so hard. He spoke of it to Larry.
"Yes, she's slowing up, I reckon," admitted Larry. "But don't fool yourself that all the damage is done. When a wind gets started, seems like it has to blow all its tricks and do all the damage it can, then it goes off to find a new place to torment."
"Let's—let's ask riddles," suggested Polly, in a voice that to her dismay persisted in sounding shaky. "We can't have supper yet," and she managed a little laugh that coaxed a wavering smile to the serious faces surrounding her.
"Perhaps we'll have supper at home," Fred said, trying to cheer them up in his own way. "Won't Mother laugh when we come back with our lunches still in the boxes?"
Larry said nothing, but his eyes scanned the dark clouds anxiously.
"I'll ask you a riddle," Polly announced. "Now listen—it's a brand new one Daddy told me. When does the ocean resemble a horse that has broken loose from his stable?"
"Huh, when it kicks everything in sight," Ward said, scowling at the choppy sea.
Polly laughed and admitted that he "sounded right."
"But that isn't the answer," she declared firmly.
Fred turned around so that his back was to the wind.
"When it's on the rampage?" he inquired hopefully.
Larry chuckled at that, and said he thought there might be more than one answer to a riddle.
"Not more than one that really counts," Polly insisted.
"Well, tell us what it is," begged Margy. "I can't think how the ocean can possibly be like a horse."
Artie snickered and murmured that he had "read about sea horses in a book."
"The riddle answer is 'When the tied runs out,'" Polly explained. "The tide of the ocean, you see, and the horse that was tied."
"Who do you suppose invents riddles?" speculated Margy.
No one knew, but Ward was bursting with the desire to give them one.
"Who," he shouted, for the wind was still blowing steadily, "is the smallest man in the world?"
"Tom Thumb," said Artie, moving his feet to keep them out of a puddle.
"He was make-believe," said Margy scornfully.
"Well, maybe he wasn't," Jess demurred. "Some of the fairy stories must have been true."
Ward argued that if a fairy story was true, it wasn't a fairy story and Larry was inclined to agree with this point of view.
"Just the same, I think it was Tom Thumb," the obstinate Artie declared. "If it wasn't, who is?"
Margy pulled her sweater more closely around her. They were all thankful that they had brought the warm garments with them, though at the time they started a sweater had seemed quite useless.
"It's such a hot day we'll perish with the heat," Margy had grumbled.
"Who is the smallest man in the world?" musedFred. "It must be some midget, but how are we going to tell?"
Ward shook his head so violently that he was almost dizzy.
"A midget has nothing to do with it," he announced. "You don't even have to think of midgets."
"If it isn't a midget, I don't know what it is," Margy said. "I give up."
Polly and Fred echoed her surrender reluctantly. They, too, could not think of an answer that might fit.
"I don't give up," said Artie. "But I can't think of the answer. That is, not in a hurry."
Jess was of the same mind, and Larry shook his head when appealed to.
Ward consented to give the answer after Fred insisted that they could not "wait forever" for Artie to think.
"The smallest man in the world," he informed them, "is a sailor. It's funny you couldn't guess that."
Five members of the Riddle Club sat up with a jerk. They were so indignant that they forgot to scold about the wind or the crippled motor.
"A sailor!" cried Jess. "I knew you'd forgotten the answer yourself!"
"A sailor isn't the smallest man in the world." This from Fred. "Look at Larry."
"Well, there's more to it," Ward admitted. "The whole answer is that the smallest man in the world is the sailor who sleeps in his watch."
Larry laughed loudly, though the others appeared to be mystified.
"Ha! ha!" chortled Larry. "That's a good one. If I had had my wits about me, I could have figured that out. Sleeps in his watch! Ha! ha!"
"Well, how could he?" Polly asked dubiously.
"There's a catch in it," Larry explained, still smiling. "A watch on shipboard, you know, doesn't mean the kind of timepiece you carry in your pocket."
"I know!" cried Jess eagerly. "It's the time sailors are on duty."
"Do they go to sleep then?" Margy wanted to know, and Larry said they didn't if they knew what they were about.
"I think that's a pretty good riddle," pronounced Fred judiciously.
"I always know good ones," Ward declared, and Artie fell over upon him with crushing effect.
Fred now made a discovery, a not unpleasant one.
"The wind is dying down!" he cried. "Say, it doesn't begin to blow the way it did."
"If I could get this pesky engine started, we might get home to-night, after all," Larry muttered.
Polly and Margy exchanged startled glances. They had expected to go home as a matter of course. But, now they stopped to think of it, if the engine refused to start, how were they to get back to Sunrise Beach?
"Get home to-night!" Jess echoed. "Oh, what will we do if we can't get home?"
"If we had a wireless, we could get help," said Artie.
"Never heard of a wireless on a plain motor boat," Larry declared. "Hardly ever go out of sight of land. Just the same, if I had a set and could work it, we might do better than we're doing now."
"Why!" said Polly, with a startled cry. "Look! We can't see— What is it?"
Something soft and dense and gray was fast closing in around them.
"Fog!" Larry said briefly.
There it was—like a blanket—and to their alarmed senses, almost as smothering.
"Suppose—suppose we run into something!" stammered Margy fearfully.
"Well, suppose we don't!" Larry retorted cheerfully. "I don't think there's much danger and, if you ask me, I should say the most important thing to think about is, 'what can we have to eat?' If you're as hungry as I am, you'll be opening those boxes in a minute or two. But better save a snack, in case we have to drift till breakfast time."
It seemed to the older children that Larry's tone sounded a bit forced, and he did not change his position at the tiller when they opened the lunch boxes. On his earnest advice, they ate lightly, though Ward in particular was hungry and said so.
"Never did believe in overeating," said Larry grimly. He had eaten one sandwich, and now gave them each a small cupful of water.
"What time is it?" asked Fred presently, wishing that he could stop thinking about the hot clam chowder their mothers always prepared if the night turned cool.
"Ten after six," Larry replied, glancing at his watch. "Looks as if we'll have to make a night of it."
"But—but—stay out on the ocean all night?" quavered Margy. "Without any beds or anything?"
"It won't be so bad," said Jess, trying herbest to feel that this was only an exciting adventure, but failing utterly.
"I've got a couple of old blankets tucked away somewhere and they'll keep you warm. Now the wind's gone down, there's nothing to worry about," Larry assured her, with far more cheerfulness than he felt.
"But our mothers will worry," Margy objected.
"Well, of course, they'll wonder where we are," said Fred. "But I guess they can figure out that if Larry and his boat don't come back, we're somewhere all together. Here's a blanket, Polly; better wrap up."
The blanket smelled of oil, for it had been crammed into a small cupboard close to the engine, but its extra warmth was very welcome. The fog was cold and damp, and, deprived of the sun, the sea seemed cold and depressing.
Polly made Jess and Margy sit down close together and wrapped them in one fold. Then she twisted herself in beside them and Fred pulled the end over her. They were wrapped snugly, "like caramels," Jess said.
"Try to go to sleep," Larry advised. "I'm sorry there isn't room to stretch out, but I guess you can manage forty winks the way you are."
Margy was sure she could never sleep in hercramped position, but before long the three heads were nodding and the girls slept as serenely as though they had been in their comfortable beds at home. Ward and Artie, on the floor, pillowed their heads against their sisters' knees and slept also, but Fred sat beside Larry and watched.
When Polly awoke with a start, several hours later, she looked up into a sky thickly spangled with stars. The fog had lifted and the boat was drifting before a stiff breeze. As soon as her eyes became accustomed to the inky blackness, she made out two figures sitting erect and silent.
"Is that you, Fred?" she called softly. "Where—where are we?"
The shorter figure stirred, and Fred crawled stiffly across the narrow little seat to speak to her.
"It's midnight," he said. "Aren't the stars pretty?"
CHAPTER XXIII
ONE NIGHT AT SEA
Pollywas stiff and a little cold. Her neck hurt, for she had bent it forward while she slept as there was nothing against which she could rest it for support. Very cautiously she crawled out of the blanket and stood up.
"Isn't it still," she cried softly. "What are the little lights?"
There were two tiny lights lit on theClara, a red and a green one.
"Starboard and port," Larry informed her, his good-nature as steadfast as ever.
"Is the engine still broken?" asked Polly, fearing that this was a delicate question, but anxious to learn.
"Dead as a door nail," Larry responded. "Can't raise a choke. I'm blest if I know what the trouble is. I cleaned the spark plug particular yesterday, so that can't be the answer."
He bent over the engine again and Fred held a flashlight for him.
"I never was up at midnight before," whispered Polly, a little thrilled in spite of her uncomfortableness. "Look how funny it looks way off there—like something white coming up."
"Fog," Larry said briefly. "Have to sound our horn this time, too. I don't know where we are. Suppose it will wake up the other kids?"
"What kind of a horn?" asked Fred eagerly. "I didn't know you had one! Let me blow it, Larry?"
"Have to have a fog horn—law says so," Larry jerked out. "TheClara'shorn wasn't built for ocean work, so don't laugh when you hear it. Pull that cord there on your right."
Fred seized the bit of frayed cord and pulled with right good will. Something gave a funny squeak that woke up Margy and Jess and Ward and Artie so suddenly that it was a mercy they didn't tumble overboard.
"What was that?" cried Margy.
"Fog horn," Fred told her cheerfully. "Want to hear it again?"
"It sounds like a calf bawling," said Jess critically. "Let me make it go, Fred."
Larry nodded, and Fred relinquished the rope. Jess jerked it blissfully for a few seconds, and then Artie clamored for the honor.
"The more the merrier," was Larry's comment. "A fog horn is a good thing to keep going a night like this—morning, rather."
The soft white fog had shut down on them again, and the squeak of the little fog horn had a pitiful sound to Polly's sensitive ear.
"It sounds like a little lost boat, doesn't it?" she whispered to Jess. "As if a little boat was out at sea and was afraid."
Suddenly a long drawn-out, hoarse call drifted over the water to them. It sounded far off and yet powerful.
"Gee, that's a steamer, isn't it?" said Fred. "I'll bet that is one of the coastwise boats. Larry, could a boat come along and run us down before we knew it?"
"I wouldn't exactly say that," was Larry's careful response. "But I do know that if any getting out of the way was done, the other fellow would have to do it. As far as navigation is concerned, we're not in business."
"But that boat isn't very near, is it?" Margy urged fearfully.
"No. Miles off," was the cheerful answer. "We're not in much danger of being run down, though I fancy keeping that horn going won't be a bad thing in any case; we might get help that way."
The fact that it was after midnight captured Jess's fancy as it had Polly's.
"Is it really to-morrow morning?" she asked.
"This morning," Larry corrected. "To-morrow is another day now."
A low chuckle from Artie, who had given Ward the privilege of sounding the horn, surprised them all.
"Say, we might be worse off," he announced, as though he had recently made a discovery.
"I'm glad you think so," said Larry. "But, barring a great storm, I am the least bit inclined to doubt your excellent theory."
"Suppose—" Artie suggested, "just suppose we had Mattie Helms and Carrie Pepper with us!"
"My goodness, wouldn't they be furious!" cried Margy, laughing. "They would never forgive us in the world if we kept them out all night like this. Carrie would say that was a nice way to behave—invite her to a picnic and then have the engine break down."
"They'll be mad, anyway," Jess observed, "because we came off and let them think we were to leave an hour later."
"All I hope is that Mother doesn't worry," said Ward, and Polly silently wondered where Ella Mooney was and whether she had been found.
They were all rather silent for half an hour or so, each busy with his or her own thoughts. Jess was finally discovered in tears.
"My foot's asleep," she wept. "And I'm thirsty and I want to lie down to sleep—my neck hurts."
"I'll rub it for you," Polly offered.
"And there's no reason why you shouldn't all have a drink of water," said Larry kindly. "A sandwich, too, maybe, though if you'll take my advice, you will save the food that's left for breakfast."
He measured out the water for them to drink and not a sandwich was touched, though Ward whispered to Artie that he was sure he would starve to death before morning.
"Won't hurt you if you lose five or ten pounds," said Artie coldly.
"Now don't get scrappy," Larry intervened. "The real test of shipmates is whether they can stand bad luck and remain friends. It's easy enough to like the other fellow when you are warm and dry and comfortable. But if you like him and don't feel like tossing him overboard when you have a stiff neck and your shoes are wet and you're dead for the want of a good night's sleep—well, that shows you're not a fair-weather friend, but one to be trusted."
"Isn't it queer, it is so cold?" said Margy. "This is summer; but I do believe I would be comfortable in a fur collar."
"Always cool off shore and at night like this," Larry explained.
Polly sat down on the floor and threw an arm about Jess, pulling her chum's head to a rest on her shoulder.
"Crouch down here beside me, Margy, and see if you can go to sleep," she said.
Fred was nervously alert and had no wish to sleep, but Ward and Artie were almost dozing where they stood. Artie jerked the horn rope mechanically and Ward tried not to think of hot cakes.
"I keep remembering the way the butter melts on 'em," he told the others. "And the syrup—gee! I think hot cakes are the best food for breakfast I ever ate."
"Stop dreaming of hot cakes and help me spread the blankets over the girls," Fred directed. "They're all asleep. We'll stand watch with Larry, so we don't need to be covered up."
Fred was proud of his collection of nautical terms, and even Artie's sleep-drugged eyes opened a little wider at this announcement. He gave the rope a harder pull than usual.
"Why didn't you blow the horn when we ranthrough the first fog?" asked Fred, voicing a question he had been turning over in his mind for some time.
"Figured out we didn't need it," Larry replied. "Now we've blown so far over we must be near the track of the steamers. Don't aim to have a big brother come out of the clouds and walk through us."
The boys, by a desperate effort, managed to keep awake till three o'clock. Then, just as Artie was sure his eyes would not open again, they heard Polly stir uneasily.
"Fred?" she whispered. "Artie?"
"Right here," Fred said reassuringly. "What's the matter?"
"I can't get up," said Polly desperately. "I can't move. I feel as though I had turned to stone."
Fred tore off the blanket. Jess was asleep, her whole weight thrown against Polly, her head on her shoulder. Against the other arm slumbered Margy, resting heavily.
"Wake 'em up," said Fred. "You must be numb. What did you let them do that for?"
"Oh, I was asleep, too," Polly protested. "I wasn't one bit uncomfortable until I woke up and tried to move my foot. It feels like lead. There isn't one bit of feeling in my arms, either."
Larry had heard her, and he now came forward and lifted Jess gently. He put her on the narrow little seat that went around three sides of the boat and shook her awake slowly. Fred did the same for Margy, and when they understood that Polly was cramped and would have to get up, both were remorseful.
"I'm all right," Polly assured them, trying to get to her feet. "There's nothing the matter with me—oh!"
She pitched forward and would have fallen, if Fred and Artie had not braced her.
"I feel as though I was walking on stilts," poor Polly cried. "What do you suppose is the matter with me?"
"Rub her arms!" directed Larry. "She's about stopped the circulation in her arms and legs, sitting so long like that. It may hurt a little at first, Polly, but you'll be all right in a minute."
Polly was really a little frightened when she found that she could not raise her arms, but Artie rubbed one and Fred the other, while Margy and Jess rubbed her legs and ankles, and presently they began to feel better.
"I don't wonder you cried when your foot went to sleep, Jess," said Polly, managing a smile. "It's worse when you go to sleep all over."
At Larry's suggestion, Fred dropped down onthe blanket for an hour's sleep, and though he was sure that he couldn't "do a wink," in less than a second he was fast asleep. The sound of the boat grating on something woke him.
"Is the engine going?" he asked, sitting up with a jerk.
"No such luck," said Larry grimly, pulling out his old-fashioned silver watch and looking at it in the glow of the green light.
"Three o'clock," he said. "It will be light soon. We've struck land, and I don't know anything else to do but go ashore."
"Land!" gasped Margy. "Where are we?"
Larry was already out of the boat, steadying it with one hand.
"If you'll be getting out now," he said politely, "so's I can haul this disreputable wreck a bit higher, I think perhaps I can tend to it, come daylight. My weather forecast for the morning is foggy—foggy and wet."
Dazed, the boys and girls tumbled out on the sand and all helped to push and drag the boat well up on the beach—if it was a beach upon which they walked. It felt like sand, but the nose of the boat rested in coarse stubble, as revealed by the flashlight.
"I don't see where it is," Margy marveled. "Larry, this isn't Blackberry Island, is it?"
"It doesn't look like it to me, but I've lost my bearings," said Larry, giving the boat a final haul. "No, this isn't Blackberry Island. If you ask me, I think we're on another island—Rattlesnake Island, they call it."
Jess screamed and ran for the boat. She reached it and scrambled over the side, falling head first across the seat.
"Polly! Margy!" she cried loudly. "Hurry! Don't stay there another minute! For all you know there are rattlesnakes all around you there in the dark!"
CHAPTER XXIV
A GREAT DISCOVERY
"Snakes!" echoed Margy frantically. "Ow, snakes. I heard one rattle! Come on Polly! Snakes!"
And crying "snakes!" at every step, Margy rushed for the boat and climbed over the side and to safety.
Polly did feel creepy, she admitted it. But she found Margy's behavior funnier than the idea of snakes, and she joined in the shout of laughter the boys and Larry could not restrain.
"Shucks! I never heard of a snake on this island for the last twenty years," Larry drawled. "There's nothing in a name, Margy. Suppose I had landed you on Angel's Point, thirty miles south of here, would you be hearing wings rustling in the dark?"
"Just the same," replied the frightened Margy, "you'd better come in this boat, Polly Marley. You'll be sorry if a snake bites you."
"Better get in to keep the peace, Polly," Larryadvised. "Anyway, we can't do a thing till it's light. I could start a fire, but there's no sense in going around in the dark for wood. This light's about played out, too."
The flashlight was flickering feebly, and it was plain the battery was nearly used up. The girls separated the blankets, giving one to the boys who spread it out on the ground, grateful for the room and unmindful of snakes and promptly went to sleep. Inside the boat the girls huddled together under the remaining blanket, and the last thing Polly remembered was the loud snoring of Larry who had gone to sleep almost before his head touched the ground.
Something crackling and snapping awoke Margy a few hours later. It was light, though the thick fog pressed in closely around them. Peering cautiously over the side of the boat, Margy saw a cheering sight. A fire was blazing a few feet away and the three boys sat cross-legged before it on the blanket.
"Hi, Margy!" Ward waved his hand to her. "Come on—we can eat, if you are awake."
His voice roused Jess and Polly and they sat up and looked about them. The fire made them forget the dampness, and they were quickly out of the boat and stretching their hands to its welcome heat.
"We got the wood," announced Artie proudly. "We picked up all the chips and twigs and old boards we could find. Larry had matches, and though some of the wood was wet, that was only on top. Soon as we got it going, it burned fine."
"Where's Larry now?" asked Polly, and Ward said he had gone to see if he could find a spring.
He came back presently and reported that though he was sure there was good drinking water on Rattlesnake Island, he had not been able to find it.
"We have some left in my cask, and before that is gone, I aim to be well on the way home," he declared cheerfully. "And now let's have some breakfast."
They toasted the sandwiches from the boxes, and with the fruit left over made a comfortable if not luxurious breakfast. There were several packages of crackers and a couple of buns not touched, and these Larry was careful to wrap in oiled paper and put in the locker of his boat.
"My goodness, I hope we don't have to make our lunch on that," said Margy, but she had to admit that it would be better than nothing at all to eat.
"Now if I can have an hour or so without being interrupted," said Larry significantly, when breakfast was over and he had measured out thedrinking water, taking none himself, "I think perhaps I can fix this stubborn thing that's called an engine for want of a better name."
"We won't bother," Fred promised. "It's all right to go round and look a bit, isn't it? Maybe we can find the spring you spoke of, Larry."
"Don't go too far, though I don't know as you could lose your way," said Larry, getting out his tools and preparing to work at the engine. "As I recollect, it isn't more than four miles around the whole island. I guess I'll be right here when you get back."
They laughed a little at the joke, and, Fred and Ward in the lead, set out to explore the island. It did feel good to have firm ground under their feet and Jess said that never, never, never would she be a sailor!
"The fog is lifting a little," said Jess. "Look—you can see the water from here."
All looked and saw the ocean beneath the edges of the fog which was like a blanket.
"Come on down and walk on the rocks," urged Ward. "Maybe we can find conch shells wedged in. I'd like to take some home to Mother."
Fred observed that he thought if they got themselves home they would be doing well, but they obediently turned and went down to therocks. The fog was gradually blowing out to sea, but so slowly that it was scarcely perceptible.
"Don't stumble!" Polly warned. "It wouldn't be any fun to fall on those jagged points. What's the matter, Margy?"
"I thought I heard something," said Margy. "Hark!"
"Maybe it is a snake—rattling," Artie giggled, a remark which had the effect of making Margy hold her skirts higher and look around her with alarm.
"There aren't any snakes, Margy—don't listen to him," said Jess crossly. "If there were any they— What in the world is that?" she broke off in quick surprise.
"That's what I heard before," Margy insisted. "What do you suppose it is? A—a laughing hyena?"
Polly was listening intently.
"Sounded more like crying, than laughing," protested Ward.
"Well, when a hyena laughs, it cries," Margy told him. "As Artie says, I read it in a book. So there!"
"There it is again," said Fred. "Now hush, and listen."
They stood quiet. A low sobbing note thatended in what might have been a shriek, came to them.
"It's around that bend," Polly declared, pointing ahead.
"It sounds like a person, but it may be an animal. Perhaps you girls had better stay here," suggested Fred.
"We're coming, too," declared Jess.
"If it is a wild animal, six of us will frighten him away. And if it is a person—well, anyway, we're coming," announced Polly.
Margy nodded bravely, though her teeth were chattering and she felt a wild desire to hold on to her brother's coat sleeve. They stepped silently from rock to rock, and in a few minutes were around the curve where, presumably, the creature they had heard was hiding.
"Why!" Polly voiced their astonishment. "Why, it's a girl!"
A forlorn little figure was crouched down beside a huge rock a few feet from the advancing sextet. She was clothed in tatters. Her face was hidden in her hands, and she was sobbing and moaning.
"We won't hurt you—don't be afraid," called Polly softly. "What is the matter? Do you live on Rattlesnake Island?"
The girl leaped to her feet and faced them,fear in every line of her tense body. As her hands fell away from her face, the Riddle Club members experienced a shock they would remember as long as they lived.
"Ella Mooney!" they shouted wildly. "Why, Ella Mooney!"
There was no mistaking her—the dark eyes and yellow bobbed hair were the same, though no one had ever seen Ella Mooney in a dress like this, or with her face scratched from briars and streaked with dirt and tears.
Polly ran to her and threw her arms about the little girl.
"Oh, Ella, darling, what has happened to you?" she cried. "Your father was sure you'd been kidnaped. He came to our house to ask if we had seen you. Are you hungry? How did you ever get here?"
Ella clung to Polly as though she never meant to let her go. In her loneliness and fright she had dreamed of friends coming to rescue her, and these dreams had vanished with her waking. She was half afraid that Polly, too, would fade away and leave her alone again.
"It's really you!" she kept saying over and over. "It's really you!"
The others crowded around her, and Ella laughed and cried and answered questions in aconfused way. She had gone rowing, she explained, and had lost her oars and then drifted.
"Daddy was busy and I wanted some fun," she said, holding fast to Polly's hand even as she talked. "I got cook's picnic basket while she was upstairs after lunch, and I packed some things to eat in it. I was going to have a beach party like the one you had. But when I lost the oars I couldn't do anything with the boat, and though I screamed and took off my blouse and waved it, I couldn't make any one hear me or see me."
"How long have you been on Rattlesnake Island?" asked Fred.
"Oh, ever so long," Ella answered confidently. "I was out on the ocean till it was dark, and then just as it was getting light, I felt the boat bump and I jumped out and pulled it ashore. I thought some one might live here, so I started out and walked all around it, but there wasn't a single house!"
"And you were here all alone last night!" commented Margy, pityingly.
"Yes, and it was awfully dark and there were mosquitoes," Ella confided. "I ate up all the lunch, too. And I'm afraid of bugs and snakes and wild animals, so I walked as much as I could till I fell over a tree, and then I was afraid to walk any more."
"Aren't you starved?" demanded Polly. "And thirsty?"
"There's a nice spring a little way back there," Ella said, pointing over her shoulder. "I had all the water I wanted. I found it yesterday. But I am so hungry. I could almost eat you."
"Come on. We've got some things to eat," said Ward eagerly. "I'm sorry we ate as much as we did. But we didn't know we were going to find you."
"Did you come after me?" Ella asked. "Did Daddy come, too?"
Then they had to explain how they happened to be on Rattlesnake Island. All the time they were retracing their steps toward the motor boat and Larry.
"And it's lucky we were blown out of the way of Blackberry Island," finished Fred seriously. "You might have had to stay here for weeks."
"We may have to, anyway," Margy reminded him. "If Larry doesn't get the boat fixed, we'll have to spend the winter here."
Fred noticed that Ella was limping a little and taxed her with it.
"I blistered my heel," she admitted reluctantly, "walking so much. I kept hoping I'd find somebody, and I walked and walked. I guess I've been around the island a dozen times."
Polly and Fred were the tallest, so they made a chair with their hands and insisted that Ella must not walk another step. Carrying her, they fell behind the others, and when they came out on the beach where Larry was tinkering with his balky engine, he saw Jess and Margy and Ward and Artie first.
"All aboard!" he yelled cheerfully. "I've got her going—and you'll never guess what I found was the trouble."
"Look what we found!" Fred shouted, as he and Polly broke into a gentle trot. "Where are the crackers, Larry? Ella Mooney is starved to death."
"Great glory!" gasped the dazed Larry, dropping his monkey wrench and staring. "Where under the canopy did you find Ella? Wasn't she kidnaped?"
"Will the boat go?" Artie cried, capering about in a delirium of excitement. "Will it go, Larry? Won't the folks be surprised when they see us come back!"
CHAPTER XXV
THE TREASURER IS PLEASED
Larrywas so surprised that about all he could say was "Great glory," though when the Riddle Club explained in chorus that Ella was very hungry, he hurriedly brought out the buns and crackers he had so carefully put away.
"Great glory!" he ejaculated for the twentieth time, watching the famished Ella greedily eating the crackers. "It's a mercy there wasn't a rain storm—the exposure might have given you pneumonia."
"I'm all right," Ella said sunnily. "The Riddle Club found me. But how can we get home, if your boat is broken down?"
Before Larry could answer this question, he had to hear how Ella came to be on Rattlesnake Island and how long she had been there. As soon as she told him about the spring, he declared that he must fill his barrel.
"Then we'll go," he promised. "I reckon there's some folks back at Sunrise Beach will be kind of glad to see this party coming in."
"Yes, won't Ella's father be surprised?" Artie said eagerly.
"Guess your own father will be glad to see you, too," chuckled Larry. "Well, who's coming to help me fill these two pails with water? I can find the spring all right if one of you comes along to show me where you found Ella."
The three boys volunteered to accompany Larry and the girls stayed with Ella. Larry located the spring without trouble, and on the way back he explained that he had repaired his engine.
"It was the spark plug after all," he said. "Fouled. I didn't look at it before, because I'd just cleaned it. Soon as I scraped it with my knife, everything was all right. Turned the flywheel, threw in the clutch, and she began her song like a lady."
"Then we really can go home?" Ward asked.
"Just as soon as I sign up the crew," replied Larry, grinning. "We ought to be home for lunch, according to my way of figuring, though my watch stopped after we came ashore."
No one felt like lingering on Rattlesnake Island a moment longer than was necessary, and at a word from Larry the girls and Artie and Ward took their places in the boat while he and Fred pushed off. Almost breathlessly theywatched while Larry spun the wheel, touched the clutch, and then—put-put-put—sounded the engine and a spontaneous cheer went up.
"Isn't it lovely!" cried Margy, her face glowing. "Isn't it too lovely to be going home!"
Ella forgot her tattered dress and her blistered heel in her delight at being found. She asked about her pony—whether it had been found.
"I never leave him tied long," she explained. "And all that night while I was drifting on the ocean, I wondered whether Duke would be fed and bedded down."
"What are you thinking about, Fred," Polly asked curiously.
Fred sat silent, and she could tell from the expression on his face that he had something he was turning over in his mind.
"Why," he said now, looking up, "I was thinking—Larry, if you could meet a boat with a wireless, or put in at a town with telephones, we could send word on ahead. Even if we make good time, the news would get there ahead of us and save an hour or two of worry, perhaps."
"For a boy, you sure have a level head," Larry declared approvingly. "I know I wouldn't want to be waiting much longer, after a night of wondering and hoping. Let's see—'tisn't likely we'll meet a ship with wireless, it's too early in themorning for the coastwise boats and we're too far in for the ocean-going vessels. Better to telegraph, anyway, Fred. Quicker. You write out a message and I'll see it gets sent."
Fred complained that he couldn't think in a hurry, so Polly and Jess helped him write a message on the back of an envelope Larry handed him.
"All safe. Coming home," ran the telegram. "Bringing Ella Mooney with us."
"Better send it to your folks, Fred," Larry advised. "Captain Mooney is likely to be anywhere up and down the coast, hunting. Somebody will be at Meeker's Cottage."
So Fred addressed the message to his father and Larry sent the boat spinning close to a long fishing pier that ran out far from land.
"Hi!" he called up to the faces bending down to peer at them. "This is North Beach, isn't it? Will some of you send a mighty important telegram for us?"
Half a dozen promised to send the telegram, and it was the work of a minute for Larry to fasten the message and a dollar bill to one of the fish hooks lowered to him on a long line. Then the boat sped on, without waiting to hear the shouts of the fishermen, some of whom had heard of Captain Mooney's missing daughter.
Put-put-put went the little boat, and once it sputtered as though it was going to stop. Larry looked worried and the boys and girls held their breaths, but nothing happened and the evenly timed put-put sounded again. Pretty soon they began to recognize the shore towns. Then they passed Glen Haven.
"There's the Sunrise Beach pier!" cried Fred.
"I see the bungalows!" Artie shouted.
"There's the hotel!" this from Margy.
"Don't go to the wharf, Larry," Ella begged. "I'm a sight. I'd hate to have people see me looking like this."
"Can't get through the surf, anyway," said Larry. "That wind yesterday kicked up a heavy sea. I'll have to run for the inlet."
That he would do so, must have been surmised by the little group of people standing on the right-hand bank as theClarashot into the inlet waters and stopped at the floating wharf.
"Daddy!" cried Ella, almost leaping into the water as she tried to spring from the boat. "Oh, Daddy! Daddy! Did you worry about me?"
She was in her father's arms before she could finish her sentence. And tumbling from the boat with all her eagerness, the Riddle Club members found themselves held tightly in a circle of weeping mothers and of fathers who laughed as the safest way to keep from crying.
"Thought you'd play Robinson Crusoe, did you?" said Mr. Marley, lifting Artie to his shoulder. "Well, Larry, I'm afraid you've had more than you bargained for."
"How did you know we were on an island, Daddy?" asked Polly curiously.
"Didn't. Just made a guess at the Robinson Crusoe part," he answered her. "But we can't stand here—the whole town will be upon us. Come, Captain, we'll go up to the cottage and listen to the whole story. The children look as though they needed something hot to eat and then a good nap."
Captain Mooney was persuaded not to drive Ella home until she had had a good hot lunch, and Larry, too, was persuaded to go to the cottage. Every one talked very fast for an hour, for the fathers and mothers were anxious to hear everything that had happened.
Ella Mooney did not go home that night, for the little girl fell asleep in the midst of the story Larry told and Mrs. Marley put her to bed herself.
"While I never want to go through it again," concluded Larry, "I want to say this: I never saw a braver bunch of kids, or a bunch of bettersports. They didn't one of 'em grunt or complain, and if they were afraid, they kept it pretty well to themselves. I'm proud to have had the Riddle Club on board theClaraand I hope to take 'em sailing many a day to come."
The telephone bell in the house next door began to ring that afternoon, and it rang till nearly midnight. All Sunrise Beach was asking for news—had the missing children really come home safe? Those who did not telephone came to see for themselves, and Carrie Pepper, Mattie Helms, Joe Anderson and Albert Holmes were among these.
"How funny you look!" said Carrie to Polly. "As if you were sleepy. But I'm awfully glad you weren't drowned," she added, and kissed her.
"I'm going to bed in a minute—we couldn't sleep much last night," Polly explained. "Ella is already asleep and so is Margy."
"Where did you find Ella?" asked Carrie, and nothing would do but she must have all the details.
"H'm—she ought not to be going around in boats by herself," Carrie commented at the end. "Say, you must have left awfully early yesterday. Mattie and I came down to see you off and you'd already gone."
Polly looked everywhere but at Fred, and wassaved an answer by Mrs. Marley, who came in to insist that Polly must go to bed and rest.
In the morning—the Riddle Club members and Ella slept seventeen long blissful hours without waking—Captain Mooney drove up in his big car with an outfit of clothes for Ella. Fred was already dressed and down, and the Captain suggested that while he waited for his daughter he and Fred "take a turn on the beach."
"How queer Fred acts," said Polly to Jess, watching the two coming up the walk half an hour later.
In the excitement of saying good-by to Ella, Polly thought no more of Fred's behavior. He had had an air of suppressed excitement, she thought, "the way he acts on Christmas," Polly expressed it.
As no one felt up to any very strenuous form of exercise, Mrs. Marley suggested that they hold a session of the Riddle Club on the front porch.
"Before the callers descend," she added laughingly. "You're sure to have a good many to-day, friends who want to see for themselves that you are safe."
Polly called the meeting to order and was about to proceed by calling on Margy for a riddle when Fred interrupted.
"I have an announcement to make, as treasurer," he stated.
"No dues!" Ward warned him. "This is an—an informal meeting."
"This is once when I don't care a snap about dues," said Fred, his voice rising as it always did when he was excited. "Look at that—you fellows who squawk when I ask you for ten cents!"
He laid a slip of green paper in Polly's lap and the others crowded about her.
"A hundred dollars!" cried Polly, in amazement. "A check for a hundred dollars, payable to the Riddle Club. Why, Fred!"
"Captain Mooney gave it to me this morning and made me promise not to tell till he'd gone," Fred said. "It's the reward for the information about Ella, you know. He said he'd asked our fathers, and it's all right for us to have it. And, gee, won't the teller in the River Bend Bank open his eyes when he sees that!"
"Now I don't care if Mother wouldn't let me take the ring money," declared Margy contentedly. "This is lots nicer."
Jess rushed into the house to bring the three mothers out to admire the check. In the midst of their talk a small, barefoot boy came up the walk.
"I found this in the water this morning, andLarry opened it," he said shyly. "He says it's yours."
He handed the tin box to Fred, who jerked the cover off.
"It's the box we floated the night we had the beach party!" he chuckled. "Here's the messages, just as we wrote them. They didn't get to China, after all."
"Who cares?" said Polly recklessly. "Ella Mooney isn't lost, and we don't have to live on Rattlesnake Island, and we have a hundred dollars to add to our club fund! What do we care whether the Chinese read our messages or not?"
"I'd like the box to play with," the boy announced, so they gave it to him just as another visitor turned in at their gravel path.
"I thought I'd come see how you are," said Carrie Pepper. "What makes you look so excited—somebody leave you a fortune?"
THE END
THE BOBBSEY TWINS BOOKS
For Little Men and Women
By LAURA LEE HOPE
Author of "The Bunny Brown Series," Etc.
Durably Bound. Illustrated. Uniform Style of Binding. Every Volume Complete in Itself.
These books for boys and girls between the ages of three and ten stands among children and their parents of this generation where the books of Louisa May Alcott stood in former days. The haps and mishaps of this inimitable pair of twins, their many adventures and experiences are a source of keen delight to imaginative children everywhere.
THE BOBBSEY TWINSTHE BOBBSEY TWINS IN THE COUNTRYTHE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE SEASHORETHE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SCHOOLTHE BOBBSEY TWINS AT SNOW LODGETHE BOBBSEY TWINS ON A HOUSEBOATTHE BOBBSEY TWINS AT MEADOW BROOKTHE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOMETHE BOBBSEY TWINS IN A GREAT CITYTHE BOBBSEY TWINS ON BLUEBERRY ISLANDTHE BOBBSEY TWINS ON THE DEEP BLUE SEATHE BOBBSEY TWINS IN THE GREAT WESTTHE BOBBSEY TWINS AT CEDAR CAMPTHE BOBBSEY TWINS AT THE COUNTY FAIRTHE BOBBSEY TWINS CAMPING OUTTHE BOBBSEY TWINS AND BABY MAY
Grosset & Dunlap,Publishers,New York
THE BUNNY BROWN SERIES
By LAURA LEE HOPE
Author of the Popular "Bobbsey Twins" Books, Etc.
Durably Bound. Illustrated. Uniform Style of Binding. Every Volume Complete in Itself.
These stories by the author of the "Bobbsey Twins". Books are eagerly welcomed by the little folks from about five to ten years of age. Their eyes fairly dance with delight at the lively doings of inquisitive little Bunny Brown and his cunning, trustful sister Sue.
BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUEBUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON GRANDPA'S FARMBUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE PLAYING CIRCUSBUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT CAMP REST-A-WHILEBUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT AUNT LU'S CITY HOMEBUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE IN THE BIG WOODSBUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE ON AN AUTO TOURBUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AND THEIR SHETLAND PONYBUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE GIVING A SHOWBUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT CHRISTMAS TREE COVEBUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE IN THE SUNNY SOUTHBUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE KEEPING STOREBUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AND THEIR TRICK DOGBUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE AT A SUGAR CAMP
Grosset & Dunlap,Publishers,New York
SIX LITTLE BUNKERS SERIES
By LAURA LEE HOPE
Author of The Bobbsey Twins Books, The Bunny Brown Series, The Make-Believe Series, Etc.
Durably Bound. Illustrated. Uniform Style of Binding. Every Volume Complete in Itself.
Delightful stories for little boys and girls which sprung into immediate popularity. To know the six little Bunkers is to take them at once to your heart, they are so intensely human, so full of fun and cute sayings. Each story has a little plot of its own—one that can be easily followed—and all are written in Miss Hope's most entertaining manner. Clean, wholesome volumes which ought to be on the bookshelf of every child in the land.
SIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT GRANDMA BELL'SSIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT AUNT JO'SSIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT COUSIN TOM'SSIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT GRANDPA FORD'SSIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT UNCLE FRED'SSIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT CAPTAIN BEN'SSIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT COWBOY JACK'SSIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT MAMMY JUNE'SSIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT FARMER JOEL'SSIX LITTLE BUNKERS AT MILLER NED'S
Grosset & Dunlap,Publishers,New York
LITTLE JOURNEYS TO HAPPYLAND
(Trademark Registered)
By DAVID CORY
Individual Colored Wrappers. Profusely Illustrated
Printed in large type—easy to read. For children from 4 to 8 years.
A new series of exciting adventures by the author of LITTLE JACK RABBIT books.
The Happyland is reached by various routes: If you should happen to miss the Iceberg Express maybe you can take the Magic Soap Bubble, or in case that has already left, the Noah's Ark may be waiting for you.
This series is unique in that it deals with unusual and exciting adventures on land and sea and in the air.
The Cruise of the Noah's Ark
This is a good rainy day story. On just such a day Mr. Noah invites Marjorie to go for a trip in the Noah's Ark. She gets aboard just in time and away it floats out into the big wide world.
The Magic Soap Bubble
The king of the gnomes has a magic pipe with which he blows a wonderful bubble and taking Ed. with him they both have a delightful time in Gnomeland.
The Iceberg Express
The Mermaid's magic comb changes little Mary Louise into a mermaid. The Polar Bear Porter on the iceberg Express invites her to take a trip with him and away they go on a little journey to Happyland.
Grosset & Dunlap,Publishers,New York
THE MAKE-BELIEVE STORIES
(Trademark Registered.)
By LAURA LEE HOPE
Author of THE BOBBSEY TWINS BOOKS,Etc.
Colored Wrappers and Illustrations by HARRY L. SMITH
In this fascinating line of books Miss Hope has the various toys come to life "when nobody is looking" and she puts them through a series of adventures as interesting as can possibly be imagined.
THE STORY OF A SAWDUST DOLL
How the toys held a party at the Toy Counter; how the Sawdust Doll was taken to the home of a nice little girl, and what happened to her there.
THE STORY OF A WHITE ROCKING HORSE
He was a bold charger and a man purchased him for his son's birthday. Once the Horse had to go to the Toy Hospital, and my! what sights he saw there.
THE STORY OF A LAMB ON WHEELS
She was a dainty creature and a sailor bought her and took her to a little girl relative and she had a great time.
THE STORY OF A BOLD TIN SOLDIER
He was Captain of the Company and marched up and down in the store at night. Then he went to live with a little boy and had the time of his life.
THE STORY OF A CANDY RABBIT
He was continually in danger of losing his life by being eaten up. But he had plenty of fun, and often saw his many friends from the Toy Counter.
THE STORY OF A MONKEY ON A STICK
He was mighty lively and could do many tricks. The boy who owned him gave a show, and many of the Monkey's friends were among the actors.
THE STORY OF A CALICO CLOWN
He was a truly comical chap and all the other toys loved him greatly.
THE STORY OF A NODDING DONKEY
He made happy the life of a little lame boy and did lots of other good deeds.
THE STORY OF A CHINA CAT
The China Cat had many adventures, but enjoyed herself most of the time.
THE STORY OF A PLUSH BEAR
This fellow came from the North Pole, stopped for a while at the toy store, and was then taken to the seashore by his little master.
THE STORY OF A STUFFED ELEPHANT
He was a wise looking animal and had a great variety of adventures.
Grosset & Dunlap,Publishers,New York
LITTLE JACK RABBIT BOOKS
(Trademark Registered)
By DAVID CORY
Author of LITTLE JOURNEYS TO HAPPYLAND
Colored Wrappers With Text Illustrations
A new and unique series about the furred and feathered little people of the wood and meadow.
Children will eagerly follow the doings of little Jack Rabbit, who, every morning as soon as he has polished the front door knob and fed the canary, sets out from his little house in the bramble patch to meet his friends in the Shady Forest and Sunny Meadow. And the clever way he escapes from his three enemies, Danny Fox, Mr. Wicked Weasel and Hungry Hawk will delight the youngsters.
LITTLE JACK RABBIT'S ADVENTURESLITTLE JACK RABBIT AND DANNY FOXLITTLE JACK RABBIT AND THE SQUIRREL BROTHERSLITTLE JACK RABBIT AND CHIPPY CHIPMUNKLITTLE JACK RABBIT AND THE BIG BROWN BEARLITTLE JACK RABBIT AND UNCLE JOHN HARELITTLE JACK RABBIT AND PROFESSOR CROWLITTLE JACK RABBIT AND OLD MAN WEASELLITTLE JACK RABBIT AND MR. WICKED WOLFLITTLE JACK RABBIT AND HUNGRY HAWK
Grosset & Dunlap,Publishers,New York