there were not many young people summering on beatty’s island. ellen and mabel could claim acquaintance with perhaps half a dozen girls of their own age, and not so many boys, youths about to enter college, or, having finished high school, waiting a chance to enter into business. dolly and cora dix lived nearest. they were of the flapperish type, dressed and looked the character, were rather insipid and silly. farther away lived claudia and lucile bond, who affected knickers, were very sporty, and talked a great deal about “expressing themselves,” used the latest slang, and liked to be considered mannish. the bonds’ nearest neighbors were the truesdells. there were three girls in this family, hettie, gertrude, and cassie, the youngest being cassie. these were nice unaffected girls, and their brother, alvin, a lad of eighteen, was much like them. theirs was a hospitable house, always something going on. no amount of trouble was too much when it came to entertaining, and all was done so easily, for every one took a hand in preparations.
it was to the truesdells’ that ellen and mabel went most frequently, joining forces with them when it came to excursions, picnics, and the like, and sharing with them any news which might come their way.
therefore they were not slow to tell them of the late experiences with tom and reed. hettie waved to the two girls as she saw them coming down the road. “join us on the rocks, can’t you?” she called. “we’re going to have supper on the rocks this evening.”
“so sorry, miss truesdell,” ellen answered, “but we have a previous engagement.”
“who’s stealing our thunder?” asked hettie. “i’ll bet it is those dix girls; they’re always butting in when we propose anything.” there was no love lost between the truesdell girls and the dixes.
“you’re ’way off,” declared mabel; “the dix girls have nothing to do with it; they’d better not. no, my dear, we are going over to minor’s island to make clam chowder for two delectable youths.”
“who are they? who are they?” hettie stopped whisking the mayonnaise dressing she was preparing.
“tell her, ellen. they are your discovery.”
this ellen proceeded to do, having an attentive listener, who at the end of the tale exclaimed: “what luck! it is the most romantic story i have heard for an age. are you going to keep the ‘delectable youths’ all to yourselves, or are you going to let the rest of us in on the fun?”
“now, hettie truesdell, what do you take us for?” cried mabel. “of course we want you to meet them. to-day’s feast is their affair, so we can’t ask any one to that, but we’ll get up something when we can share them with you.”
hettie laughed. “how pleased they would be to hear us talk of sharing them, as if we were cannibals. why can’t they join us on the trip up to goose island that we have planned for day after to-morrow?”
“why not, indeed? we’ll propose it to them. farewell, hettie; we’ll see you to-morrow and tell you what happens.”
they went off to join miss rindy, who had gone ahead to meet the boys at the wharf, and the small company was soon landed at little minor’s island. as they entered what tom and reed were pleased to call “the studio,” the girls looked around in surprise, for the boys had made a most attractive place out of the shabby little building. on the walls they had tacked building paper, which made an excellent background for a number of sketches. they had resurrected an old armchair from the haunted house, had covered it with stuff of pleasant tone, had made a rough table and two benches, had covered the floor with rag rugs, and had put up shelves on which two brass candlesticks and some bits of pottery were placed as ornaments.
“you are perfect wonders!” exclaimed mabel. “you remember what this place looked like when we first saw it, ellen.”
“i certainly do, and it looked only fit for chickens or cows.”
“we’ve worked like trojans,” reed told them, “but it has been great sport. there is a lot more we can do, but we shall not attempt it this year. we sleep in the loft, have two bunks there, and here is our kitchenette.” he opened a door into a small compartment where stood a blue-flame stove, a few dishes, and some cooking utensils; a wooden tray held the clams.
in a few minutes all fell to work and the chowder was made ready, proving as satisfactory as expected. bread and butter, fruit, coffee, and a large chocolate cake completed the meal.
“and where did you get the cake?” asked ellen. “i know you didn’t make it.”
“i should say not. we bribed mrs. dan ferry to make it. most of her boarders have gone and she could take time to ‘accommodate’ us. she’s hot stuff when it comes to cooking, you know.”
a merry meal it was, and was ended as the sun went down, leaving rosy clouds reflected in the water. “it’s as if a heavenly rosebush had been shaken down,” declared ellen. “and, oh, those opal and jade waves, and that exquisite violet and turquoise in the eastern sky! aren’t you dying to paint it, mr. marshall?”
“mr. marshall, indeed,” he replied disgustedly. “to you i am cronine, please remember. yes, cronette, i am aching to paint so much that i see that i could keep busy every hour of the day. but, i tell you, i mean to come back here, if i am alive next year. shall you come?”
“don’t ask me. how can i tell? i only know that it is the most wonderful summer i ever spent, and that it would be too much to expect to repeat it.”
here miss rindy’s voice broke in: “aren’t you boys going to wash all those dishes? if you’re not, we will.”
“you will not,” announced tom, who had just emerged from the little kitchen. “i have put them in a pan, poured water over them, and there they shall stay till morning when we can tackle them. there isn’t any hot water now.”
“so that’s what you have been doing while we outside have been rhapsodizing,” said mabel softly.
“that’s old tom all over,” said reed. “he is the most practical chap, hauls me down from the clouds a dozen times a day.”
“but, once down, you do your share,” declared tom. “he goes at it like a whirlwind and gets things done while i’m thinking about them.”
they chugged back to beatty’s in the small motor-boat, arriving at home in time to catch the last of the afterglow and to watch the moon emerge from smoky clouds.
“those are nice boys,” remarked miss rindy with satisfaction. “it’s good to get among that kind again. i knew some of the same sort in france, like that tom clayton, always thinking of some one besides himself. i believe of the two i like him the best.” at which remark ellen had a small feeling of resentment, although she couldn’t have told why.
the two young men were quite ready to accept the invitation to go on the trip to goose island. “we shall have supper there,” ellen announced. “we’ll build a fire; then we can make coffee, fry bacon, and make those scrumptious sandwiches,—lettuce, mayonnaise, and the hot bacon between. you’ll go, of course. cousin rindy?”
“indeed i will not. you know i don’t hanker after those motor-boat trips. i had enough of the water when i crossed the seas, and i only go now when i have to. no, please count me out. who all are going?”
“the truesdell girls, their brother alvin, and a young married cousin with her brother, a boy about cassie’s age. there will be ten in all, eleven if you will go.”
“no, i’ll have a nice peaceful time at home, with no young, skittish frivolers about.” miss rindy gave her twisted smile.
“now, cousin rindy,” ellen protested, “you know you don’t consider us skittish and frivolous, though we may be young.”
“i’m not saying what i consider, though i do say that if you are going to keep up this everlasting gadding around you’ll not be fit for much of anything by the time we get ready to leave, and won’t be in any trim for the winter.”
“well, to-morrow will see about the last of our frolics,” said mabel regretfully, “for alvin leaves the day after, and there’s no one to run the boat, which will be stored for the winter. the truesdells will be going next week, and by labor day there’ll be scarcely any one left.”
“and when do those two boys go? they have a motor-boat, haven’t they?”
“yes, a small one. i don’t know how long they will stay. as long as they can keep warm, they said. there is no chimney in that place.”
“why couldn’t they move over to the big house?”
“maybe they will. you might suggest it,” answered mabel slyly.
miss rindy gave a little contemptuous sniff and the subject was dropped.
supplied with wraps and carrying various boxes and baskets, the girls set off for the wharf where they were met by the rest of the party. reed and tom were on hand, having met the truesdell girls the day before, and were helping alvin stow away the provisions.
“don’t forget a jug of water,” hettie called.
“and matches, has any one matches?” gertrude asked.
for answer tom dived down into his pocket and produced a box which he held up to view.
“we’d better have a can of milk, in case the cream gives out,” hettie suggested. “cassie, you run up to the store and get it. and see if they have any marshmallows,” she called after the child who sped off on her errand.
she was back quickly, bringing the can of milk. “no more marshmallows; all sold out, mr. hodges said, and they aren’t going to get any more.”
“oh, well, it doesn’t matter. i thought it would be nice to toast some, but we can get along without.”
at last all were aboard, and they pushed off, rounded a point, and turned toward the upper reaches of the bay, the small trailer bobbing along in their wake. the skies were blue and the breezes just fresh enough to make the girls pull up the collars of their sweaters. gulls were soaring and dipping, giving raucous screams when a fishing boat cast out undesired objects from the catch. before five o’clock goose island was reached, and all scrambled ashore.
“there’s the fireplace,” cried gertrude, plunging through the bushes to reach a point where, earlier in the season, a fireplace of stones had been built up. “now you masculines go hunting for driftwood while we unpack the baskets.”
in a short time wood enough was gathered, the coffee was bubbling merrily, and the bacon sizzling in the pan. there were several dashes away from the fire to escape the puffs of smoke, and one pan of bacon was overturned, causing a mighty conflagration for the moment, but that was the only mishap. hettie was chief cook, with ellen as assistant, and the supper served did them credit.
“i don’t know why it is that everything always tastes so wonderfully good when we go on these picnics,” remarked mabel, nibbling a sandwich; “and i eat twice as much as upon any other occasion.”
“so say we all of us,” reed chimed in.
“in spite of what you say,” said hettie, “we always bring too much. just look at all this stuff. shall we feed it to the fishes or lug it back?”
“my frugal mind would suggest that it would be a wicked waste to throw it away,” said ellen. “‘what they could not eat that day they had the next day fried,’ remember.”
“all right,” returned hettie, “we’ll obey your frugal mind’s suggestion and pack it away. nobody can tell what the morrow may bring forth. you’d better begin to stow away these things in the boat, boys, for we must start right back if we want to get home before night. it gets dark so soon these days.”
the tide was out by now, and great stretches of slippery seaweed lay between the shore and the boat, but, by dint of using the board seats as a bridge, all were helped safely aboard, and the return trip began. the sun had set in a glow of amber light, and all seemed fair for the voyage.
“let her go, alvin,” cried reed as he pushed off and then made a flying leap to land in the boat. he scrambled over to a place by ellen. “i don’t like the look of that gray bank along the east,” he said in a low tone to her, “but i reckon we can make it. whoop her up, boy,” he called to alvin.
“oh, do you think it means we shall have a storm?” quavered the truesdells’ cousin, mrs. olmstead, who had heard what reed said.
“not a storm, but fog. it may come up quickly, or it may hang around outside, but we know the channel pretty well, and there’s no danger. i’ve cruised around in these waters so much this summer that i could steer in the dark. i’ve learned a lot from the fishermen, too.”
they chugged along steadily for some time, then suddenly the boat stopped short, gave a few futile wheezes, went on a little distance, and then came to a dead standstill, or as much of a one as a boat afloat could do.
“hello! what’s wrong?” cried tom and reed in unison, as they climbed over to where alvin was striving in vain to right matters.
“let’s look at her,” said tom, gazing down into the depths where the engine was. he and alvin consulted, experimented, did their best, but the boat still lopped helplessly around, drifting with the outgoing tide. “i’m blest if i know what’s wrong,” said tom, lifting his head at last. “nothing seems to be out of order so far as i can see.”
“it looks all right to me,” alvin agreed.
“i don’t suppose by any chance it needs some juice,” remarked reed.
“i never thought of that,” replied alvin, grinning sheepishly. “i gave the can to sam denny and told him to fill her up, so it must be stowed away somewhere.” he began to search.
“it’s horrid, this lopping around,” complained little mrs. olmstead. “do help to look for the can, bert,” she said to her brother.
he joined in the search, but it was to no avail, and at last alvin stood up and shook his fist in the direction of the distant beatty’s island. “doggone that sam denny!” he exclaimed. “he’s forgotten to put it in.”
“do you mean we can’t go on?” cried mrs. olmstead in horrified tones.
no one answered. the young men looked at each other, then looked off across the water to discover the nearest land. “there’s nothing to do but to row for it,” said reed to alvin, “and the longer we wait the farther out we’ll drift.”
“then we’d better waste no time over it,” returned alvin, clambering over the seats and drawing up the little trailer alongside. he crawled in, reed following, and they plied the oars vigorously, the larger boat in tow. it was a hard pull, but by degrees the distance to shore lessened, and at last they reached dry land.
“have we got to spend the night here?” asked little mrs. olmstead with a hysterical sob.
“there might be worse places,” said bert. “there are no wild beasts or poisonous snakes.”
“but it will soon be dark, and we’ve no place to sleep,” responded his sister tremulously.
“you wouldn’t mind going to a dance and staying up pretty near all night,” retorted bert.
“don’t fuss, children; don’t fuss,” urged hettie. “we’ll manage somehow. what worries me the most is that mother will be distracted. she’ll think something dreadful has happened, that we’re drowned, or gobbled up by sharks, or some little thing like that.”
“cousin rindy will be worried, too,” remarked ellen. “i wish there were some way to let her know we are safe. if we could only broadcast the news, for instance.”
“don’t worry; we’ll find some way out,” reed assured her. “the first thing is to see if we can find some sort of shelter before it gets too dark to explore, and then we’ll decide what to do next. come on, boys, let’s see what the jungle has to disclose.”
the three young men, with bert, plunged into a thicket, and disappeared, leaving the girls huddled together on the rocks, mrs. olmstead shedding futile tears, the others discussing the situation and suggesting ways to meet it. once in a while gertrude, who had brought a flash-light, turned it in the direction whither the boys had gone. the island where they had landed was but a small one, and there were no signs of a habitation upon it, only a little stretch of sandy beach, rocks above it, and, beyond, a grove of fir trees with a few birches interspersed.
in a little while the crackle of twigs announced the return of the exploring party.
“there’s a little dilapidated log hut in there,” announced alvin as he came crashing through the underbrush; “it isn’t much of a place, but it’s better than nothing, and will give us shelter. we’d better get to it before it’s any darker. i’ll lead the way.”
the girls followed him in single file. only glimmers of light sifted down through the sombre firs, and it was necessary to be careful of the footing lest one stumble and come to grief. at last they reached the spot where tom and reed were busily gathering boughs to fling upon the floor of the cabin, which was a rough structure, one side open to the winds. there was no chimney, and through chinks between the logs one could peer out into the surrounding thicket.
“now, you all make yourselves as comfortable as you can,” suggested tom, “while we fellows go back for the baskets and things.”
“gee! i’m glad you didn’t throw away all that provender,” exclaimed bert. “we’ll be as hungry as the dickens before morning.”
“oh, bert!” wailed his sister again, lapsing into tears.
reed tossed his overcoat to ellen. “keep that,” he said; “i’ll not need it yet a while.”
“bert, you’d better stay here and keep off the bears,” charged alvin. “we are going after the baskets.” then with tom and reed he went off.
mabel snuggled up close to ellen. “if we wanted adventure we surely have it,” she whispered. “it’s getting sort of shivery. i’m glad we brought warm wraps, although they seemed superfluous when we started out, didn’t they?”
“and we would have left them at home if cousin rindy hadn’t insisted that we would need them. she certainly is a wise old dear. no doubt she will sit up all night watching for us. i don’t mind anything so much as having her do that.”
“what i want to know is how we are to get off this island even in daylight.”
“i’m trusting to the boys to find a way, and i’m sure they’ll do it.”
they were not long left in doubt, for soon the forms of alvin and tom were seen approaching in the gathering darkness.
“three of you went forth. where is the third?” inquired mabel. “have you thrown him to the sea-god to propitiate him?”
tom set down the basket he carried, but did not answer for a moment; then he burst out with, “that reed marshall is the darndest fellow!”
“what’s he done now?” came in a chorus.
“he’s taken the rowboat and is on his way back to beatty’s. while we were gathering up the baskets and things he slyly cut loose and made off before we could stop him. i shouted to him to come back, but he said we must stand by; that he’d take word to mrs. truesdell and miss crump, tell them you all were safe, and that he’d be back with help as early in the morning as possible.”
“but is it safe for him to go so far, and at night?” asked ellen tremulously.
“it’s a pretty long pull, but he has the grit to make it. he’s strong and has some top piece. he’ll put it across if any one can, but i did hate to see him go off alone; it didn’t seem fair.”
“why didn’t you go with him, alvin?” hettie spoke up sharply.
“mr. clayton has just told you that he was off before we knew it, and when we tried to argue with him he said it wasn’t worth while for more than one to take the risk.”
ellen gave a quick gasp and clutched mabel, who gave her hand an answering pressure. mrs. olmstead, as usual, had recourse to tears. “alvin, you’re an idiot,” said hettie crossly.
“reed’ll make it; i should worry,” insisted tom. “now all of you try to get a little sleep, if you can. alvin and i will keep watch.”
it was little sleep any one had that night, resting on the strewn branches and beds of dry leaves. it grew very cold before morning, so that ellen realized why reed had given her his coat. she drew a long quivering sigh and offered up a silent prayer for his safety. it was a relief when dawn came. one by one crept out of the cabin, and stole down to the rocks to gaze over the rose-flecked water and catch the first glimpse of an approaching boat.
at last a small, dark speck appeared. it came nearer and nearer, steadily heading toward them. “ahoy there!” cried tom on the outmost edge of rock. “ahoy!” came back the answer. a few minutes later the boat was near enough for them to recognize its occupants, but reed was not one of them.
