Books: The Outdoor Girls at Rainbow Lake
L >>
Laura Lee Hope >> The Outdoor Girls at Rainbow Lake
Pages:
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 | 5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9
That Betty's advice was needed was made manifest a moment later, for
the large steamer whistled sharply, which was an intimation to the
smaller craft to veer off, and Grace shifted the wheel.
They reached Dunkirk without further incident, except that about a
mile from it the motor developed some trouble. In vain Betty and the
others poked about in the forward compartment trying to locate it, and
they might not have succeeded had not a man, passing in a little
one-cylindered boat, kindly stopped and discovered that one of the
spark plug wires was loose. It was soon adjusted and the Gem
proceeded.
"I'll always be on the lookout for that first, when there is any
trouble after this," said Betty, as she thanked the stranger.
"Oh, that isn't the only kind of trouble that can develop in a motor,"
he assured her. But Betty well knew this herself.
They had passed Elm Island soon after leaving Mr. Lagg's store, but
saw no sign of life on it. They intended to come back later on in
their cruise and camp there, if they decided to carry out their
original plans of living in a tent or bungalow.
"That is, if the ghost doesn't make it too unpleasant," remarked
Betty.
They ate supper aboard the boat, cooking on the little galley stove.
Then the work of getting ready for the night, washing the dishes,
preparing the bunks, and so on, was divided among the five, though
Aunt Kate wanted the girls to go ashore and let her attend to
everything.
"We'll take a little walk ashore after we have everything ready,"
suggested Betty. The stroll along the river bank in the cool of the
evening, while the colors of the glorious sunset were still in the
sky, was most enjoyable.
"Gracious! A mosquito bit me!" exclaimed Grace, as she rubbed the back
of her slim, white hand.
"That isn't a capital crime," laughed Mollie.
"No, but if there are mosquitoes here they will make life miserable
for us to-night," Grace went on.
"I have citronella, and there are mosquito nettings over the bunks,"
said Betty. "Don't worry."
They went back to the boat, and the lanterns were lighted.
"Oh, doesn't it look too nice to sleep in!" exclaimed Amy, as they
gazed into the little cabin, with its tastefully arranged berths.
"I'm tired enough to sleep on almost any thing," yawned Mollie. "Let's
see who'll be the first to---- "
"Not snore, I hope!" exclaimed Betty.
"Don't suggest such a thing," came from Amy. "We are none of us
addicted to the luxury."
But, after all, tired as they were, no one felt like going to sleep,
once they were prepared for it. They talked over the events of the
day, got to laughing, and from laughing to almost hysterical giggling.
But finally nature asserted herself, and all was quiet aboard the Gem,
which had been moored to a private dock, just above the town.
It was Betty, rather a light sleeper, who awoke first, and she could
not account at once for the peculiar motion. It was as though she was
swinging in a hammock. She sat up, and peered about the dimly lighted
cabin. Then the remembrance of where she was came to her.
"But-- but!" she exclaimed. "We're adrift! We're floating down the
river!"
She sprang from her berth and awakened Grace by shaking her.
CHAPTER XI
IN DANGER
"What is it? Oh, what has happened?"
Grace cried half hysterically as she saw Betty bending over her. The
others awakened.
"Why, we're moving!" exclaimed Amy, in wonderment.
"What did you want to start off for, in the middle of the night?"
Mollie asked, blinking the sleep from her eyes.
"I didn't," answered Betty quickly. "We're adrift! I don't know how it
could have happened. You girls tied the boat, didn't you?"
"Of course," answered Grace. "I fastened both ropes myself."
"Never mind about that," broke in Aunt Kate. "I don't know much about
boats, but if this one isn't being steered we may run into something."
"That's so!" cried Betty. "But I didn't want to go out on deck alone--
slip your raincoats on, girls, and come with me! There may be-- I mean
some one may have set us adrift purposely!"
"Oh, don't say such things!" pleaded Grace, looking at the cabin ports
as though a face might be peering in.
Quickly Betty and Mollie got into their long, dark coats, and without
waiting for slippers reached the after deck. As they looked ahead they
saw a bright light bearing directly for them. It was a white light,
and on either side showed a gleam of red and green. Then a whistle
blew.
"Oh, we're going to be run down!" cried Mollie. "A steamer is coming
directly for us, Betty!"
"We won't be run down if we can get out of the way!" exclaimed Betty,
sharply. "Push that button-- the automatic, I mean-- and start the
motor. I'll steer," and Betty grasped the wheel with one hand, while
with the other she pulled the signal cord, sending out a sharp blast
that indicated her direction to the oncoming steamer would be to port.
The steamer replied, indicating that she would take the same course.
Evidently there was some misunderstanding.
"And we haven't our side lamps going!" cried Betty, in alarm, as she
realized the danger. "Quick, girls, come up here!" she called to Grace
and Amy. "One of you switch on the electric lamps. At least they can
see us, then, and can avoid us. Oh, I don't know what to do! I never
thought of this!"
A sudden glow told that Amy had found the storage battery switch, for
the red and green lights now gleamed. Again the on-coming steamer
whistled, sharply-- interrogatively. Betty answered, but she was not
sure she had given the right signal.
"Why don't you start the motor?" she called to Mollie.
"I can't! It doesn't seem to work."
"The switch is off!" exclaimed Grace, as she came out of the cabin.
With a quick motion she shoved it over.
"How stupid of me!" cried Betty. "I should have seen to that first.
Try again, Mollie!"
Again Mollie pressed the button of the self-starter, but there was no
response. The Gem was still drifting, seemingly in the very path of
the steamer.
"Why don't they change their course?" wailed Amy. "Can't they see
we're not under control? We can't start! We can't start!" she cried at
the top of her voice, hoping the other steersman would hear.
"The steamer can't get out of the channel-- that's the reason!" gasped
Betty. "I see now. It's too shallow for big boats except in certain
places here. We must get out of her way-- she can't get out of ours!
Girls, we must start the motor!"
"Then try it with the crank, and let the automatic go," suggested Aunt
Kate, practically. "Probably it's out of order. You must do something,
girls!"
"Use the crank!" cried Betty, who was hobbling the wheel over as hard
as she could, hoping the tug of the current would carry the Gem out of
danger. But the craft hardly had steerage way on.
Mollie seized the crank, which, by means of a long shaft and sprocket
chain, extending from the after cabin bulkhead to the flywheel,
revolved that. She gave it a vigorous turn. There was no welcome
response of throbbing explosions in the cylinders.
"Try again!" gasped Betty, "Oh, all of you try. I simply can't leave
the wheel."
The steamer was now sending out a concert of sharp, staccato blasts.
Plainly she was saying, loudly:
"Get out of my way! I have the right of the river! You must get out of
my way! I can't avoid you!"
"Why don't they stop?" wailed Grace. "Then we wouldn't bump them so
hard!"
As if in answer, there came echoing over the dark water the clang of
the engine-room bell, that told half-speed ahead had been ordered. A
moment later came the signal to stop the engines.
"Oh, if only Uncle Amos-- or some of the boys-- were here!" breathed
Betty. "Girls, try once more!"
Together Mollie and Grace whirled the crank, and an instant later the
motor started with a throb that shook the boat from stem to stern.
"There!" cried Betty. "Now I can avoid them."
She threw in the clutch, and as the Gem shot ahead she whistled to
indicate her course. This time came the proper response, and a little
later the motor boat shot past the towering sides of the river
steamer. So near had a collision been that the girls could hear the
complaining voice of the pilot of the large craft.
"What's the matter with you fellows?" the man cried, as he looked down
on the girls. "Don't you know what you're doing?" Clearly he was
angry.
"We got adrift, and the motor wouldn't start," cried Betty, in shrill
tones.
"Pilot biscuit and puppy cakes!" cried the man. "It's a bunch of
girls! No wonder they didn't know what to do!"
"We did-- only we couldn't do it!" shouted Betty, not willing to have
any aspersions cast on herself or her friends. "It was an accident!"
"All right; don't let it happen again," cried the steersman, in more
kindly tones. And then the Gem slipped on down the river.
"What are we going to do?" asked Mollie, as Grace steered her boat.
"If we're going to stay out here I'm going to get dressed," declared
Grace. "It's quite chilly."
Can you find your way back to the dock?" Aunt Kate inquired. "Can you
do it, Betty?"
"I think so. We left a light on it, you know. I'll turn around and see
if I can pick it out. Oh, but I'm all in a tremble!"
"I don't blame you-- it was a narrow escape," said Mollie.
"I don't see how we could have gone adrift, unless some one cut the
ropes," remarked Grace. "I'm sure I tied them tightly enough."
"They may have become frayed by rubbing," suggested Betty. "We'll look
when we get a chance. What are you going to do, Amy?" for she was
entering the cabin.
"I'm going to make some hot chocolate," Amy answered. "I think we need
it."
"I'll help," spoke Aunt Kate. "That's a very sensible idea."
"I think that is the dock light," remarked Betty a little later, when
the boat was headed up stream.
"Anyhow, we can't be very far from it," observed Grace. "Try that
one," and she pointed to a gleam that came across the waters. "Then
there's another just above."
The first light did not prove to be the one on the private dock where
they had been tied up, but the second attempt to locate it was
successful, and soon they were back where they had been before. Betty
laid the Gem alongside the stringpiece, and Grace and Mollie, leaping
out, soon had the boat fast. The ends of the ropes, which had been
trailing from the deck cleats in the water, were found unfrayed.
"They must have come untied!" said Grace. "Oh, it was my fault. I
thought I had mastered those knots, but I must have tied the wrong
kind."
"Never mind," said Betty, gently.
CHAPTER XII
AT RAINBOW LAKE
Once the Gem was securely tied-- and Betty now made sure of this-- the
tired and rather chilly girls adjourned to the cabin, and under the
lights had the hot chocolate Aunt Kate and Amy had made.
"It's delicious," spoke Betty. "I feel so much better now."
"We must never let on to the boys that we came near running down a
steamer," said Grace. "We'd never hear the last of it."
"But we didn't nearly run down a steamer-- she came toward us,"
insisted Betty, not willing to have her seamanship brought into
question. "If it had been any other boat, not drawing so much water,
she could have steered out of the way. As it was we, not being under
control, had the right of way."
"It wouldn't have done any good to have insisted on it," remarked
Grace, drawlingly.
"No, especially as we couldn't hoist the signal to show that," went on
Betty. "Uncle Amos told me there are signals for nearly everything
that can happen at sea, but of course I never thought of such a thing
as that we'd get adrift. I must be prepared next time."
"I can't understand about those knots," spoke Grace. "Where is that
book?"
"What book?"
"The one showing how to tie different kinds of knots. I'm going to
study up on the subject."
"Not to-night," objected Aunt Kate. "It's nearly morning as it is."
"Well, the first thing to-morrow, then," declared Grace. "I'm going to
make up for my blunder."
"Oh, don't be distressed," consoled Betty. "Any of us might have made
the same mistake. It was only an accident, Grace dear."
"Well, I seem fated to have accidents lately. There was poor little
Dodo---- "
"Not your fault at all!" exclaimed Mollie, promptly. "I'll not allow
you to blame yourself for her accident. It was those motorists, if
any-one, and I'm not sure they were altogether to blame. Anyhow, I'm
sure Dodo will be cured after the operation."
"I hope so," murmured Grace.
The appetizing odor of bacon and eggs came from the little galley,
mingled with the aromatic foretaste of coffee. Aunt Kate was busy
inside. The girls were laughing out in the cabin, or on the lowered
after-deck. It was the next morning-- which makes all the difference
in the world.
"I'm afraid we're going to have a shower today," observed Amy,
musingly, as she looked up at the sky. A light fog hung over the
river.
"Will you ever forget the awful shower that kept us in the deserted
house all night?" asked Betty, as she arranged her hair. "I mean when
we were on our walking trip," she added, looking for a ribbon that had
floated, like a rose petal, under her shelf-dresser.
"Oh, we'll never get over that!" declared Mollie, who was
industriously putting hairpins where they would be more serviceable.
"And we couldn't imagine, for the longest time, why the house should
be left all alone that way."
"Now I'm going to begin my lesson," announced Grace, who, having
gotten herself ready for breakfast, took up the book showing how
various sailor knots should be made. With a piece of twine she tied
"figure-eights," now and then slipping into the "grannie" class; she
made half-hitches, clove hitches, a running bowline, and various other
combinations, until Amy declared that it made her head ache to look
on.
The girls had breakfast, strolled about on shore for a little while,
and then started off, intending to stop in Dunkirk, which town lay a
little below them, to get some supplies, and replenish the oil and
gasoline.
It was while Betty was bargaining for the latter necessaries for her
motor in a garage near the river that she heard a hearty voice outside
asking:
"Have you men seen anything of a trim little craft, manned by four
pretty girls, in the offing? She'd be about two tons register, a
rakish little motor boat, sailing under the name Gem and looking every
inch of it. She ought to be here about high tide, stopping for sealed
orders, and---- "
"Uncle Amos!" cried Betty, hurrying to the garage door, as she
recognized his voice. "Are you looking for us?"
"That's what I am, lass, and I struck the right harbor first thing;
didn't I? Davy Jones couldn't be any more accurate! Well, how are
you?"
"All right, Uncle. The girls are down in the boat at the dock," and
she pointed. "The man is going to take down the oil and gasoline.
Won't you come on a trip with us? We expect to make Rainbow Lake by
night."
"Of course I'll come! That's why I drifted in here. I worked out your
reckoning and I calculated that you'd be here about to-day, so I come
by train, stayed over night, and here I am. What kind of a voyage did
you have?"
"Very good-- one little accident, that's all," and she told about
getting adrift.
"Pshaw, now! That's too bad! I'll have to give you some lessons in
mooring knots, I guess. It won't do to slip your cable in the middle
of the night."
The girls were as glad to see Betty's uncle as he was to greet them,
and soon, with plenty of supplies on board, and with the old sea
captain at the wheel, which Betty graciously asked him to take, the
Gem slipped down the river again.
At noon, when they tied up to go ashore in a pleasant grove for lunch,
Mr. Marlin demonstrated how to tie so many different kinds of knots
that the girls said they never could remember half of them. But most
particularly he insisted on all of them learning how to tie a boat
properly so it could not slip away.
Betty already knew this, and Mollie had a fairly good notion of it,
but Grace admitted that, all along, she had been making a certain
wrong turn which would cause the knot to slip under strain.
They motored down the river again, stopping at a small town to enable
Mollie to go ashore and telephone home to learn the condition of
little Dodo. There was nothing new to report, for the operation would
not take place for some time yet.
Grace also called up to ask if anything had been heard of the missing
horse and papers, but there was no good news. However, there was no
bad news, Will, who talked to his sister, reporting that the interests
opposed to their father had made no move to take advantage of the
non-production of the documents.
"Have a good time, Sis," called Will over the wire. "Don't worry. It
doesn't do any good, and it will spoil your cruise. Something may turn
up any time. But it sure is queer how Prince can be away so long."
"It certainly is," agreed Grace.
"And so you expect to make Rainbow Lake by six bells?" asked Betty's
uncle, as he paced up and down the rather restricted quarters of the
deck.
"Yes, Uncle, by seven o'clock," answered Betty, who was at the wheel.
"Six bells-- six bells!" he exclaimed. "You must talk sea lingo on a
boat, Bet."
"All right, Uncle-- six bells."
"Where's your charts?" he asked, suddenly.
"Charts?"
"Yes, how are you sailing? Have you marked the course since last night
and posted it? Where are your charts-- your maps? How do you expect to
make Rainbow Lake without some kind of charts? Are you going by dead
reckoning?"
"Why, Uncle, all we have to do is to keep right on down the river, and
it opens into Rainbow Lake. The lake is really a wide part of the
river, you know. We don't need any charts."
"Don't need any charts? Have you heaved the lead to see how much water
you've got?"
"Why, no," and she looked at him wonderingly.
"Well, well!" he exclaimed. "Oh, I forgot this isn't salt water. Well,
I dare say you will stumble into the lake after some fashion-- but it
isn't seaman-like-- it isn't seaman-like," and the old tar shook his
grizzled head gloomily.
Betty smiled, and shifted her course a little to give a wide berth to
some boys who were fishing. She did not want the propeller's wash to
disturb them. They waved gratefully to her.
The sun was declining in the west, amid a bank of golden, olive and
purple clouds, and a little breeze ruffled the water of the river. The
stream was widening out now, and Betty remarked:
"We'll soon be in the lake now."
"The boat-- not us, I hope," murmured Grace.
"Of course," assented Betty, "Won't you stay with us to-night, Uncle
Amos?" she asked, as she opened the throttle a little wider, to get
more speed. "You can have one of the rear-- I mean after, bunks," she
corrected, quickly.
"That's better," and he smiled. "No, I'll berth ashore, I guess. I've
got to get back to town, anyhow. I just wanted to see how you girls
were getting along."
The Gem was speeding up. They rounded a turn, and then the girls
exclaimed:
"Rainbow Lake!"
In all its beauty this wide sheet of water lay before them. It was
dotted with many pleasure craft, for vacation life was pulsing and
throbbing in its summer heydey now. As the Gem came out on the broad
expanse a natty little motor boat, long and slender, evidently built
for speed, came racing straight toward the craft of the girls.
"Gracious, I hope we haven't violated any rules," murmured Betty, as
she slowed down, for she caught a motion that indicated that the two
young men in the boat wished to speak to her.
As they came nearer Grace uttered an exclamation.
"What is it?" asked Mollie.
"Those young men-- in the boat. I'm sure they're the same two who were
in the auto that made Prince run away! Oh, what shall I do?"
CHAPTER XIII
CRACKERS AND OLIVES
Betty grasped the situation, and acted quickly, as she always did in
an emergency.
"Are you sure, Grace?" she asked. She could speak without fear of the
men in the racing boat overhearing her, for they had thrown out their
clutch, a moment later letting it slip into reverse, and the churning
propeller, and the throb of the motor, made it impossible for them to
hear what was said aboard the Gem. "Are you sure, Grace?" repeated
Betty.
"Well, almost. Of course I only had a glimpse of them, but I have good
cause to remember them."
"Don't say anything now, then," suggested Betty. "We will wait and see
what they say. Later we may be able to make sure."
"All right," Grace agreed, looking intently at the two young men. They
seemed nice enough, and were smiling in a pleasant, frank manner at
the outdoor girls and Aunt Kate. The two boats were now slowly
drifting side by side on Rainbow Lake, the motors of both stilled.
"I beg your pardon," said the darker complexioned of the two men, "my
name is Stone, and this is my friend, Mr. Kennedy. We are on the
regatta committee and we'd like to get as many entries for the water
pageant as we can. Is your boat entered yet?"
He gazed from one girl to another, as though to ascertain who was in
command of the newly arrived craft, which seemed to have attracted
considerable attention, for a number of other boats were centering
about her.
"We have just arrived," spoke Betty in her capacity as captain. "We
are cruising about, and we haven't heard of any regatta or pageant,
except a rumor that one was to be held some time this summer."
"Well, it's only been in process of arrangement for about a week,"
explained Mr. Stone. "It will be the first of its kind to be held on
the lake, and we want it to be a success. Nearly all of the campers
and summer cottagers, who have motor boats, have agreed to enter the
parade, and also in the races. We'd like to enter you in both. We have
different classes, handicapped according to speed, and your craft
looks as though it could go some."
"It can," Betty admitted, while Grace was intently studying the faces
of the two young men. The more she looked at them, the more convinced
she was that they were the ones who had been in the auto.
"We saw you arrive," said Mr. Kennedy, who, Mollie said afterward, had
a pleasant voice, "and we hurried over to get you down on the list the
first thing."
"Don't disappoint us-- say you'll enter!" urged Mr. Stone. "You don't
know us, of course, but I have taken the liberty of introducing
myself, If you are acquainted with any of the cottagers on the lake
shore, or on Triangle Island, you can ask them about us."
"Oh, we are very glad you invited us," replied Betty, quickly. She did
not want the young men to think that she resented anything. Besides,
if what Grace thought about them was so, they would want a chance to
inquire about the young men more closely, perhaps, than the young men
themselves would care to be looked after. For Betty recalled what
Grace had said-- that her father had a faint idea that perhaps the
motorists might have acted as they did purposely, to get possession of
the papers.
"Then you'll enter?" asked Mr. Kennedy.
"We can't be sure," spoke Betty, who seemed to be doing all the
talking. "Our plans are uncertain, we have no very definite ones,
though. We intended merely to cruise about, and perhaps camp on one of
the islands for a few days. But if we find we can, we will at least
take part in the water pageant-- that is, in the parade with the other
boats."
"And we'd like you to be in the races," suggested Mr. Kennedy. "Your
boat has very fine lines. What horse power have you?"
"It is rated twenty," answered Betty, promptly, proud that she had the
knowledge at her tongue's end, "but it develops nearer twenty-five."
"Then you'd go in Class B." said Mr. Stone. "I will enter you,
tentatively at least, for that race, and if you find you can't
compete, no harm will be done. There are some very handsome prizes."
"Oh, do enter, Bet!" exclaimed Mollie in a whisper, for she was fond
of sports of all kinds. "It will he such jolly fun!"
Betty looked at her aunt. Racing had not entered into their plans when
they talked them over with the folks at home.
"I think you might; they seem very nice, and we can easily find out if
other girls are to race," said Aunt Kate, in a low voice.
"You may enter my boat, then," said Betty, graciously.
"Thank you!" exclaimed Mr. Stone. "The Gem goes in, and her captain's
name-- ?"
"Miss Nelson."
"Of-- ?" again he paused suggestively, pencil poised.
"Of Deepdale."
"Oh, yes, I have been there. I am sure you will not regret having
decided to enter the regatta. Now if you would like to tie up for the
night there are several good public docks near here. That one over
there," and he pointed, "is used by very few other boats, and perhaps
you would like it. Plenty of room, you know."
"Thank you," said Betty. "We shall go over there."
"I will send you a formal entry blank to-morrow," said Mr. Stone, as
his companion started the motor, and a moment later they were rushing
off in a smother of foam thrown up by the powerful racing craft.
"Well, what do you think of that?" gasped Mollie, when they had gone.
"No sooner do we arrive than we are plunged into the midst of-- er--
the midst of-- what is it I want to say?" She laughed and looked about
for assistance.
Pages:
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 | 5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9