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's just the way it acted before," declared Mollie.
In dressing gowns, warmly wrapped up, and in slippers, the girls were
talking through the opened flap of the tent to Grace's brother and his
chums.
"Can you imagine what it may be?" asked Aunt Kate. She had been making
chocolate-- a seemingly never-failing remedy for night alarms.
"Haven't the least idea," answered Will, "unless it's someone trying
to play a so-called practical joke."
"I'd like to get hold of the player," announced Allen. "I'd run him
off---- "
"Off the scale," interrupted Betty, with a laugh.
"That's it," conceded Allen. "Are you girls all right?"
"All but our nerves," answered Grace.
The boys made a search in the gloom, but found nothing, and once more
quiet settled down. Nor were they disturbed again that night. In the
morning they laughed.
"Oh, but it's hot!" exclaimed Mollie during the forenoon, when the
question of dinner was being discussed. "I think we might go for a
swim. There's a nice sandy beach at the side of our dock."
"Let's!" proposed Grace. The boys had gone off fishing.
Soon the girls were splashing around in the lake, making a pretty
picture in their becoming bathing suits, of which they had more use
than they had anticipated.
"Let's try some diving!" proposed Mollie, always a daring water
sprite. "It's lovely and deep here," and she looked down from the end
of the dock.
"I wish I dared dive," said Amy. She was a rather timid swimmer, slow
and deliberate, probably able to keep afloat for a long time, but
always timid in deep water.
"Here goes!" cried impulsive Mollie, as she poised for a flash into
the water.
She went down cleanly, but was rather long coming up. Grace and Betty
looked anxiously at one another.
"She is----" began Betty.
Mollie flashed into sight like a seal.
"I-- I found something!" she panted.
"Did you strike bottom?" asked Betty.
"Almost. But that's all right. I'm going down again. There is
something down there. Maybe it's the ghost!"
"Oh, do be careful!" cautioned Betty, but Mollie was already in the
water. She was longer this time coming up, and Betty was getting
nervous. Then Mollie shot into view.
"I-- I found it!" she gasped.
"What?" chorused the others.
"The missing canoe those boys have been looking for! It is down there
on the bottom, freighted with stones. We will get it up for them!"
CHAPTER XXIII
SETTING A TRAP
"Are you sure it is the canoe?" asked Betty, who did not want Mollie
to take any unnecessary risks.
"Of course I am," came the confident answer, as Mollie poised, in her
dripping bathing suit, on the little dock. She made a pretty picture,
too, with her red cap, and blue suit trimmed with white. "I could feel
the edge of the gunwhale," she went on, "and the stones in it that
keep it down."
"But how can we get it up?" asked Grace, who was sitting on the dock,
splashing her feet in the water. Grace never did care much about
getting wet. Amy said she thought she looked better dry. Certainly she
was a pretty girl and knew how to "pose" to make the most of her
charms-- small blame to her, though, for she was unconscious of it.
"We can get it up easily enough," declared Mollie, wringing the water
from her skirt, "All we'll have to do will be to toss out the stones,
one by one, and the canoe will almost float itself. I can tie a rope
to the bow, and we can stand on shore and pull. Those boys will be so
glad to get it back."
"But can we lift out the heavy stones?" asked Amy, in considerable
doubt.
"Of course we can. You know any object is much lighter in water than
out of it, we learned that in physics class, you remember. The water
buoys it up. You can move a much heavier stone under water than you
could if the same stone was on land. We can all try."
"I never could stay under water long enough to get out even one
stone," declared Grace.
"Nor I," added Amy.
"I'll try," spoke Betty-- she was always willing to try-- "but I'm
afraid I can't be of much help, Mollie. And I'm sure I don't want you
to do it all."
"Well, wait until I make another inspection," said the diving girl.
"It may be more than I bargained for. I'll hold my breath longer this
time."
"Do be careful!" cautioned Aunt Kate, coming out from the tent.
"We will," promised Betty.
Again Mollie dived. She had practiced the trick of opening her eyes
under water, and this time she looked carefully over the sunken canoe.
She stayed under her full limit, and when she came up she was panting
for breath.
"You must not stay under so long," warned Betty.
"There-- are-- a-- lot-- of-- stones," gasped Mollie. "But I think we
can do it," she added a moment later.
"I'll see what I can do," spoke Betty. She was a good swimmer and
diver, perhaps not so brilliant a performer as Mollie, but with more
staying qualities. Down went Betty in a clean dive, and when she came
up, panting and shaking the water from her eyes, she called:
"I lifted out two, but I think we had better let the boys do it,
Mollie."
"Perhaps," was the reply.
"I'm sorry you can't count on me," sail Grace, "but really I'd have
nervous prostration if I went down there, even though it's only ten
feet deep, as you say."
"Well, getting nervous prostration under water would be a very bad
idea," commented Betty.
"And I'm sure I never could do it," remarked Amy. "Do let the boys
manage it, Bet. The lads who own the canoe will be glad of the
chance."
"I'm going to move out a couple of stones, so Betty won't beat my
record," laughed Mollie, diving again. She bobbed up a moment later.
"Oh, dear!" she cried. "An eel slid right over me. Ugh! I'm not going
down again!" and she shivered. Even the fearless Mollie had had enough
of the under-water work.
By means of a cord and a float the position of the sunken canoe was
marked, so that the boys could locate it, and when they returned from
a rather unsuccessful fishing trip, they readily agreed to raise the
boat. It did not take them long to remove the stones, for Will, Frank
and Allen were all expert swimmers, and could remain under water much
longer than can most persons.
Then a rope was made fast to the canoe, which would not rise
completely because of being filled with water. It was pulled ashore
and word sent to the young owners. That they were delighted goes
without saying. They proffered the reward they had offered, but of
course our friends would not take it. Later it was learned that the
canoe had been taken by an unscrupulous fisherman, who was not above
the suspicion of making a practice of such tricks. It was thought he
intended to let it remain where it was until fall, when he would raise
it, paint it a different color, and sell it. But Mollie's fortunate
dive frustrated his plans.
"Seen anything more of the ghost?" asked Will of the girls, when the
canoe had been moored to the shore.
"No, and we don't want to," returned Betty.
"Afraid?" Allen wanted to know.
"Indeed not!" she exclaimed, with a blush.
"I'll tell you what let's do," suggested Frank. "Let's take a look
around and see if that ghost left any footprints."
"Ghosts never do," asserted Will.
"Well, let's have a look anyhow. We should have done it before. Now,
as nearly as I can recollect, the creature came about to here, and
then rushed into the lake," and Frank went to a spot some distance
from the tents. The others agreed that it was about there that the
white object had been seen. Will was looking along the ground, going
toward the lake. Suddenly he uttered an exclamation.
"Girls! Fellows!" he cried. "Come here!" They all hastened to his
side. He pointed to some marks in the sandy soil.
"What are they?" he asked, excitedly.
"Hoof marks!" cried Allen, dramatically.
"That's right!" agreed Will. "They are the marks of a horse! Girls,
that's what your ghost is-- a white horse, and-- and---- "
He ceased abruptly, looked at Grace strangely, and then brother and
sister gasped together:
"Prince!"
"What?" demanded Allen.
"I'll wager almost anything that this ghost is my white horse, Prince,
that has been missing so long!" went on Will. "But how in the world he
could have gotten on this island, so far from the mainland, is a
mystery!"
"Couldn't he swim?" asked Frank.
"Of course!" cried Will. "I forgot about that. And Prince was once a
circus horse, or at least in some show where he had to jump into a
tank of water. Prince is a regular hippopotamus when it comes to
water. Strange I never thought of that before!
"But this solves the ghost mystery, girls. You and the other folks
have been frightened by white Prince scooting about the island."
"We-- we weren't so very frightened," spoke Mollie.
"But the rattling chains?" questioned Grace.
"What were they?"
"The stirrups, of course," answered her brother. "And, by Jove, Grace,
if the stirrups are on Prince the saddle must be on him also, and the
papers---- "
"Oh, isn't this just fine!" cried Grace, her face alight. "Now papa
can complete that business deal. I never loved a ghost before. Dear
old Prince!"
"Of course we are assuming a lot," said Will. "It may not be Prince
after all, but all signs point to it. He must have been on this island
all the while. No wonder we could get no trace of him. Probably he was
so frightened at the storm and the auto, and his fall, that he ran on
until he came to the lake. Then his old training came back to him, and
in he plunged. There's enough fodder here for a dozen horses. He's
just been running wild. I'll have my own troubles with him when I get
him back."
"But how are you going to do it?" asked Frank.
"We'll search the island for him," replied Will. "Come on, we'll start
now."
Changing from their bathing suits to more conventional garments, the
boys and girls at once began a tour of the island. But though it was
not very large, there were inaccessible places, and it must have been
in one of these that Prince hid during the day, for they neither saw,
nor heard anything of him.
"We've got to set a trap!" exclaimed Will.
"How?" asked Grace.
"Well, evidently he's been in the habit of coming around the tent to
get scraps of food. We'll leave plenty out to-night, and also some
oats. Then we'll watch, and when Prince comes I'll catch him."
The boys voted this plan a good one. They went over to Mr. Lagg's
store in the Gem to get a supply of fodder for the trap.
"A horse on the island!" exclaimed Mr. Lagg. So that's the ghost; eh?
Well, it's very likely, but it sort of spoils the story;
"A ghostly ghost-- a ghost in white
Appearing in the darkest night.
That it should prove a horse to be,
Most certainly amazes me."
"Good!" exclaimed Will, with a laugh. "You are progressing, Mr. Lagg."
A goodly supply of oats was placed in a box near the tent that
evening, and then the boys and girls sat about the camp-fire and
talked, while waiting for the time to retire. The boys were to make
the attempt to capture Prince.
CHAPTER XXIV
THE GHOST CAUGHT
"When do you expect to hear about little Dodo?" asked Grace, as the
girls sat together on a log in front of the fire, "like roosting
chickens," Will was ungallant enough to remark.
"Almost any day now," replied Mollie. "They were to wait for the most
favorable time for the operation, and the specialist, so mamma wrote,
could not exactly fix on the day. But I am anxious to hear."
"I should think you would be. Poor little Dodo! I'd give anything to
hear her say now 'Has oo dot any tandy? '"
"Don't," spoke Betty in a low tone to Grace, for she saw the tears in
Mollie's eyes.
"It was the strangest thing how Stone and Kennedy should turn out to
be the two chaps in the auto," remarked Will, to change the subject.
"And you have never let on that Grace was the girl on the horse?"
"Never," answered Amy. "Don't say after this that girls can't keep a
secret."
Frank was to watch the first part of the night, to be relieved by
Allen, and the latter by Will.
"For, from what the girls say, Prince has been in the habit of coming
rather late," Will explained, "and he's more likely to let me catch
him than if you fellows tried it. So I'll take last watch."
Frank's vigil was unrewarded, and when he awakened Allen, who sat up,
sleepy-eyed, there was nothing to report. Allen found it hard work to
keep awake, but managed to do so by drinking cold coffee.
"Anything doing, old man?" asked Will, as, yawning, he got on some of
the clothes he had discarded, the more comfortably to lie down on the
cot.
"Something came snooping around about an hour ago. At first I thought
it was the horse, and went out to take a look. But it was only a fox,
I guess, for it scampered away in the bushes. I hope you have better
luck."
"So do I. Dad wants those papers the worst way. If I could get them
for him I'd feel better, for I can't get over blaming myself that it
was my fault they were lost. It was, because I shouldn't have sent
Grace for them when I knew how important they were."
Allen went to his cot, and Will took up his vigil. For an hour he sat
reading by a shaded lantern, so the light would not shine in the faces
of his chums. Then, when he was beginning to nod, in spite of the
attractions of the book, he heard a noise that brought him bolt
upright in the chair.
"Something is coming!" he whispered. He stole to the edge of the board
platform, and cautiously opened the flap of the tent. The box
containing oats and sugar had been placed a little distance away, in
plain view.
"That's Prince!" exclaimed Will, for in the moonlight he saw a white
horse eating from the box. The "ghost" had arrived.
Will resolved to make the attempt alone. He stepped softly from the
tent, and made his way toward the horse. He had on a pair of tennis
shoes that made his footsteps practically noiseless. Fortunately,
Prince, should it prove to be that animal, stood sideways to the tent,
his head away from it, so that he did not see Will. The boy tried to
ascertain if there was a saddle on the horse, but there was the shadow
of a tree across the middle of his back, and it was impossible to say
for sure.
Nearer and nearer stole Will. He thought he was going to have no
trouble catching him, but when almost beside Prince, for Will was
certain of the identity now, he stepped on a twig, that broke with a
snap.
With a snort Prince threw up his head and wheeled about. He saw Will,
and leaped away.
"Prince, old fellow! Prince! don't you know me?" called the boy, and
he gave a whistle that Prince always answered.
The horse retreated. Will held out some sugar he had ready for such an
emergency.
"Prince! Prince!" he called. The horse stopped and stretched out his
head, sniping. Prank and Allen came to the tent opening. "Keep back!"
called Will, in even tones. "I think I have him. Prince! Come here!"
The horse took a step forward. He sensed his master now. Will
advanced, speaking gently, and a moment later Prince, with a joyful
whinny, was nibbling at the sugar in the boy's hand. Then Will slid
the other along and caught the mane. The bridle was gone.
"I have him!" cried Will. "Bring the rope, fellows."
Prince was not frightened now. He stood still. Will led him into the
full moonlight. Then he exclaimed:
"The saddle is gone!"
CHAPTER XXV
THE MISSING SADDLE
"Have you caught Prince?" Grace called this to her brother from the
tent where she and the other girls had been aroused by the commotion.
"Yes, I have him. He knew me almost at once," answered Will. "But the
saddle is gone!"
"And the papers?" Grace faltered.
"Gone with it, I fancy. Too bad!"
"Maybe he just brushed the saddle off," suggested Allen, who, with
Frank, had come out with a rope halter that had been provided in case
the "ghost hunt" was a success. "We'll look around. I'll get a
lantern."
But a hasty search in the darkness revealed nothing. There was no sign
of a saddle.
"We'll have to wait until morning," sighed Will, as he tied Prince to
a tree. "Then we can see better, and look all around. Prince, old boy,
you knew me; didn't you?" The handsome animal whinnied, and rubbed his
nose against Will's arm.
"And so you played the part of a ghost, you rascal! Scaring the
girls---- "
"We'll never admit that," called Betty from the tent.
There was nothing more to do that night, after making Prince secure.
The boys ate a little mid-night supper, and from the tent of the girls
came the odor of chocolate, which Grace insisted on making. Then,
after fitful slumbers, morning came.
Will was up early to examine Prince. He found the healed cut, where
the auto had struck, and there was evidence that the saddle had been
on the animal until recently. The iron stirrups would account for the
sound like chains.
"The saddle must be somewhere on this island," declared Will. "I'm
going to find it."
"How?" asked Allen, who had made a careful toilet, as Betty had
promised to go for a row with him.
"I'll strap a pad on Prince, get on his back, and see where he takes
me. The way I figure is this. Prince never liked to be in the open.
I'm almost certain he has been staying in some sort of shelter--
either a cave, or an old cabin, or stable on the island. The saddle
may have come off there. Now he'll most likely take me right to his
stopping place. Of course he may not, but it's worth trying."
"Indeed it is," agreed Prank.
After a hasty breakfast Will put his plan to the test. Prince was fed
well, and with Frank and Allen to follow, Will leaped on his pet's
back, and gave him free rein-- or, rather, free halter, since there
was no bridle. The girls said they would take a walk around the
island, looking for the saddle as they went.
Prince, after a little hesitation, started off with Will on his back.
The splendid animal headed for the lake shore, and for a moment Will
was inclined to think that Prince was going to plunge in and swim to
some other island or the mainland. But Prince was only thirsty, and,
slaking that desire, he ambled along the shore for a mile or so, the
two young men following.
"Where can he be going?" asked Frank.
"Just let him alone," counseled Will. "He knows what he is about."
And so Prince did. He took a path he had evidently traveled many times
before, to judge by the hoof-marks, and presently came to a swampy
place at which Frank and Allen balked.
"Wait here," advised Will. "I'll soon be back. This is near one end of
the island. It must be here that Prince has his stable."
And so it proved. Splashing through the swamp, Prince ascended a
little slope, pushed under some low tree branches that nearly brushed
Will from his back, and came to a halt before a tumbled-down cabin,
that was just about large enough for an improvised stable. Will leaped
off, gave a look inside, and uttered a shout of joy, for there,
trampled on and torn, broken and water-stained, was the saddle. A
second later Will was kneeling before it, exploring the saddle
pockets.
"Here they are!" he cried, as he pulled out the missing papers. "I
have them, fellows!"
A hasty survey showed him that they were all there-- somewhat stained
and torn, to be sure, but as good as ever for the purpose intended.
"This is great luck!" cried Will. He looked about him. Then he saw the
reason why Prince had made this place his headquarters. The former
occupant of the deserted cabin had left behind a quantity of salt, and
as all animals like, and need, this crystal, Prince had been attracted
to the place. It was like the old "buffalo licks." Then, too, there
was shelter from storms.
"Prince, old man, you're all right!" cried Will, as he put the papers
in his pockets. By dint of a little hasty repairing the saddle could
be used temporarily. It was evident that Prince had kept it on until
lately, and the dangling stirrups had caused the sound like rattling
chains. There was no sign of the bridle, however, but the halter would
answer. Will saddled his pet, and soon had rejoined Frank and Allen,
to whom he had shouted the good news. Then a hasty trip was made back
to camp.
"Oh, I'm so glad!" cried Grace. "Now I can really enjoy camping and
cruising. You must telephone papa at once."
Which Will did, the whole party going over to Mr. Lagg's store in the
motor boat.
"Yes, I have the papers safe," Will told Mr. Ford. "Yes, I'll mail
them at once. What's that-- Dodo-- tell Mollie Dodo is over the
operation and is going to get well? I will-- that's good news!
Hurrah!"
"Oh, thank the dear Lord!" murmured Mollie, and then she sobbed on
Betty's shoulder.
"Well, I guess we are ready to start," announced Grace. "I have the
chocolates. Who has the olives?"
"Chocolates and olives-- the school girl's delight!" mocked Will,
"Oh, you'll be asking for some," declared his sister.
"Chocolates and olives are good for the boys,
And to the girls they also bring joys."
Thus remarked Mr. Lagg. The crowd of young people were in his store,
stocking up the Gem for a resumption of her cruise on Rainbow Lake. It
was several days after the finding of the missing saddle and the
papers. The latter had been sent to Mr. Ford, Prince had been swum
across to the mainland and sent home, and the news about little Dodo
had been confirmed. The child would fully recover, and not even be
lame.
"Oh, what a fine time we've had!" exclaimed Grace, as she waltzed
about the store with Amy.
"Well, the summer isn't over yet by any means," spoke Mollie. "And
there is the glorious Fall to come. I wonder what we shall do then?"
And what they did do may be ascertained by reading the next volume of
this series, to be called "The Outdoor Girls in a Motor Car; Or, The
Haunted Mansion of Shadow Valley," in which we will meet all our old
friends again, and some new ones.
"All aboard!" called Betty, as she led the way down to the dock where
the Gem awaited them. Each one was carrying a bundle of supplies, for
they expected to cruise for about a week.
They boarded the motor boat. Betty threw over the lever of the
self-starter. The engine responded promptly. As the clutch slipped in,
white foam showed at the stern where the industrious propeller whirled
about. The Gem slid away from the dock.
"Good-bye! Good-bye!" called the boys and girls to Mr. Lagg.
"Good-bye!" he answered, waving his red handkerchief at them. Then he
recited.
"As you sail o'er the bounding sea,
Pause now and then and think of me.
I've many things for man and beast,
From chocolate drops to compressed yeast."
"Good!" shouted Will, laughing.
And Betty swung around the wheel to avoid the two boys whose canoe
Mollie had so strangely found, as the Gem, continued her cruise down
Rainbow Lake. And here, for a time, we, too, like Mr. Lagg, will say
farewell to our friends.
THE END
Pages:
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 | 9