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Page 29
"Have you a mother, or brothers and sisters?" Phil asked.
"There is the man's second wife, but she is not my mother. She has
many little children. I think I must be very old. I seem to have
lived such a long time."
"Can't you remember your own mother?" Phil inquired.
The girl shook her head mournfully. "I can remember nothing," she said
again. "Don't go," she begged, as Phil rose to leave her. "I have
never known a girl like you before."
"I must go," answered Phil regretfully. "My friends will be waiting
for me up the beach, and they will not know where to find me. Won't
you come to see me and my friends? We are spending our holiday on a
houseboat not very far from here. We would love to have you come."
"I am not allowed to leave the island or to go among people," the girl
replied. "My father says I have no sense. So, if I wander away, or
talk to strangers, people will think that I am crazy and shut me up in
some dreadful, dark place."
Tears of sympathy rose to Phyllis's eyes. She wished Madge and the
other girls were with her. It was too dreadful to think of this lovely
creature frightened into submission by her cruel father. "We will come
to see you, then," she said gently. "And I will bring you something to
keep your head from aching. My father is a physician, and he will tell
me what I must give you. I will bring my friends to the island with
me. Whenever you can get away, come to this tent and we will try to
find you. We shall have good times together, and some day we may be
able to help you. You know how to write, don't you? Then, if you are
ever in trouble or danger, leave a note under this old piece of carpet.
Now good-bye."
The girl stood in the door of her tent to watch Phyllis on her way.
She stared intently after her until her visitor turned the curve of the
beach and was lost to view, then, leaning her head against the side of
the tent, she burst forth into low, despairing sobs.
CHAPTER X
AN EXCITING RACE
Eleanor and Miss "Jenny Ann," as the girls seemed inclined to call
their chaperon, had not remained on the houseboat merely to polish the
pots and pans. They had a special surprise and plan of their own on
hand.
It was all very well for Phyllis to dream of a houseboat, with its
decks lined with flowers, and for Madge to draw a beautiful plan of it
on paper. Flowers do not grow except where they are planted.
So it was in order to turn gardeners that Eleanor and Miss Jones stayed
at home. Flowers enough to encircle the deck of a houseboat would cost
almost as much money as the four girls had in their treasury to keep
them supplied with food and coal. But the gently sloping Maryland
fields were abloom with daisies. A farmer's lad could be hired for a
dollar to dig up the daisies and to bring a wagon load of dirt to the
boat. The day before Eleanor had engaged the services of a carpenter
to make four boxes, which exactly fitted the sides of the little upper
deck of the houseboat above the cabin. An hour or so after the girls
departed on their rowing excursion the daisies were brought aboard,
planted, and held up their heads bravely. They were such sturdy, hardy
little flowers that they did not wither with homesickness at the change
in their environment.
But still Eleanor was not entirely satisfied. In Phil's dream and
Madge's picture of the boat vines had drooped gracefully over the sides
of the deck, and Eleanor had no vines to plant. Eleanor had a natural
gift for making things about her lovely and homelike. So she thought
and thought. Wild honeysuckle vines were growing in the fields with
the daisies. They were just the things to clamber over the white
railing of the deck and to hang gracefully over the sides. Their
perfume would fill the little floating dwelling with their fragrance.
By noon the transformation was complete. Eleanor persuaded Miss Jones
to go for a walk while she got the luncheon. Madge, Phil and Lillian
had solemnly promised to be at home by one o'clock. Another surprise
was in store for them. In the bow of their boat Eleanor had hung up a
flag. On a background of white broadcloth, stitched in bands of blue,
was the legend "Merry Maid." This was Eleanor Butler's chosen name for
the houseboat, and had been voted the best possible selection, while
Madge had been unanimously voted captain of their little ship. Eleanor
had sent to the town for the flag, and even their chaperon was not to
know of its arrival.
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