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Page 4
"Madge," Phil called in horror, "do sit down!" The boat was careening
perilously. Before Phil could finish her speech Madge had tumbled over
the side of the skiff and disappeared in the water below.
The girls waited for their friend to rise to the surface. They were
not frightened, for Madge was an expert swimmer.
"I am surprised at Madge," declared Phil severely. "The idea of
plunging into the water in that fashion, not to mention almost
capsizing our boat! Why doesn't she come up?"
The second lengthened to a minute. Still Madge's curly head did not
appear on the surface of the water. Eleanor's face turned white.
Madge had on her rowing costume, a short skirt and a sailor blouse.
She could easily swim in such a suit. But perhaps she had been seized
with a cramp, or her head might have struck against a rock at the
bottom of the river!
Lillian and Phil shared Eleanor's anxiety. "Sit still, girls," said
Phyllis. "I must dive and see what has happened to Madge. If you are
quiet, I can dive out of the boat without upsetting it."
Phil slipped out of her sweater. But Eleanor caught at her skirts from
behind. "Sit down, Phil. Here comes that wretched Madge, swimming
toward us from over there. She purposely stayed under water."
The three friends looked in the direction, indicated by Phyllis. They
saw Madge moving toward the boat as calmly as though she had been in
her bathing suit and had dived off the skiff for pure pleasure. She
had been swimming under the water for a little distance and had risen
at a spot at which her friends were not looking. As she lifted her
head clear of the water a ray of the afternoon sunlight slanted across
her face, touching its mischievous curves, until she looked like a
naughty water-sprite.
In an instant Madge's hands were alongside the boat, and Phil pulled
her into it. "I am so sorry, girls," she explained, shaking the water.
out of her hair; "but I had such a wonderful idea that it really
knocked me overboard. I was afraid I would throw you all into the
river, so I jumped. But don't you want to know my plan? We are going
to spend the summer on the water!"
"In the water, you mean, don't you?" laughed Phyllis, as she wrapped
her sweater about her friend. "Madge, will any one ever be able to
guess what you are going to do next?"
"Just listen, girls," Madge went on with shining eyes. "I have been
determined, ever since I got my letter from Cousin Louisa, that we
girls should do something original for our summer vacation. And while
I was rowing peacefully along, without meaning to create a disturbance,
it suddenly came to me that the most perfect way to spend a holiday
would be to live out on the water. First I thought we might just take
the 'Water Witch' and row along the river all summer, sleeping in
hotels and boarding-places at night. But I know we must have a
chaperon; and meals and things would make it cost too much. Then it
occurred to me that we could get a boat big enough to live in by day
and sleep in by night--a canal boat, or something----"
"Madge Morton!" cried Phil, clapping both hands, "you are a goose, but
sometimes I think you are a genius as well. You mean you can rent a
houseboat with your money and we can truly spend our vacation together
out on the water. I never heard of such a splendid plan in my life."
Madge gave a little shiver, half from the cold and half from happiness.
She was beginning to feel the chill of her wet clothing.
"Eleanor, Phyllis, Lillian," she said impressively. "I hereby invite
you to spend six weeks of your vacation aboard a houseboat. Now, the
next thing to be done is to find one."
CHAPTER II
CHOOSING A CHAPERON
Madge Morton walked into the school library with a grave expression on
her usually laughing face. She had two letters in her hand, which she
intended putting into the school post-bag, that was always kept in the
library. One of the letters she had written to her uncle and aunt,
explaining her houseboat scheme in the most sensible and matter-of-fact
fashion; for Madge knew that the fate of the four chums depended,
first, on what Mr. and Mrs. Butler thought of their niece's idea. If
they disapproved, Madge was certain that she could never be happy
again, for there was no other possible way of spending Cousin Louisa's
gift that would give her any pleasure. Madge's second letter was
directed to a boy cousin, who was at college in Baltimore. She
explained that she expected to rent a houseboat for the summer, and she
asked her cousin to give her the address of places in Baltimore where
such a boat could be hired. She wished it to cost the smallest sum of
money possible, for Eleanor had suggested that even houseboat girls
must eat. Indeed, the water was likely to make them especially hungry.
If all the two hundred dollars went for the houseboat, what were they
to do for food?
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