Some preferred to walk to the river,
and with the aid of the family rockaway the entire party were at the
boat-house before the sun had passed much beyond the meridian. Burt, from
his intimate knowledge of the channel, acted as pilot, and was jubilant
over the fact that Amy consented to take an oar with him and receive a
lesson in rowing. Mrs. Marvin held the tiller-ropes, and the doctor was
to use a pair of oars when requested to do so. Webb and Leonard took
charge of the larger boat, of which Johnnie, as hostess, was captain, and
a jolly group of little boys and girls made the echoes ring, while Ned,
with his thumb in his mouth, clung close to his mother, and regarded the
nautical expedition rather dubiously. They swept across the flats to the
deeper water near Plum Point, and so up the Moodna, whose shores were
becoming green with the rank growth of the bordering marsh. Passing under
an old covered bridge they were soon skirting an island from which rose a
noble grove of trees, whose swollen buds were only waiting for a warmer
caress of the sun to unfold. Returning, they beached their boats below
the bridge, under whose shadow the fish were fond of lying. The little
people were disembarked, and placed at safe distances; for, if near, they
would surely hook each other, if never a fin. Silence was enjoined, and
there was a breathless hush for the space of two minutes; then began
whispers more resonant than those of the stage, followed by acclamations
as Johnnie pulled up a wriggling eel, of which she was in mortal terror.
Pages:
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268