Billie Bradley on Lighthouse Island Part 21

The fourth member was none other than Paul Martinson, and, being the owner and captain of the handsome motor boat, he had no intention of following the other boys and leaving his craft to wander out to sea.

So he told the boys what he thought of them, which did not do a particle of good since they did not hear a word he said, and remained in the boat while he held on to the dock with one hand.

Meanwhile Chet had hugged his sister and Teddy had hugged his sister and Ferd had declared longingly that he wished he had a sister to hug, it made him feel lonesome, and there was laughter and noise and confusion generally.

It was Connie who reminded them of poor Paul grumbling away all by himself in his boat, and the boys ran penitently over to him while the girls danced after them joyfully.

"Oh, what a splendid boat!"

"Isn't she a beauty!"

"What good times you must have in her."

It was really an unusually handsome craft, and it was little wonder that Paul regarded it with pride. He invited the girls on board, and they went into raptures enough over it to satisfy even him.

It was a good fifty feet in length and had a cabin in which one could stand up if one were not very tall. There were bunks running along both sides of the cabin that looked like leather-cushioned divans in the daytime and could be turned into the most comfortable of beds at night.

There was a galley "for'ard," too, where the boys cooked their rather sketchy meals, and into this the girls poked eagerly curious heads.

"Oh, it's all just the completest thing I've ever seen!" cried Billie, clapping her hands in delight while Paul looked at her happily. "Those cunning curtains at the window and--everything!"

"My mother did that," Paul admitted sheepishly, as he followed the girls out on the deck. "And I didn't like to take them down."

"Well, I should say you wouldn't take them down!" said Connie indignantly. "The idea! Don't you dream of it! Why, they are just what make the cabin!"

"But isn't this some deck! Did your mother do this too, Paul?" asked Laura, her eyes traveling admiringly from the pretty wicker lounging chairs to the gayly striped awning and brilliant deck rail that shown like gold in the dazzling sun. "Why, Paul, I never knew a motor boat could be so pretty and comfy."

"Say, but you ought to see her go!" put in Chet eagerly. "She's as fast a little boat as she is pretty. Oh, she's great!"

"Yes, it almost makes me wish I had done some studying at school," said Ferd Stowing, rubbing his head ruefully. "Maybe if I had my dad would have given me an aeroplane or something."

After they had fastened the boat securely to the dock so that there was no danger of its floating off they turned reluctantly away from the dock and started off toward the Danvers' cottage.

Then the girls tried to tell the boys all that had happened since they had last met and the boys tried to do the same, the result being hopeless confusion and perfect happiness.

"Say, make believe that beach doesn't look good!" exclaimed Teddy to Billie, for they had fallen a little behind the rest. "And the good old ocean--say, what a day for a swim!"

"That's just what we were going to do when we saw you coming," Billie confided, thinking how exceedingly handsome he looked in his white trousers and dark coat. Then she told him of the wild scramble they had had to get dressed, and she looked so pretty in the telling of it that he did not hear much of what she was saying to him for looking at her.

"But what made you so sure it was us?" asked Teddy ungrammatically.

Billie chuckled and gave a little skip of pure happiness.

"Laura said she felt it in her bones," she said.

CHAPTER XX

OUT OF THE FOG

That afternoon the boys and girls went in swimming and that evening Connie's mother treated them all to a substantial dinner such as only she knew how to cook.

And the way it disappeared before those ravenous girls and boys made even Mr. Danvers hold up his hands in consternation. But Connie's mother laughed happily, pressed them to eat everything up, "for it would only spoil," and looked more than ever like Connie's older sister.

That night the boys were put up in a spare room which contained one bed and two cots which Connie's mother always kept stowed away for emergencies. For the cottage on Lighthouse Island was a popular place with Mrs. Danvers' relatives and friends, and she often had unexpected company.

They went out on the porch a little while after supper, and the boys were at their funniest and kept the girls in a continual gale of merriment.

The time pa.s.sed so quickly that before they knew it eleven o'clock chimed out from the hall inside and in consternation Connie's mother hurried them all off to bed.

"To-morrow is another day," she added with a little smile.

As they started up the stairs Teddy looked down at Billie and said boyishly:

"Say, Billie, you've got _some_ sunburn, haven't you? You're--you're mighty pretty."

Then Teddy blushed and Billie blushed, and Billie hoped with all her heart that Laura had not heard it.

Laura had not, for she was talking and laughing with Paul Martinson and Connie. And so Billie, running ahead and reaching her room first, turned on the light and stepped over to the mirror.

Was that Billie, she wondered, who gazed back at her from the mirror? For this girl was surely prettier than Billie ever had been. Her eyes were shining, her cheeks were flushed under their tan, and her hair, a little tumbled by the breeze from the sea, made an unexpectedly pretty frame for a very lovely face.

The next day the girls insisted that the boys take them out in their motor boat. The boys protested a little, for the sun was acting rather queerly--going under a cloud and staying there sometimes for half an hour on a stretch.

"I don't know," said Paul, a doubtful eye on the sky. "It isn't what you could call a real clear day, girls, and I don't want to take any chances with you."

"Oh, we're not afraid, if you're not," sang out Laura teasingly, and he turned round upon her with a scowl.

"I'm not afraid for myself, and I think probably you know that. Just the same----"

"Oh, but here's the sun!" called Vi suddenly, as the sun burst forth from the cloud and showered a golden glory over everything. "It's going to be a beautiful day--just beautiful."

So it was settled, and amid great fun and laughter they picked up the lunch that Connie's mother prepared for them and started happily off, humming as they went.

As they clambered aboard _The Sh.e.l.ling_--Paul had named his craft after Captain Sh.e.l.ling, the master of Boxton Military Academy,--the sun went under a cloud again, and this cloud was bigger and blacker than any that had swallowed it before. But Laura's taunt still rang in Paul's ears, and he said nothing.

In a little while there was no need for words. The girls began to see for themselves that Paul had been right and that it would have been far better if they had waited till a really clear day.

They had put some distance between them and the mainland when the sun went under a cloud for good, and a cool little breeze began to rise.

This had been going on for some time before they even realized it, they were having such fun. Then it was Connie who spoke.

"Doesn't it look a little--a little--threatening, Paul?" she asked timidly. "Do you suppose it is going to rain?"

"No, I don't think it's going to rain," Paul answered, his hands on the wheel, his eyes rather anxiously fixed on the water ahead. "But I do think we're going to have one of those sudden heavy mists that come off the coast here. Dad said to look out for them, because they're thick enough to cut, and if you get caught in one you can't see your hand before your face."