They unanimously voted Aunt Louisa a “brick,” and hospitably pressed
her to come again. And in the afternoon, when the camp turned out in a
body and traveled to the ball field for the first game of the season,
Aunt Louisa was escorted in state. The box of candy didn’t go along
however; they had lost the edge of their appetite. So Tom bore the
depleted box to Maple Hall, and, because his locker no longer locked,
and because the sign artistically done on the door with a hot poker,
which sign surrounded a grinning skull and cross-bones and read,
“DANGER! KEEP OUT!” had no meaning for the other occupants of the hall,
he secreted it at the head of his bunk under the mattress.
Chicora’s adversary that day was Camp Trescott. Trescott was situated
directly across the lake in Joy’s Cove. It was a small camp, and the
dozen and a half fellows inhabiting it were all from one school.
Trescott rather prided itself on being select. But select or not, it
wasn’t much at baseball, and Chicora had little difficulty in winning
as she pleased. But despite a very one-sided score--17 to 3--there
were some good plays, and the spectators were well repaid for their
half-mile walk through the woods. Bob found plenty of things that
needed remedying, but on the whole the Chicora team played very well
for a first game.
There was quite a gallery of spectators at the evening plunge, and
Dan excelled himself at diving, bringing forth screams of terrified
protest from Aunt Louisa, who “just knew that Mr. Hurry would drown
himself, if he didn’t break his neck first!” Even Nelson, who of late
had been profiting by Dan’s instruction, did some very respectable
stunts in the line of what Tom called “high and lofty tumbling.” Aunt
Louisa, together with nearly a dozen other guests, stayed to supper and
camp-fire, being taken back to Chicora Inn at nine in the steam-launch.
A dozen or so of the boys went along with the guests, the Four among
them. There was a jolly big white moon that made a wide sparkling path
across the water, and there was a nice nippy little breeze from the
east that rendered the seats about the boiler very popular. Mr. Clinton
ran the launch, and coming back he made no protest when Bob, who was at
the wheel, turned the head of the Chicora across the lake and hugged
the opposite shore all the way back, explaining _sotto voce_ to Nelson
that “the longest way around was the shortest way home.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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