Country life -- Juvenile fiction; Girls -- Juvenile fiction; Grandparents as parents -- Juvenile fiction
But more than once that day Judy's heart had failed her. The Cause had
looked rather silly on second thoughts, and Tommy was _so_
commonplace--but, oh, well, she had promised, and that was the end of
it.
Tommy was dreadfully awkward about a boat, too. In spite of his
eagerness for a life on the ocean wave, he had never had any practical
training and Judy grew impatient more than once at the slow way in
which he followed out her orders.
"I would do it myself," she scolded finally, "only I must save my
strength for the trip back. I shall be all alone then, you know."
Tommy sat down suddenly. "Gracious," he gasped, "I never thought of
that. Oh, we will have to go back. You can't take this boat home
alone, Judy."
Judy's head went up. "I am captain of this ship, Tommy Tolliver," she
declared, "and I am going to sail into port and put you ashore. Then I
shall do as I like."
"Aw--" said Tommy, appalled at this display of nautical knowledge,
"aw--all right, Captain Judy."
The wind came as Judy had said it would, filling the little sail until
it looked like a white flower, and carrying "The Princess" along at a
pace that made Tommy feel weak and faint.
"Isn't it fine," cried Judy, leaning forward, and drinking in the
strong air with delight. "Isn't it glorious, Tommy?"
"Yes," said Tommy, doubtfully. He was pale, and presently he lay down
in the bottom of the boat.
"Suck a lemon," suggested Judy, practically, "there are some in that
little locker," and after following her advice, Tommy recovered
sufficiently to sit up, and in the lulls of the gale he and Judy
shrieked at each other, and sang songs of the sea.
They ate a little lunch, intermittently--a bite of sandwich while Tommy
pulled at the ropes or adjusted the sail, or a wing of chicken as Judy
swung the boat with her head to the wind. It was all very exciting and
Judy forgot care and the worried hearts that she had left behind, and
Tommy, reckless in a new-found courage, felt that he was a true sailor
and a son of the sea.
But as the night wore on, and the wind settled into a steady blow, it
took all Judy's science and Tommy's strength to keep the little boat in
her course. The waves ran higher and higher, and Judy grew quiet, and
her face was pale with fatigue.
Tommy began to have doubts. A life on the ocean wave wasn't all that
it was cracked up to be, and anyhow, Judy was only a girl!
"How long before we get there," he shouted amid the tumult.
"We ought to reach the Point in a little while," said Judy, "but--but I
am not quite sure where we are, Tommy. I have always kept within sight
of land before--"
There was no land to be seen now. The moon was hidden by the clouds,
and on each side of them black water stretched out to meet black sky,
broken only by leaping lengths of white foam.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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