For an hour, I worked in the store righting the wrongs that were visible everywhere, vowing to myself that never again would it be found in such a disgraceful condition; not even if the three Camps should come down together and insist on immediate service. At high noon, I went over to Jake's shack and found him preparing his usual clammy concoction. I broached the subject of the piano to him, putting it in such a way that I left him open to refuse to do the job if he felt so inclined. He did not speak for a minute or two, but I knew he was thinking hard. "Well,--I'll be gol-darned," he said at last. "They'll be transporting skating rinks and picture shows up here next. It'll be me for the tall timbers then, you bet." A little later, he went on, "Guess, George,--we got to do it, though. Young ladies is young ladies these days, and we might as well be civil and give in right at the start, for we got to do it in the finish." I agreed. As we were in a hurry, I helped Jake to eat his clam chowder. We went down to the beach to review the situation and inspect the apparatus we had to work with. I told Jake the piano would probably weigh about five hundred pounds and that we would require to bolster up the raft sufficiently to carry some three hundred pounds more in order to be safe. As it stood, the raft was capable of carrying some four hundred pounds, so we had just to double its capacity. Jake knew his business. He rowed along the beach, and picked out short logs to suit his needs. He lashed them together and completed a raft that looked formidable enough to carry the good ship _Siwash_ herself across the Bay to the shore. We put off with a rowing boat fore and aft, long before the _Siwash_ whistle announced her coming. Had the sea been otherwise than calm as a duck pond, we would have experienced all kinds of trouble, for our raft was nothing more or less than an unwieldy floating pier. When the steamer ran into the Bay, I noticed Miss Grant put out alone and row toward us. "Jake," I exclaimed somewhat hotly, "if that young lady interferes with the way we handle this job, by as much as a single word, we'll steer straight for the shore and leave the piano to sink or swim." "You bet!" agreed Jake. "Skirts is all right, but they ain't any good movin' pianners off'n steamers. Guess we ain't proved ourselves much good neither, so far, George," he added with a grin. The _Siwash_ came to a standstill and we threw our ropes aboard and were soon made fast alongside. Everything there went like clockwork. The piano was on the lower deck and slings were already round it, so that all that was necessary to do was to get the steamer's winch going, hoist the instrument overboard and lower it on to the raft. The piano was set on a low truck with runners, contrived for the purpose of moving. I arranged that this truck be left with us and I would see to its return on the steamer's south-bound journey.