Mostly at night I sit on the porch with my mother and father, but that
night I went to my tent and lit the lantern and sat there. I like a
lantern because it reminds you of camping. Nix on electric lights up at
Temple Camp, that’s what Jeb Rushmore says. Gee, he has no use for
electric lights—electric lights and umbrellas. But, anyway, I’ve got a
wire from our garage to Camp Solitaire (that’s my tent) and a bulb for
when I want to read. Jerry says I ought to pay for tapping the garage
current. I should worry.
I sat down and began reading _Treasure Island_ all over again. I skipped
a lot because I had only just lately read it, and pretty soon I was
reading about in the middle of it, where they start off in the ship.
That’s the part I like best. All of a sudden I couldn’t see the reading
very good and I noticed there was a stain on the page.
Here’s where I wish that I knew all about writing books like a regular
grown up author, because I have to explain something to you and, cracky,
I wish you could see that book, because then it would be easier. First,
I didn’t think anything about it at all, only I noticed that the stain
was on the left hand page. Then, all of a sudden I noticed something
about that stain that got me all excited.
It was in the shape of a _ring_, kind of.
Right away I knew what it meant. I picked up one of my oar-locks and
laid it on the stain and it just covered it. So I saw I had damaged the
book when I had it before. That’s one thing you’re not supposed to
do—damage books out of the library. If you keep a book till it’s
overdue, that isn’t so bad, because then you just pay a fine. Connie
says that’s being a good bookkeeper.
But to damage a book—g-o-o-d night!
CHAPTER XXVII
THE GENTLE BREEZE
I was just thinking how funny it was that Westy got this very same book
that I had, but maybe it wasn’t so funny, because that was what put it
into his head to get it—seeing it in my tent. Anyway, I was glad it
came back to me, because now I saw what I had done and I made up my mind
that I’d buy a new book for the library.
Then I was thinking how I’d have to tell Westy about it, and, oh, I
don’t know, I just didn’t know how to go and speak to him. I wasn’t mad
at him, but anyway, I felt as if I didn’t want to see him—yet. Anyway,
I didn’t have any money yet and books like that cost a lot.
All of a sudden I heard Don start barking and then he stopped. So I knew
somebody was coming that he knew. Then I heard somebody say, “You’re
always suspicious, ain’t you,” and oh, I felt awful funny, because I
knew it was Westy. It seemed as if he might be saying that to me, but I
knew he was saying it to Don—just kind of jollying him. Maybe you think
you can’t jolly a dog but you can. You can Don, anyway.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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