“Here goes for a dive!” cried Mollie, as she climbed out on the end of
the pier, and mounted a mooring post. She poised herself gracefully.
“Better not—you don’t know how deep it is,” cautioned Betty.
“I’m only going to take a shallow dive,” was the answer and then
Mollie’s slender body shot through the air in a graceful curve, and cut
down into the water. A second later she bobbed up, shaking her head to
rid her eyes of water.
“That was lovely!” cried Grace.
“Did I splash much?”
“Not at all.”
“It’s real deep there,” said Mollie. “Some day I’m going to try to
touch bottom.”
The girls splashed about, refreshing themselves after the race. Then
came calm evening, when they sat on deck and ate supper prepared by
Aunt Kate.
“Now you girls just sit right still and enjoy yourselves,” she told
them, when they insisted on helping. “You don’t win motor boat races
every day, and you’re entitled to a banquet.”
That night there was another informal dance at the Yacht Club, and the
girls had a splendid time. Mr. Stone and Mr. Kennedy exerted themselves
to see that our friends did not lack for partners, and Grace was rather
ashamed of the suspicions she had entertained concerning the twain.
The carnival came to an end with a series of water sports. There were
swimming races for ladies, and Mollie won one of these, but her chums
were less fortunate. The carnival had been a great success and many
congratulations were showered on Messrs. Stone and Kennedy for their
part in it.
“We are glad it is over,” said Mr. Stone, as he and his chums sat on
the deck of the _Gem_ one evening, having called to ask the girls to go
to another dance. But Betty and her chums voted for staying aboard, and
proposed a little trip about the lake by moonlight. Soon they were
under way.
It was a perfect night, and the mystic gleam of the moon moved them to
song as they swept slowly along under the influence of the
throttled-down engine.
Suddenly Mr. Kennedy, who was sitting well forward on the trunk cabin
with Grace, sprang to his feet, exclaiming:
“What’s that?”
“It looks like a fire,” said Grace.
“It is a fire!” cried Mr. Stone. “Say, it’s that hay barge we noticed
coming over this evening, tied up at Black’s dock. It’s got adrift and
caught fire!”
“Look where it’s drifting!” exclaimed Betty.
“Right for the Yacht Club boathouse!” added Mollie. “The wind is taking
it there. Look, the fire is increasing!”
“And if it runs against the boat house there’ll be no saving it!” said
Mr. Kennedy. “There’s no fire-boat up here—there ought to be!”
“Girls!” cried Betty, “there’s just a chance to save the boat house!”
“How?” demanded Amy.
“If we could get on the windward side of that burning barge, throw a
line aboard and tow it out into the middle of the lake, it could burn
there without doing any damage!”
“By Jove! She’s hit the nail on the head!” declared Mr. Stone, with
emphasis. “But dare you do it, Miss Nelson?”
“I certainly will dare—if you’ll help!”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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