The Outdoor Girls at Rainbow Lake | Page 6

Years ago, when you first signed papers to voyage
through life, when you weren't rated as an A. B., you used to have me
spill sea-yarns for you. And you always said you were going to be a
sailor, shiver my timbers, or something like that,-- real sailor-like, so it
sounded.
"'I never forgot this, and I always counted on taking you on a voyage
with me. But your captain-- that is to say your father-- never would let
me, and often the barometer went away down between him and me.
"'Howsomever, I haven't forgotten how you liked the water, nor how
much you wanted a big ship of your own. You used to make me
promise that if ever I could tow the Flying Dutchman into port that you
could have it for a toy. And I promised.
"'Well, now I have the chance to get the Flying Dutchman for you, and
I'm bringing it home, with sails furled so it won't get away. I'm going to
give you a grand surprise soon, and you can pass it on to your friends.
So if you let me luff along for a few more cable lengths I think I'll
make port soon, and then we'll see what sort of a sailor you'll make.
You may expect the surprise shortly.'
"That's all there is to it," concluded Betty, "and I've been puzzling my
brains as to just what the surprise may be."
"He's going to take you on a voyage," said Amy.
"He's bought you some toy ship," was the opinion of Mollie.
"Oh, if he'd only bring a real boat that we could make real a trip in!"
sighed Grace. "That would be-- lovely!"
"Betty Nelson! Write to your uncle right away!" commanded Mollie,
"and find out exactly what he means."

"I can't," sighed Betty. "He's traveling, and one never knows where he
is. We'll just have to wait. Besides, he is so peculiar that he'd just as
likely as not only puzzle me the more. We'll just have to wait; that's
all."
"Well, if it should be some sort of a boat, even a big rowboat, we could
have some fun," asserted Grace.
"Yes, for mine isn't much account," remarked Mollie, who owned a
small skiff on the river.
"I was so excited and amused when I got uncle's letter," said Betty,
"that I didn't know what to do. Mamma puzzled over it, but she couldn't
make any more out of it than I could. So I decided to come over here."
"I'm glad you did," spoke Grace, holding up her long habit in one hand
and delicately eating a chocolate from the other "There comes James
with Prince. Oh, he's run him too hard!" she exclaimed as she noted the
hard-breathing animal.
"Oh, no, Miss," said the groom, who heard her. "That was only a romp
for him. He'll be much easier to handle now."
He gave Grace a hand to help her mount to the saddle, and adjusted the
stirrups for her.
"Good-bye!" she called, as she cantered off. "Save some of the
chocolates for me," and the others laughingly promised, as they went
back to the shade, to rest in the hammock or lawn chairs.
CHAPTER III
THE RUNAWAY
Grace cantered along the pleasant country road on the back of Prince.
The noble animal had lost some of his fiery eagerness to cover the
whole earth in one jump, and now was mindful of snaffle and curb, the
latter of which Grace always applied with gentle hand. Prince seemed

to know this, for he behaved in such style as not to need the cruel
gripping, which so many horsemen-- and horsewomen too, for that
matter, needlessly inflict.
"Oh, but it is glorious to ride!" exclaimed the girl, as she urged the
animal into a gallop on a soft stretch of road beneath wonderful trees
that interlaced their branches overhead. "Glorious-- glorious!"
"I hope those papers are not so valuable that it would be an object for--
for some one to try to take them away from me," she mused.
Instinctively she glanced behind her, but the peaceful road was deserted
save for the sunshine and shadows playing tag in the dust. Then Grace
looked above. The sky was of rather a somber tint, that seemed to
suggest a storm to come, and there was a sultriness and a silence, with
so little wind that it might indicate a coming disturbance of the
elements to restore the balance that now seemed so much on one side.
"But if any one tries to get them away from us, we-- we'll just-- run
away; won't we, Prince?" and she patted the neck of the horse. Prince
whinnied acquiescence.
"Grandmother will be surprised to see me," thought Grace, as she rode
on.