THE ISLAND OF DELIGHT
"It is the most mysterious thing I ever encountered," declared Miss Elting at breakfast, after she had stepped to the window again to gaze off over the lake to the cove—in the distance—where the "Red Rover" had lain when they retired the night before.
None of the girls except Harriet and Jane had much appetite for breakfast. They were too excited over the mysterious changing of their position.
"What I cannot understand," continued the guardian, "is how we, who pride ourselves on being woodsmen, trailers and scouts and all the other things, could possibly be carried across a lake, dragged over several miles of water and not know anything about it. Can you explain why we didn't wake up, Harriet Burrell?"
Harriet shook her head.
"And we are anchored just the same as we were last night," remarked Jane. "It's spirits, girls. No mistake about that."
"Now, Jane," laughed Harriet. "You know very well that the mere fact that our anchor was pulled up before we left the other side of the lake, then let down on this side, makes your spirit theory impossible."
"It wath thpookth," declared Tommy. "I thaw one thtanding on the handle of the mop pail latht night after I went to bed. I heard the water thplathh when he jumped in the pail."
"What a marvelous imagination you have," jeered Jane.
"All this talk doesn't help us to solve the mystery," averred Hazel. "How did we get here?"
"We do not know, but we are going to find out," replied Harriet.
"How?"
"I can't tell you. Something will turn up to give us a clue to this and the other mysteries. I have my suspicions of the Tramp Club in this matter. I am very glad that the rope was not cut, this time, or thrown overboard after being removed from the boat. If the boys are responsible for this, rest assured they'll be the first to tell us. You know the island that we admired so much from a distance, Miss Elting?
"We are within a mile of it now. After breakfast, with your permission I'll row over," continued Harriet. "I want to see that island at close range. Jane, will you come with me?" Jane was prompt to accept Harriet's invitation. Miss Elting also was invited, but concluded to remain with the other girls on the houseboat.
Harriet and her companion rowed rapidly to the island shortly after breakfast. It was a good sized island, as they discovered by rowing down one side of it, the side nearest to the shore of the mainland near which the houseboat was anchored. The girls rowed in so close that they were able to reach up and touch the foliage overhead and in places it trailed in the water. The island was rocky, still it was heavily wooded. One side of it was popular with picnic parties, but on the side where the girls were few boats ever landed. As they were rowing slowly along the edge, Harriet's eyes were constantly searching the shore.
"This is about what I thought we should find, Jane."
"What are you looking for, dear?"
"I am trying to find a place where we can run the 'Red Rover' in under the trees, and where the boat cannot be seen from the lake on either side of the island."
"You will have to change its color then. Why, in the sunlight you could see that tub fifty miles away."
Harriet did not answer. She had rested on the oars, and was peering over her right shoulder towards the thicket at the shore of the island.
"No, my dear, not where I am going to put the boat provided there is room for it. Do you see that current swirling right into the island there? I saw that from the deck of the 'Red Rover,' this morning, when looking through the glasses. At least I thought it was a current. The water everywhere else was very still, but a slight discoloration there, as you see it, led me to believe there was a creek running into the island."
"You have sharp eyes, Harriet. But where's your creek? I don't see it," laughed Jane.
"Neither do I. There may be no creek there, but if there is, it's going to be a splendid place to hide."
"Hide?" wondered Jane.
"Yes."
"But why should we hide, darlin'?"
"In that way we may be able to get some clue to our unknown enemy," nodded Harriet. "If the boys did tow us over here, of course they'll wonder what became of us."
"Do you think our enemy will try to find us?" asked Jane.
"Yes."
"I don't. We'll be wasting our time. The boys won't look for us, here, either."
"Well, here is the creek, at any rate," exclaimed Harriet, swinging the bow of the boat in as she spoke. "And oh, Jane! Look!"
A smooth sheet of dark water was revealed to the eyes of the girls. It was shimmering in the deep shadow of the foliage under which it flowed until it became lost in the shadows of foliage and rocks. Harriet drove her boat in without the least hesitancy. She saw by glancing above her head that there were no heavy limbs of trees hanging over the little waterway. A sounding with the oar developed the fact that there was only about three feet of water in the stream.
"Do you know where you are going, Harriet?" questioned Jane anxiously.
"No. But I don't care. Do you?"
"Not I. I can go where you go. Oh, look at that hole. It's a cave, Harriet, and the stream goes right into it."
"I think you are mistaken, Jane. That looks to me more as if the water had worn an opening in the rocks. The water must have been very high to make such a large opening. Yes. See! The water swirls in at one side of the opening and comes out on the other side, making a sort of horseshoe shape of the cut-out place. Isn't this a place in which to hide, Jane McCarthy?" cried Harriet triumphantly.
"Hurrah! The greatest hiding place in the world."
"And won't the Tramp Club be amazed when they find we are missing? They'll think their chance of winning the camera is doubtful."
"Perhaps they'll think we're drowned," answered Jane, her eyes sparkling mischievously.
"A little scare will do them good," returned Harriet, the mischievous sparkle appearing in the depths of her brown eyes. "What do you think of it, dear?"
"Fine! It's glorious. We'll have a picnic here. What fun, what fun! And it's such a beautiful place too. What shall we call it?"
"I think we might call it the Island of Delight," answered Harriet, after brief reflection.
"That's the name! Now, let's explore the place."
"Oh, no, not now, Jane. We must go and lay our plan before Miss Elting first. I do not think she will object, but we must ask her, of course, before we make any further arrangements."
"When do you plan to move in here?"
"Just as soon as we are able to get the 'Red Rover' in here. I am in a hurry. The boys are likely to be sailing over here almost any time now. We must get out of sight before they come near here."
"Hurrah!" shouted Crazy Jane.
"Save your breath. You will need it before we have gotten our big boat in. It is going to be a hard pull to get it through all this foliage and then it is going to be another difficult job to get it out again. When we get those boys on the Island of Delight we are going to give them something to think about," chuckled Harriet. "This time, the Meadow-Brook Girls will score."
"I should like to know how you are going to get them here?" wondered Jane.
"Oh, that is easy. One doesn't even need to think to know how to do that," laughed Harriet Burrell.
Jane regarded her admiringly.
"You sure are a wonderful girl. My daddy says he'd give a million if you were his daughter."
"I'm worth much less than that," smiled Harriet. "Now let's go back. We haven't any time to spare. When we get out into the lake both of us will row, but let's be certain that there is no one in sight. We don't want to be seen coming from this place or our plans will be spoiled before we have had a chance to carry them out."
They shoved the rowboat back through the foliage by placing the oars on the bottom and pushing. They made better progress this way than they could have made by rowing, for the low hanging branches of the trees fouled the oars, making rowing a difficult method of travel, as they had learned when they entered the narrow little waterway.
No person was in sight when they emerged. The two girls bent to their oars with a will and made rapid progress on their way back toward the "Red Rover."
Those on the houseboat saw the girls coming.
"Harriet ith in a hurry about thomething," observed Tommy, wrinkling her forehead into sharp little ridges of perplexity. She did not understand how any one could be in a hurry on such a hot day as this.
The rowers reached the "Red Rover," and jumping aboard, their faces flushed and eyes sparkling, proceeded to tell their companions of their great find.
"And what is your plan?" asked the guardian, smiling good-naturedly.
Harriet told her, whispering part of what she had to say, in the ear of Miss Elting.
"That will be fine," glowed the guardian, instantly entering into the spirit of the plan. "We shall at least have a good time there."
"And we'll be hidden from the world so no one will know we are on this island at all," interjected Jane.
"I am with you, girls. But we must not let people get the idea that anything has happened to us. That would not be right, you know."
"No one about here knows, or at least cares, what happens to us, unless it is the Tramp Club," replied Harriet, "Besides, I shall find a way to let them know we are above water, rather than underneath it."
"All right. I suppose you wish to move into this retreat to-day, Captain Harriet?"
"Yes. At once."
"Then get under way, Captain, as soon as you wish. Able seaman Tommy Thompson will heave the anchor for you," averred the guardian merrily.
"Able theaman Tommy will do nothing of the thort," retorted Tommy. "Able theaman Tommy will heave herthelf overboard if thhe trieth to do any heaving at all."
"Miss Elting, I think you can steer the boat. I am needed in the rowboat with Jane," interrupted Harriet.
"Girls, I am afraid it is going to be a pretty hard pull in this heat. Hadn't we better wait until the evening?" suggested the guardian.
Harriet and Jane protested that they didn't mind the heat at all, and that they could pull the big boat over to the island without the least difficulty. Miss Elting offered no further objections. The "Red Rover" was a scene of activity from that moment on. All hands except Tommy assisted in getting the anchor aboard. Harriet and Jane, without loss of time, jumped into the rowboat and began pulling away. It was hard work to get the houseboat started, but once under way it followed along fairly well.
Miss Elting handled the tiller, while Hazel, Margery and Tommy acted as lookouts to inform the rowers if any motor boats were sighted. The lookouts watched the lake through their glasses. The sun glaring down on the red sides of the "Red Rover" made the boat visible as far as eyes could reach. It was even discovered by one of the Tramp Club boys, but so slowly did it move that he was not aware that it was moving at all. From the other side of the lake the houseboat appeared to be standing still, until finally it disappeared altogether. He wondered a little over this at the time, then forgot all about the circumstance until later.
In the meantime Harriet and Crazy Jane were heading toward the Island of Delight, pulling at the oars with backs bent to their task. They were destined to have a most delightful time on this their Island of Delight and to experience some thrills as well, and Harriet's plans were to work out better than she knew.