In a moment the three boys and Jess were on their feet, and, joined by Margy and Polly, they rushed pell-mell down the front stairs. The door in the hall was open and Mrs. Pepper stood talking to Mr. Williamson on the porch. The grown-ups caught a glimpse of a flying brown body and then a colorful flash as six gay-colored sweaters dashed past them. Then the chase headed for the Pepper yard.
“Corn!” cried Mrs. Pepper. “Show him some corn and he’ll walk into the chicken house.”
Polly dashed around to the chicken house and caught up a measure of corn lying on a grain bin. She ran out into the yard and shook this invitingly. Dozens of hens gathered around her, and, sure enough, the fugitive came, too.
Careful not to spill a grain, Polly walked backward into the chicken house, and the moment the gobbler stepped over the sill, she scattered the corn with a lavish hand. As his long neck bent to eat the grains, Polly slipped out and bolted the door.
They were half an hour late in starting, but the richer by an extra fruit cake Mrs. Pepper pressed upon them.
The drive to Lake Bassing was made in good time. It was a cold day, but tucked in the tonneau with the robes, the girls and boys were warm and comfortable.
Lake Bassing, in the winter, was a very different town from the one they had known in the summer season. Some of the houses were closed, and there was no cheerful Dick Hare and his bus to greet them. Mr. Williamson did not stop in town, but drove straight to the bridge that led to Tom’s Island.
“It feels like snow,” he explained, as he helped them out, “and we want to get settled in camp before it is pitch dark. What’s the matter, Polly? Stiff?”
Polly was a little cramped and cold from sitting still so long, but as soon as she got down and began to walk, she was all right. They all helped to carry the things across the bridge, and then Fred and his father ran the car down to the Meade farm, where they were to keep it in the farmer’s garage.
By the time they had walked back to the island, Mrs. Williamson had a fire built in the kitchen stove and one in the funny little wood stove that had been set up in the mess-house. The girls were spreading the blankets on the cots, and Artie and Ward, having brought in wood, were pumping two pails of fresh water.