Mary Jane thought she never, never, never had had such a blissful time! The sun, halfway down in the west, was just warm enough; a soft June breeze blew the lagoon into tiny ripples and made the air cool and comfortable after the warm day; flowers blooming on the bank filled the air with dainty fragrance and, best of all, there were those magic boats—and five tickets all her own. She and Alice picked out the front seat in the boat they thought the prettiest and there they sat. They didn't even trouble to get off when one ride was over; they simply sat still while the two or three other passengers stepped off at the dock and two or three other passengers stepped on, and then off the boat went again on its slow, stately journey around the little lake.
But at the end of the third ride they noticed some talking at the side of the dock furtherest away from where Mrs. Merrill and Hal were sitting, and Alice stood up to see what was the matter.
"Look at that child!" exclaimed Alice. "Look, Mary Jane, at what she's doing! She's trying to make her doll sit on the edge of the dock, and anybody would know a doll couldn't do that!"
Evidently everyone around there except the little lady herself was of the same opinion as Alice, for the other children were trying to tell her that the doll couldn't sit there; that she would fall in surely, surely, if such a thing was attempted.
"And it's such a pretty doll too," worried Mary Jane. "Come on, Alice, let's get off and tell her not to do it. Maybe she'll mind us 'cause she doesn't know us."
But they were too late. Just as they stepped off the swan boat ready to hurry over to the end of the dock where the children were, the little lady succeeded in getting the doll set stiff and straight at the very edge of the dock. For a breathless instant the doll sat there. Then, so quickly nobody could reach out a hand or do a thing, the prettily-dressed doll tumbled over on its face—splash!—into the lagoon.
For an instant the children all stood motionless in amazement. Then the little mother began to cry, "My dolly's drowned! My dolly's drowned! I didn't want my dolly to drown!"
"Then what did you sit her on the edge of the dock for?" demanded an older boy who had tried with the others to tell her that the doll might fall in.
"'Cause I wanted her to sit there!" retorted the girl, "that's why!" Then with a sudden recollection of her loss, the impudence left her and she sat down on the dock and began to cry.
"Let's call for help," suggested Mary Jane, and she looked around to see just where her mother and uncle were sitting.