"You don't have to have money if you have tickets," answered Mary Jane, "and I've got plenty of those—see?" And proudly she displayed the tickets she had put in her pocket when she began undressing the doll. "Come on, lets!"
Holding the undressed doll in her hands, she ran around the lagoon to where her mother was sitting. "Mother!" she exclaimed suddenly, "will you please hold this doll in the sun so it'll dry while I take these folks for a ride?"
"What in the world?" exclaimed Mrs. Merrill in amazement as she saw the strange children, the dripping doll and her own excited little girl.
"She drowned," explained Mary Jane, pointing to the doll, "and he rescued her," pointing to the boy, "and we're all going to take a ride."
Hal looked at the children and suspected that they were to be Mary Jane's guests—with the exception of the little girl who owned the doll they were ragged and poor looking, so he asked, "Have enough tickets, Mary Jane?"
"Just enough," replied Mary Jane, "with Alice's and mine together."
"Then we'll hold the doll and watch you ride," said Mrs. Merrill.
The children scampered over to the dock and got aboard a boat. The little Italian girl sat with Alice and Mary Jane and the others took the back seat.
"Oh!" exclaimed the child rapturously, as the boat slowly moved away from the shore, "ain't it just like a fairy story?"
"You like stories too!" cried Mary Jane delightedly, "so do I and I feel just like a princess. I do every time I ride on 'em."