They had a fine swim. There were nice little breakers on the open side of the Island that morning. The children would run out a little way, wait till the right moment, then turn dextrously and let the foamy wave sweep them up on the beach. Marian kept hold of Davie, for the water was far too rough to trust his safety to his own little legs, sturdy though they were. But, with her to hold his hand, he had no fear, and laughed as loudly as the rest when the water slapped him off his feet and swept him up with the seaweed and the crabs. After a while he said he was tired and wanted to go and dig; so his sister let go of him, and he trotted off to where he had left the dig-spoon under a rock, and a moment later was excavating most industriously, while Marian turned her attention to the others.
They all joined hands and waded out a little farther than she had cared to go with Davie. It was splendid fun, but pretty soon Jennie called out, “Look, Marian! Davie is going up to the Cave!”
They all looked; sure enough the little fellow was almost up the hill. Delbert became excited immediately.
“I’ll just bet he will go to monkeying with those potatoes!” he cried, and started forthwith for the beach. The same thought had crossed Marian’s mind at the same instant, and, ordering the little girls to come too, she followed close at Delbert’s heels.
They made all speed for the Cave, but they got there too late. Davie was just gulping down the last mouthful as they reached him.
He did his best to look sweetly innocent as he told them it was “goo-ood!” Delbert’s face was a study. He was provoked enough to shake his little brother thoroughly, yet he was frightened enough to cry. Marian’s face turned pale. Perhaps the things were perfectly harmless, perhaps even highly nutritious, but again perhaps they were deadly poison. She dared not risk it, and tried everything she could think of to force the small gourmand to disgorge his stolen—or shall we say misappropriated?—tidbit.
It was no use. Davie would not drink a lot of warm salt water, and he would not let Marian run her fingers down his throat either.
She tried coaxing first, to no avail, and then she used force, but though they managed, by holding his nose, to get a few spoonfuls of the emergency emetic down his throat, and though Marian got her fingers well bitten, at the end of an hour or so the potatoes had not reappeared, and Marian, regarding the thoroughly enraged and squawling youngster, reflected that if any harm had been going to result from his impromptu lunch it would probably have begun to take effect before then, and so gave up the struggle.
Still she was not easy. She watched him closely all day. After he got over his fit of temper he went about his play just as usual.
Several times in the night the elder sister awoke with a start, and, leaning over him, held her breath till she heard the regular rising and falling of his. All the next day she watched, but everything seemed to be perfectly normal, and in the afternoon Delbert brought in another batch of the potatoes, which they did try on the burro. Davie watched with great interest. He said again that they were “goo-ood,” but he did not offer to eat any himself. Marian thought that if her fight the day before had not accomplished the end she worked for, it had probably taught Davie to attend more strictly to his own business, which might be of great advantage some time in the future.