“Go up to the house,” said Mr. Clarke, quietly, “and I’ll get you a change of clothing. But you ought never to play such a prank as that again. It’s altogether too serious a matter. This water is so cold that it is very easy for a man to be taken with a cramp in it, and sink before any aid could come to him. Don’t do it again.”
Ben, somewhat chagrined, made no reply, and followed Mr. Clarke to the house. When he reappeared he found his friends seated on the broad piazza, and they hailed his coming with shrieks of laughter, for Ben once more had been compelled to don the garments of their host, and as they were much too small for him, the sight he presented was ludicrous in the extreme.
“I think, Mr. Dallett,” said one of the girls, “that you ought to buy that suit of Mr. Clarke. You don’t know how becoming it is to you.”
“No, I don’t believe I do know,” replied Ben, ruefully, glancing down at his wrists, which protruded several inches below his sleeves. “I’m not just sure whether I wouldn’t have felt better to have stayed out there in the river.”
“A trifle too short and a shaving too lean,
But a nice young man as ever was seen,”
murmured Bob.
Even Ben, and Mr. Clarke, who had now joined the group, were compelled to join in the laugh which followed, and soon the good nature of all was apparently restored, Ben himself adding to the fun by the nonchalance with which he paraded in his “uniform” before the admiring gaze of the assembly.
After dinner had been served, the group returned to the piazza and seated themselves in the chairs, evidently at peace among themselves and with all the world. The cottage, as has been said, was situated on a high bluff, and from it a view could be obtained of the majestic river for miles in either direction. The bracing air, the sparkling water, the sight of passing yachts and of swiftly moving canoes, all lent an additional charm to the occasion, and for two hours they remained there, enjoying themselves as only light-hearted young people can.