“Yes, and I’m so sorry!” exclaimed Agnes. “Couldn’t we help—”
“I think we shall just have to wait,” advised her sister. “We can talk to Mr. Howbridge about it after we find out more. I think they are going to move the boat now.”
This task was undertaken, and to such good advantage did Mr. Martin and his sons work, aided, of course, by Neale, Mr. Howbridge and Hank, that the Bluebird was soon afloat again.
“Now we can go on, and when I get back home I’ll send you a doll and a pussy cat!” offered Dot to Henry.
“And I’ll send you two pussy cats!” Tess said to Tom.
The young men laughed, their father joining in.
“How much do I owe you?” asked the lawyer, when it was certain that the houseboat was afloat, undamaged, and could proceed on her way.
“Not a cent!” was the hearty answer of Mr. Martin. “We always help our neighbors up here, and you were neighbors for a while,” he added with a laugh.
“Well, I’m a thousand times obliged to you,” said the guardian of the Corner House girls. “Our trip might have been spoiled if we couldn’t have gone on, though I must say you have a delightful resting spot in this island.”
“We like it here,” admitted the fisherman, while his sons were looking over the houseboat, which they pronounced “slick.”