Everett shouted, as he and Adele started to explore the pretty Pine Island.
“The snakes are more apt to scare us out,” Adele said laughingly, when the lad paused for breath.
Meanwhile Madge selected a spot with a view of the rocky point. One little pine-tree, bent by the wind, stood on the top. Eva, who had longed to learn to draw and paint, and who had covered many a page with imaginary pictures of fairies and elves, was eagerly waiting for her first lesson. Madge gave her a drawing-board on which a piece of paper was fastened with thumb-tacks, and then she said, “Now, Dryad Fern, you lean back against this stump and sketch for me that pine-tree on the top of yonder rocks.”
Then Madge made herself comfortable a short distance away and continued to work on a sketch which she had started the day before.
Adele and Everett, exploring the island, were nearing the upper end, where the ground was rougher and the underbrush more dense.
Thinking to take a short cut to the rocky point, they found themselves deep in a briery tangle of bushes.
“I hope you won’t think that I’m overly scary,” Adele said, as she stood still, “but I don’t like to walk where I can’t see the ground, for I might step on a snake.”
“Not pleasant to contemplate,” Everett agreed. “But if you will follow close after me, I’ll step on him first, and—”
“Hark!” Adele whispered. “I heard a noise in those bushes just ahead of us.”
“So did I,” said Everett softly. “And, what is more, I saw a strange-looking creature that was trying to slink away. It walked like a man and yet looked like a bear. I am certainly puzzled to know what it can mean, for I am sure that no one lives on this island. If you will stand still here, I will peer over those rocks and see if the creature is there.”