“I will if the other fellows will,” said the Captain, looking around at the rest. “Will you, Slim?”
“Sure,” said Slim.
“Slim will do anything–once,” said Sahwah.
A few minutes later, an old turtle who had been sitting on a log near the water all afternoon poked his head out of his shell in astonishment at the sight of the enormous human crabs who suddenly swarmed over the beach, laughing, tripping, shrieking and rolling over on the sand. The Captain did beautifully, because he was tall and the skirt that fell to him was short and did not impede his progress, but Slim, to whom Sahwah had wickedly given one of Katherine’s longest, got so tangled up that he finally turned a somersault right into the water, where he lay kicking and splashing. Katherine rescued 154 him and the skirt, which was rather the worse for the experience, while Uncle Teddy, who was judge, declared the Captain to be the winner. He was the only one who had finished without falling once.
“You’re elected to take a lady’s part in the next play we give,” said Gladys. “Such talent shouldn’t be wasted on a desert isle.”
The Captain smiled a ladylike smile and minced along, holding an imaginary parasol over his head. “Bertha the Beautiful Cloak Model,” he said, laughing. “Now won’t somebody rescue Pitt. He’s all tied up in a knot back there.”
“And he has my skirt on,” wailed Gladys. “Do rescue him, somebody.”
“Never again,” said Pitt solemnly, when he had been helped to his feet and separated from the hampering garment. “How you girls do anything at all with those horrible things on is more than I can see.”
“Hurry up, all you who want to go in the launch,” called Uncle Teddy, and there was a general scramble. In the excitement of the big crab race the twins had forgotten their quarrel and both sat side by side on the bow.
“Wasn’t that crab race the funniest ever?” said Gladys to Katherine, as they gathered up the skirts and wended their way up the path.