“That will be heaps of fun,” agreed Hal. “I never was really shipwrecked, though I’ve often pretended to be with the Princess. On a desert island, too.”
Some of the other lame boys and girls wished they, too, might go off in a boat for a day’s picnic, and Daddy Martin promised to take them some other time.
Hal climbed up into the wagon, and off they started, driving through a shady lane down toward the lake. A big, safe rowboat was waiting for them, and in this the children took their places.
“Please may I help row?” asked Hal of Daddy Martin.
“Do you think you can?”
“Oh, yes! My arms are strong. It’s only one leg that I’m weak in, and I’m glad of that, for I don’t row with my legs,” and he laughed in a very jolly way.
“You’d never know he was crippled to hear him,” whispered Ted to his sister.
“He’s such a nice boy,” said Janet. “I like him.”
“Well, you may row a bit,” agreed Daddy Martin, when he noticed that Hal knew just how to get into a boat, not stepping on the edges and almost tipping the boat over the way some people do, but putting his foot exactly in the middle to balance it properly.
Then they started out on the lake. The sun shone, the waters sparkled, there was just a little wind—not a bit too much—and all along the shore were green trees, leaning over, some with their branches in the water as though they were whispering to the little waves that reached up to kiss the green leaves.