“Say, you are wet!” exclaimed Tom, as he looked at his chum. “Awful wet! Will your mother be mad?”
“I guess she won’t like it,” Ted confessed. “But if I stay out long enough maybe I’ll dry. I guess we won’t sail any more.”
“No,” agreed Tom, “I guess we better not. I’ll walk around with you till you get dry.”
It was a warm, sunny day, and Ted felt sure he would not take cold from his ducking. He knew, too, that the sun and wind would soon dry his clothes, though of course the mud would still remain.
So he and Tom walked about in the lower peach orchard, and around in the meadow where the pond was, on which they had sailed the raft. Ted was about half dry, and the two boys were throwing stones in the water, seeing who could make the biggest splash, when they saw Mrs. Ransom, owner of the little store, hurrying along the meadow path.
“Hello, boys!” she called pleasantly to Ted and Tom. She knew them well, for they spent many pennies over her counter.
“Hello, Miss Ransom!” answered the two boys.
“Land sakes! what are you all wet and muddy for, Teddy Martin?” asked the storekeeper, when she saw the state Teddy was in. “It hasn’t been raining, has it?”
“No’m,” answered Ted. “I fell off the raft.”
“Raft? What raft?” asked Mrs. Ransom. “I didn’t know there was a raft around here.”