"But I want a ride now!" insisted Violet.
"So do I," added Laddie.
"I asked first," cried Rose. "But I s'pose mother'll make me give in to you two, 'cause I'm older'n you; but I don't want to," she added.
"My! what's all this about?" asked Mother Bunker, as she came along with Grandma Bell, the two women having walked more slowly than the children. "Has anything happened?" She could tell by the faces of the little ones that everything was not just right.
"Oh, they all want to ride on the steamboat at once, and it isn't big enough," explained Russ.
"Then you must take turns," said Mother Bunker quickly. "That's the only way to do. Rose, dear, you are the oldest; you will let Laddie and Violet have the first ride, will you not?"
"There! I knew you'd ask me to do that!" cried Rose, and her voice was not just as pleasant as it might have been.
"Never mind, Rose," whispered Russ to her. "I'll give you a longer ride than I give them. Anyway, they'll soon get tired of the raft, and then you and I can play sailor, and steamboat around as much as we like."
"And will you let me help push with the pole?" asked Rose.
"Yes, you can do that, of course," Russ agreed.