"Did you find Tad?" asked Laddie, as soon as he was up next morning.
"Oh, ho, you little tykes! So you were awake, were you?" asked their father, with a laugh, as he pulled Vi's hair playfully. "No, poor Tad doesn't seem to be around here, but I think he'll be all right."
"And you mustn't worry about him and spoil your extra vacation at my place," said Captain Ben. "You came to Grand View to have a good time, and I came to forget about the war. I want you to be as happy as you can. Come along, as soon as you've had breakfast, and we'll go out on the water."
"Oh, it's just a lovely place here!" exclaimed Rose, as she looked from the window. "Are all those your boats there?" and she pointed to several craft floating near a dock that extended out into a small bay.
"Not all of them," said Captain Ben. "I have a motor boat and two rowboats. I'm going to take you for a motor-boat ride this morning."
"That'll be fun!" cried Laddie.
"Well, be ready to start in half an hour," went on Captain Ben, and he thrust out his arm and glanced down at his wrist. "There I go again!" he exclaimed. "Looking for my watch that's lost! I don't seem to get used to being without it."
"It is too bad," said Mother Bunker. "I did hope I might find it among the things when I unpacked, but it wasn't there."
"Oh, never mind," and Captain Ben laughed, trying to show that he did not feel bad. "We won't worry about it any more than we'll worry about Tad. They may both turn up together some day."
"And maybe we'll find Mrs. Brown's jewelry," added Russ.