“I’m your man,” said Pancho bravely. “I can lift half of her.”
So Pedro and Pancho made a chair with their arms, and Pedro’s wife sat on it, and put her arms around their necks, and they waded out with her into the water.
They got along beautifully until they reached the side of the boat and undertook to lift her over the edge. Then there came [p 93] near being an awful accident, for Pedro’s foot slipped on a slimy stone and he let her down on one side so that one of her feet went into the water.
“Holy mother!” screamed Pedro’s wife. “They are going to drown me!”
She waved her arms about and jounced so that Pancho almost dropped the other foot in too, but just in time Pedro shouted, “One, two, three, and over she goes,” and [p 94] as he said over, he and Pancho gave a great heave both together, and in she went all in a heap beside Tita and the baby.
While she crawled under the awning and settled herself with the baby and stuck her foot out in the sunshine to dry, Pancho and Pedro went back for Doña Teresa. She wasn’t very stout so they got her in without any trouble.
They put in the brasero and all the other things, and last of all Pancho and Pedro climbed on board themselves, hoisted the sail, and pushed off. Luckily the breeze was just right, and they floated away over the blue water at about the time of day that you first begin to think of waking up.
III
Even with a good breeze it took nearly an hour to sail across the lake. If they hadn’t been in such a hurry to see the fun in town, the Twins and Pablo would have wished to have it take longer still.