"The trees in the orchard are full grown. They seem like mere babies from the other shore!"
"And the barn is a long way from the house! Well, well!"
It was a glorious day with a breeze that made it no burden to carry the baskets up the slope to the shelter where the materials for making a fire were awaiting them. Jo and Roger arranged everything in places convenient for the cooks and then Jo went to the farmhouse to see if he could find fresh butter and sweet apples. Grandfather and Grandmother strolled off on a botanizing trip; Mary, who was to have a holiday from any kitchen duties, wandered into the woods with Helen and Dicky.
"Here's a good opportunity for you to give the Ethels their rowing lesson, Roger," suggested Mrs. Morton. "Teach them the main points before luncheon and perhaps they can do a little practicing in the afternoon."
"But you'll be all alone here," objected Roger.
"I shall be glad to be quiet here for a while. It won't be for long; some one is sure to come back in a few minutes."
So Roger and the girls went to the water's edge and the girls stood on the narrow beach while Roger untied the rowboat from the stern of the motor-boat and ran it up on the shore.
"You must learn to get in without being helped," he insisted, "because you'll have to do it lots of times when there isn't any one around to give you a hand. The unbreakable rule is, Step in the middle of the boat. If you step on the side you're going to tip it and then you'll have a picnic sure enough and perhaps two drowned pic-a-ninnies."
"Pic-a-nothing!" retorted Ethel Brown. "We don't care if we do upset. We can swim."
"Clothes and shoes and all? I wouldn't risk it just yet if I were you. Now, then, right in the middle. That's it. Ethel Brown on the seat nearest the stern and Ethel Blue on the other."