“And it will be ever thus, Plain Jane, for where could we ever find a man worthy of our splendid selves?” asked Frances. “They all fall for me, of course, but I can’t give them any encouragement, knowing my own value as I do.”
“If we get to Lloyd’s Harbor in time for a swim to-night, I am going to duck you both,” threatened Mabel, who was a veritable fish. “In the meantime, I’ll just get Charlie to make a cat o’ nine tails for me. Poor child, he will need the protection as much I do.”
“Who needs protection?” asked Charlie, who had come forward to sheet in the staysail.
“You,” Frances promptly replied, getting a sharp dig from Mabel’s elbow in reward for her truthfulness. “Wow! Mabel, I thought you were too well cushioned to hurt.”
“Push their noses in, Mabel,” advised Charlie, “and when you have finished, bring Jack and Ellen down to earth and tell them to go below and put on their bathing suits. Lloyd’s Harbor is just around that point and we will make it in about fifteen minutes. Soon as we drop anchor, we all want to go over the side. This harbor is a dandy place to swim.”
The girls dashed below, scrambled into their suits and returned to their place forward to find that the “Boojum” was nosing its way into one of the loveliest little harbors on the eastern coast. One side of the mouth of the harbor was marked by a high bit of wooded land that sloped gently down to the curved sandy beach.
“The wonderful smell that is in the air,” Ellen whispered to Jack. “I imagine lotus flowers are like that. The land where it is always afternoon. Why, I could stay here forever and ever.”
“And I would have to be with you, for lotus-eaters forget all the past and dream and dream away their lives, and I don’t want to be forgotten for one little minute.”
“I wouldn’t worry about that, Jack. I couldn’t forget you for an instant, not if I ate lotus for years and years.”
“Hey, you Jack, stop talking sweet nothings. Mr. Wing has called you three times to see that the anchor is ready to heave over,” and Jane gave her brother a shove in the direction of the anchor.