“But be careful,” cautioned Cora. “Take it easy for the rest of the day, at least. It doesn’t do to try too much.”
“Grandmother!” Lottie answered, with an affectionate squeeze of Cora’s arm. “What about you? Who did all the engineering in the storm? And who is still ‘on deck’ giving orders?”
“Oh, I am strong,” replied Cora, though strong as she was the last few hours had told in the paler tint of her cheeks.
The return of the storm-stricken ones attracted crowds of bungalowers and campers to the beach; for, of course, craft of all sorts had been caught in the gale. The center of interest, however, was the Chelton, for that boat had already gained a reputation at Crystal Bay.
Not one person came in from the bay in dry clothes; in fact, many were drenched, and naturally the girls showed the effects of the storm more conspicuously than did the boys. Bess happened to be the one “who got the worst of it,” among the motor girls—perhaps because there was more of her for the waves to hit.
“You are certainly a beauty,” commented Belle, who had been more fortunate in dodging the water. “You look like a swimming lesson in the first stage.”
“I feel as if I needed artificial respiration,” replied Bess, good-humoredly, “but I want to forget it all—all but this. Isn’t this wonderful?”
“Almost enough to make up for the danger,” Belle returned. “But wasn’t Freda splendid? What good training she must have had to be able to manage that boat. No one else except Cora could have done it, and she was unfamiliar with the tricks of the bay. I do feel so sorry for Freda and her mother!” This last was said with a wistful sigh, for all the members of the Mote were now much attached to the motherly Mrs. Lewis.
“Cora must have known those men were going to put the ‘for sale’ sign on the cottage, when she hurried so to get Freda and her mother over to our place the other night,” went on Bess. “I knew there was something more important than merely taking care of us.”
“Oh, of course, that’s just like Cora. Fancy Mrs. Lewis never hearing a word about it. If she had been in the house when they tacked that sign on——”