Janie swam the rest of the way out to the raft, and then stretched out in the sun and watched her brothers. The sun felt warm on her back. She waved at Mom on the beach, and then ran to the edge of the raft and dove into the cool water. They swam around for a short while more, and then headed for shore.
While they ate lunch Billy told Mom about the junk pile in the back lot. “I can’t think of any reason why you can’t go over there, if you’re careful not to get hurt,” she said. “Mrs. Saunders surely wouldn’t mind getting rid of some of that trash pile. The only thing is that you must be careful of rusty wire and broken glass, and things like that.”
“We’ll be careful, Mom,” they promised. After lunch Janie helped Mom with the dishes, and the boys started off for the back yard. They wore Daddy’s cotton work gloves, and James carried a long stick for prodding around. Mom said that it wouldn’t be a very good place for Butch, so he stayed on the porch.
The first thing that Billy dragged out was the leather-covered seat from an old sofa. “This will be great for landing on when we high jump,” he said.
James was overjoyed when he found a large assortment of old medicine bottles. “I’m going to wash these out,” he said, “and use them for my experiments.”
James was always putting strange things together, and shaking them up in a bottle with varying results. Sometimes the cork would blow off, and the stuff would blow all over the room. Sometimes the magic brew would be forgotten, and it would stand around in the heat until Mom would dump it out gingerly with one hand while she held her nose tight shut with the other. Once he put a mixture of unknown chemicals together, and some of it spilled on the floor. All the varnish came off. The spot is still there, covered up with a rug. Mom was really provoked that time, but James always felt that that was one of his best combinations. He piled the empty bottles into a basket and whistled happily while he worked.
Davey collected just like a crow. There was nothing logical in the way he gathered his treasures. Just now he had found the remains of an old parlor lamp, and he was sitting in the grass, taking it apart, “to fix it.” Mom smiled to see him so absorbed, and she shook her head. “I’ll be shaking bits of that old lamp out of his trouser pockets for the next two weeks,” she said. Then she waved at Billy and James and called: “I think you’re all wonderful. Carry on while I find some bean poles.”
Jane walked over to the junk pile and looked around. There certainly was an interesting assortment, but what was that noise? Billy heard it at the same time, and stopped working. It was Butch, chattering and running around in the tall grass.
“Butchie, you’ll cut your paws. Come, Butchie, come back to me,” called Davey.
The little monkey thought that the children were playing with him, and he climbed up on the junk pile. Just as Billy reached down to pick him up, he stuck his paw down among some old dried leaves and picked up a small leather purse. Then, with a shriek and a scurry, he was off again.