“Yes, and you fed him almost half a bushel!” said Vivian reprovingly. “As if there were apple trees on Isle Royale.
“We had to buy them,” she explained to Jeanne. “Brought them all the way from Houghton.”
“But think what I got out of it in the end!” Violet reminded her sister.
“Yes,” Vivian agreed.
“You see,” Violet explained enthusiastically, “Old Black Joe got so tame after I had fed him a peck of apples, one at a time, that he’d follow me about like a pet lamb. And oh, the noises he’d make way down in his throat asking for more apples!
“Then one day a man came here to get pictures of wild life. Old Black Joe and I put on a real show for him. I didn’t quite ride the old fellow’s back, but I did almost. The picture came out fine. When the man left he gave me a whole twenty dollar bill for our boat. Wasn’t that grand?”
“Depends on how good a boat it was,” said Jeanne.
“We haven’t the boat yet. We’re saving for it,” said Violet.
Jeanne looked puzzled. “I thought you sold him a boat for twenty dollars.”
“Oh, no!” Violet laughed merrily. “He gave that money to us so we could apply it on the boat we are going to buy. But of course,” Violet paused. “You wouldn’t understand. For quite a long time Vivian and I have been saving up to buy a boat, a smart little motor boat we can use for taking people on picnics, fishing trips and cruising parties. You saw the cabins at the foot of the hill. Tourists come to the island and rent them in summer. Vivian and I could help father out with the family expenses if we had a boat.”