CHAPTER 3 THE BOAT
Early next morning Dot came out of the house with a basket on her armso big and heavy she could hardly carry it. Indeed, she stoppedseveral times between the house and the gap in the big hedge to setthe basket down while she rested. Once she was sorely tempted tochase a pretty butterfly that fluttered lazily over the lawn near by;but a glance at the basket and a thought of Tot recalled her to thefact that this was "a picnic day," and so she trudged steadily on andpassed through the hedge.
Tot was sitting on the door-step waiting for her. He wore a cleansailor waist and blue brownie overalls, and his face and hands hadbeen freshly washed for the important occasion.
When he saw Dot's basket his eyes grew big and round, and he asked,"What you got?"
"Oh, that's our lunch," said the girl, setting down her burden with asigh of relief.
"What's lunch?" demanded Tot.
"Why--something to eat, you know," she answered.
"Oh," said Tot. Then he looked at the basket with new interest andasked, "Basket all full somefin' t'eat?"
"Yes," replied Dot, with some pride. "I begged cook to give me allthe good things she had in the pantry, 'cause you and I are going tohave a picnic, and eat our lunch down by the river. So she filled itway up to the top, 'cause cook always does anything I ask. And it's agreat big basket, Tot, too."
"Yes," answered Tot, gravely, "big basket!" Then he jumped up and,all eagerness, approached the basket.
"Let's eat it!" he exclaimed.
"Oh, no," cried Dot reprovingly. "It isn't time for lunch yet. AndI've just had my breakfast. But we'll go down to the river and startthe picnic right away. And, if you're good, Tot, perhaps I'll giveyou just one piece of jelly-cake before lunch time."
Tot's mother came out and kissed her boy good-bye, and then he andDot took hold of the handle of the big basket and started for theriver.
Of course, it took them a long time to get there, for often they setdown the basket to pick flowers or watch a robin redbreast carryingfood to its nest full of babies, or to run over the soft,close-cropped grass and chase each other, in very joyful and good spirits.
But they always returned to the basket, and at last carried it downto the water's edge, where they placed it upon a large, flat stone.
"That will be our table, when it's time for lunch," said Dot.
"Time now," remarked Tot, wistfully.
"Not yet," said the girl, "but you shall have the jelly-cake, 'causethere's plenty to last all day."
So she drew aside the white cloth that covered the basket and tookout two big slices of cake, one for Tot and one for herself. Whilethey ate it, they walked along the shore. The river was entirelydeserted by boats, for it was a warm day and even the fisher folk didnot care to be out. On the opposite shore were great walls of rockrising up from the river, but at the foot of the cliffs were bushytrees that lined the further edge of the water.
"Just like whiskers," said Tot.
"So they are, from here," agreed Dot; "but if we were on the otherside of the river we would find them to be big trees. It's becausethey are so far away that they look like the river's whiskers."
They walked farther along the shore until they were past the groundsof Roselawn, and then, turning a little bend in the river, they cameto some low bushes growing down by the water.
"Oh, Tot," cried the girl, "wouldn't it be nice to lunch under thosetrees, where it is cool and shady? Let us go back and fetch thebasket."
Tot followed obediently, for he recognized Dot as the leader not onlybecause she was older, but because she possessed the wonderful basketof good things. They walked back to the big stone where they had leftthe basket, and after a good deal of labor managed to carry it to thegrove of low trees. Pushing the branches aside, they crept throughthe bushes until they reached the edge of the river, and then Dotuttered an exclamation of delight.
"Here's a boat!" she said. "And a pretty boat, too. I wonder whom itbelongs to. But never mind, there's no one here; so we will climbinto it and eat our luncheon on the seats."
It really was a pretty boat, painted all white, except for a redstripe running along the outer edge. There was a broad seat at eachend and two seats in the middle, and in the bottom of the boat, underthe seats, were two oars.
One end of the boat was drawn up on the shore, while the rest of itlay quietly upon the water; but the branches of the trees threw acool shade over all, and it seemed to Dot and Tot the most pleasantplace to eat their luncheon.
They carried the basket to the broad seat farthest out in the water,and Dot spread her white cloth over it, and laid upon that all thegood things cook had put into her basket.
"Let's play house," said Tot.
"Not house," corrected Dot; "we'll play this is a ship, and we're ona trip across the ocean. Won't it be jolly?"
Sitting upon the bottom of the boat, close to the seat which formedtheir table, they laughed and talked and ate their luncheon with thekeen appetites all healthy children have.
The time passed so quickly they never knew how long they sat there;but suddenly Tot exclaimed, "It's hot!" and put on his hat to keepthe sun from his head.
Dot looked up, surprised to find that the sun was indeed shining fullupon them. Then she noticed that the shade of the trees was gone andonly the blue of the sky was over the boat.
She stood up and gave a little cry of dismay.
"We're in the river, Tot," she said; "the boat has got away!"