‘Here they come!’ shouted Jack from the group on the Howards’ piazza. ‘Christopher Columbus, what gorgeousness! The Flamingo, the Dove, and the Blue-jay! Good-morning, young ladies; may we be allowed to travel in the same steamer with your highnesses?’
‘You needn’t be troubled,’ laughed Bell. ‘We shall not disclose these glories until we reach the camp. But you are dressed as usual. What’s the matter?’
‘Why, the fact is,’ answered Geoffrey, ‘our courage failed us at the last moment. We donned our uniforms, and looked like brigands, highway robbers, cowboys, firemen,—anything but modest young men; and as it was too warm for ulsters, we took refuge in civilised raiment for to-day. When we arrive, you shall behold our dashing sombreros fixed up with peacock feathers, and our refulgent shirts, which are of the most original style and decoration.’
‘Aboriginal, in fact,’ said Jack. ‘We have broad belts of alligator skin, pouches, pistols, bowie-knives, and tan-coloured shoes; but we dislike to flaunt them before the eyes of a city public.’
‘Here they are!’ cried Geoffrey, from the gate. ‘Uncle, and aunt, and Dicky, and—good gracious! Is he really going to take that wretched tan terrier?’
‘Won’t go without him,’ said Bell, briefly. ‘There are cases where it is better to submit than to fight.’
So the last good-byes were said, and Elsie bore up bravely; better, indeed, than the others, who shed many a furtive tear at leaving her. ‘Make haste and get well, darling,’ whispered the girls, lovingly.
‘Pray, pray, dear Mrs. Howard, bring her down to us as soon as possible. We’ll take such good care of her,’ teased Bell, with one last squeeze, and strong signs of a shower in both eyes.
‘Come, girls and boys,’ said kind Dr. Paul, ‘the steamer has blown her first whistle, and we must be off.’
Oh, how clear and beautiful a day it was, and how charmingly gracious Dame Ocean looked in her white caps and blue ruffles! Even the combination steamboat smell of dinner, oil, and close air was obliterated by the keen sea-breeze.
The good ship Orizaba ploughed her way through the sparkling, sun-lit waves, traversing quickly the distance which lay between the young people and their destination. They watched the long white furrow that stretched in her wake, the cloud of black smoke which floated like a dark shadow above the laughing crests of the waves, and the flocks of sea-gulls sailing overhead, with wild shrill screams ever and anon swooping down for some bit of food flung from the ship, and then floating for miles on the waves.
How they sung ‘Life on the Ocean Wave,’ ‘Bounding Billow,’ and ‘Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep!’ How Jack chanted,—
‘I wish I were a fish,
With a great long tail;
A tiny little tittlebat,
A wiggle or a whale,
In the middle of the great blue sea. Oh, my!’
‘Oh, how I long to be there!’ exclaimed Philip, ‘to throw aside all the formal customs of a wicked world I abhor, and live a free life under the blue sky!’
‘Why, Philip Noble! I never saw you inside of a house in my life,’ cried Polly.
‘Oh, yes; you’re mistaken. I’ve been obliged to eat most of my meals in the house, and sleep there; but I don’t approve of it, and it’s a trial to be borne with meekness only when there’s no remedy for it.’
‘Besides,’ said Jack, ‘even when we are out-of-doors we are shelling the reluctant almond, poisoning the voracious gopher, pruning grape-vines, and “sich.” Now I am only going to shoot to eat, and eat to shoot!’
‘Hope you’ve improved since last year, or you’ll have a low diet,’ murmured Phil, in an undertone.
‘The man of genius must expect to be the butt of ridicule,’ sighed Jack, meekly.
‘But you’ll not repine, although your heartstrings break, will you?’ said Polly, sympathisingly; ‘especially in the presence of several witnesses who have seen you handle a gun.’
‘How glad I am that I’m too near-sighted to shoot,’ said Geoffrey, taking off the eye-glasses that made him look so wise and dignified. ‘I shall lounge under the trees, read Macaulay, and order the meals.’
‘I shall need an assistant about the camp,’ said Aunt Truth, smilingly; ‘but I hardly think he’ll have much time to lounge; when everything else fails, there’s always Dicky, you know.’
Geoffrey looked discouraged.
‘And, furthermore, I declare by the nose of the great Tam o’ Shanter that I will cut down every tree in the vicinity ere you shall lounge under it,’ said Jack.
‘Softly, my boy. Hill’s blue-gum forest is not so very far away. You’ll have your hands full,’ laughed Dr. Paul.
Here Margery and Bell joined the group after a quick walk up and down the deck.
‘Papa,’ said Bell, excitedly, ‘we certainly are nearing the place. Do you see that bend in the shore, and don’t you remember that the landing isn’t far below?’
‘Bell’s bump of locality is immense. There are nineteen bends in the shore exactly like that one before we reach the landing. How many knots an hour do you suppose this ship travels, my fair cousin?’ asked Geoffrey.
‘I could tell better,’ replied Bell calmly, ‘if I could ever remember how many knots made a mile, or how many miles made a knot; but I always forget.’
‘Oh, see! There’s a porpoise!’ cried Jack. ‘Polly, why is a porpoise like a water-lily?’
But before he could say ‘Guess,’ Phil, Geoff, and the girls had drawn themselves into a line, and, with a whispered ‘One, two, three,’ to secure a good start, replied in concert, ‘We-give-it-up!’
‘What a deafening shout!’ cried Aunt Truth, coming out of the cabin. ‘What’s the matter, pray?’
‘Nothing, aunty,’ laughed Polly. ‘But we have formed a society for suppressing Jack’s conundrums, and this is our first public meeting. How do you like the watchword?’
Aunt Truth smiled. ‘It was very audible,’ she said. ‘Yours is evidently not a secret society.’
‘I wish I could find out who originated this plan,’ quoth Jack, murderously. ‘But I suppose it’s one of you girls, and I can’t revenge myself. Oh, when will this barrier between the sexes be removed!’
‘I trust not in your lifetime,’ shuddered Polly, ‘or we might as well begin to “stand round our dying beds” at once.’
Chapter II.
The Journey
‘Away, away, from men and towns,
To the wild wood and the downs,
To the silent wilderness.’
Whatever the distance was in reality, the steamer had consumed more time than usual, and it was quite two o’clock, instead of half-past twelve, as they had expected, before they were landed on the old and almost forgotten pier, and saw the smoke of the Orizaba as she steamed away.
After counting over their bags and packages to see if anything had been forgotten,