"Go ahead, Sarah," said Dolly, good-naturedly. "We"ll take care of Gladys. She won"t cry, will she?"
"That she won"t. She"s the best baby in the world. There"s a couple of crackers you can give her if she"s hungry, or the cook will give you a cup of milk for her. I won"t be gone long."
"Don"t stay more than half an hour, Sarah," said Dotty; "I"d just as lieve keep the baby but I don"t know as Mrs. Norris would like it to have you go away from the child."
"Oh, pshaw!" said Dolly; "the baby is all right with us. Stay as long as you want to, Sarah; I just love to take care of babies."
So Sarah went away and the two girls proceeded to give Gladys the time of her life. They soon tired of the swing and took the baby out into the woods, where they crowned her with leaves and called her Queen of the May.
The child laughed and crowed, and as her language was limited she called both the girls Doddy, and beamed on them both impartially. Herself she called Daddy, being unable to achieve her own name.
"Two Doddies take Daddy saily-bye!" she cried, waving her fat hands toward the lake.
"Oh, no," said Dolly; "Daddy go saily-bye when Jack comes home."
"No! no wait for Dak! Daddy "ant to go saily _now_! Daddy go in boat!
Two Doddy go in boat and sail Daddy far, far away!" The two little arms waved as if indicating a journey round the world, and the baby face beamed so coaxingly that Dolly couldn"t resist it.
"We"ll go down to the sh.o.r.e," she said, "and Gladys can paddle her hands in the water; that will be nice."
"Ess!" and the baby danced with glee as the three went down to the lake.
There was a short bit of fairly good beach at the Norrises" place, and here the children sat down to play. A sail boat, a row boat and a canoe were tied there and soon Gladys renewed her plea to go sailing.
The girls tried to divert her mind, for they were not willing to take the responsibility of taking the little girl out on the water.
"Maybe we might take her out in the row boat," suggested Dotty, but Dolly said, "No, I"d rather not. I can row well enough, but you can"t do much with your weak arm and suppose anything should happen to this blessed child! No, siree, Dot; I"m not going to take any such risk."
"I think you"re silly. We could row around near sh.o.r.e and it would please the baby a heap. She"s going to cry if you don"t."
Dotty"s prediction seemed in imminent danger of being fulfilled, but Dolly sprang up and began a frolicking song and dance intended to divert the baby"s attention.
But for a few moments only Gladys was pleased with this entertainment.
With the persistency of her kind, she returned again and again to the subject of her greatly desired water trip.
Still being denied, she set up a first cla.s.s crying act. It scarcely seemed possible that so many tears could come from those two blue eyes!
She didn"t scream or howl, but she cried desperately, continuously, and with heartbroken sobs until the two caretakers were filled with consternation.
No effort to divert her was successful. In no game or play would she show any interest, and as the little face grew red from the continued sobbing, Dotty exclaimed, "That child will have a fit, if she doesn"t get what she wants! Now look here, Doll; we won"t go in a boat, but let"s put the baby in the canoe and just pull her back and forth gently by the rope. It"s tied fast to the post."
Dolly looked doubtful, but as the baby sensed Dotty"s words a heavenly smile broke over her face and she exclaimed, "Ess, ess! Daddy go saily-bye all aloney!"
Dolly still hesitated, but Dotty picked up the eager child and plumped her down in the middle of the canoe, which was partly drawn up on the shelving beach. A little push set it afloat and grasping the rope firmly, Dotty gently pushed and pulled the canoe back and forth, while the baby squealed with delight.
"That can"t do any harm," said Dotty, pleased with the success of her scheme, and Dolly agreed that Gladys was safe enough as long as she sat still.
"Even if she should spill out, she"d only get wet," said Dotty; "the water isn"t six inches deep where she is. And you _will_ sit still, won"t you, baby?"
"Ess, Daddy sit still," and the baby folded her hands and sat motionless in the canoe, only swaying slightly with the motion as Dotty slowly pulled her in sh.o.r.e and then let her drift back again.
"It"s like a new-fashioned cradle," said Dolly; "I"ll hold the rope for awhile, Dot."
"All right, take it; it hurts your hand a little after awhile."
So Dolly pulled the rope and the two girls sitting on the beach chatted away while the baby floated back and forth.
"Let me take it now," said Dotty after a time; "you must be tired."
"No, I"m not a bit tired, and I can use two hands while you can use only one. You oughtn"t to use that left flapper of yours much while it"s weak, Dot."
"Pooh, it isn"t weak! It"s as strong as anything. Give me that rope!"
"No, sir, I won"t do it," and there was a good-natured scuffle for the possession of the rope as the four hands grabbed at it and each pair tried to get the other pair off.
"Let go, you!" cried Dotty, pulling at Dolly"s hands.
"Let go yourself!" Dolly replied, laughingly, and then,--they never knew quite how it happened, but somehow their scramble had pulled the rope loose from the post, and as they twisted each other"s hands, the rope slipped away from them and slid away under the water.
The lake was full of cross currents and even before they realised what had happened the canoe was several feet from sh.o.r.e. To Gladys it seemed like some new game and she clapped her hands and shouted in glee, "Daddy saily all aloney,--far, far away!" She waved her baby arms and rocked back and forth in joy.
Dotty and Dolly were for a moment paralysed with fright. Then Dotty, grabbing Dolly"s arm, said, "_Don"t_ stand there like that! We must _do_ something! That baby will drown! Let"s holler for help."
Dotty tried to scream, but her heart was beating so wildly and her nerves pulsing so rapidly she could make scarcely any sound, and her wail of agony died away in a whisper.
"I can"t yell, either," said Dolly, hoa.r.s.ely, as she trembled like a leaf. "But we must _do_ something! _Don"t_ go to pieces, Dotty--"
"Go to pieces nothing! You"re going to faint yourself. Now stop it, Dollyrinda," and Dotty gave her a shake. "We"ve got to save that child, no matter how we do it!-- Sit still, baby, won"t you?" she called to Gladys.
But the child bounced about in her new-found freedom and grasping each side of the canoe with her little hands began to rock it as hard as her baby strength would allow.
"Oh!" breathed Dolly, who was watching with staring eyes; "sit still, little Gladys; don"t rock the boat, dearie."
"Ess; rock-a-by-baby, in a saily boat!" and again Gladys swayed the little craft from side to side.
"We must make her stop that first of all," and Dotty wrung her hands as she stepped down to the water"s edge and even into the water as she called to the baby. "Gladys, sit very still, and Doddy come out there in another boat. Sit _very_ still."
Gladys did sit still, and the canoe floated steadily on the smooth lake.
But it drifted farther and farther from land and now about twenty feet of water separated the baby from the sh.o.r.e.
"We"ve got to get in the row boat and go out there," said Dotty, who was already untying the rope.
"Yes, it"s the only thing to do," agreed Dolly; "but you can"t row, Dot, and I can. So I"ll take the boat, and you run for help. I don"t know whether you"d better go to the Norrises; I don"t think there"s anybody there but the cook, or whether you"d better make straight for home and get your father to come."
"I"ll do both! I can run, if I can"t row!" and Dotty flew off like a deer up the hill toward the Norris camp.
Dolly stepped into the boat and shipped the oars. It was a large flat-bottomed boat and the oars were heavy. Dolly knew how to row but she was not expert at it, and, too, she dreaded to turn around with her back to the baby. "Though," she thought to herself, in an agony of conflicting ideas, "I"ve got to row out there, and I can"t do it and keep watch of Gladys both."
She pulled a few strokes, twisting her head between each to get a glimpse of the baby who was now sitting quietly in the canoe, drifting out toward the middle of the lake.