Madge Morton, Captain of the Merry Maid | Page 4

the boat without upsetting it."
Phil slipped out of her sweater. But Eleanor caught at her skirts from
behind. "Sit down, Phil. Here comes that wretched Madge, swimming
toward us from over there. She purposely stayed under water."
The three friends looked in the direction, indicated by Phyllis. They
saw Madge moving toward the boat as calmly as though she had been
in her bathing suit and had dived off the skiff for pure pleasure. She had
been swimming under the water for a little distance and had risen at a
spot at which her friends were not looking. As she lifted her head clear
of the water a ray of the afternoon sunlight slanted across her face,
touching its mischievous curves, until she looked like a naughty
water-sprite.
In an instant Madge's hands were alongside the boat, and Phil pulled
her into it. "I am so sorry, girls," she explained, shaking the water. out
of her hair; "but I had such a wonderful idea that it really knocked me
overboard. I was afraid I would throw you all into the river, so I
jumped. But don't you want to know my plan? We are going to spend
the summer on the water!"
"In the water, you mean, don't you?" laughed Phyllis, as she wrapped
her sweater about her friend. "Madge, will any one ever be able to
guess what you are going to do next?"
"Just listen, girls," Madge went on with shining eyes. "I have been
determined, ever since I got my letter from Cousin Louisa, that we girls
should do something original for our summer vacation. And while I

was rowing peacefully along, without meaning to create a disturbance,
it suddenly came to me that the most perfect way to spend a holiday
would be to live out on the water. First I thought we might just take the
'Water Witch' and row along the river all summer, sleeping in hotels
and boarding-places at night. But I know we must have a chaperon; and
meals and things would make it cost too much. Then it occurred to me
that we could get a boat big enough to live in by day and sleep in by
night--a canal boat, or something----"
"Madge Morton!" cried Phil, clapping both hands, "you are a goose, but
sometimes I think you are a genius as well. You mean you can rent a
houseboat with your money and we can truly spend our vacation
together out on the water. I never heard of such a splendid plan in my
life."
Madge gave a little shiver, half from the cold and half from happiness.
She was beginning to feel the chill of her wet clothing.
"Eleanor, Phyllis, Lillian," she said impressively. "I hereby invite you
to spend six weeks of your vacation aboard a houseboat. Now, the next
thing to be done is to find one."


CHAPTER II
CHOOSING A CHAPERON
Madge Morton walked into the school library with a grave expression
on her usually laughing face. She had two letters in her hand, which she
intended putting into the school post-bag, that was always kept in the
library. One of the letters she had written to her uncle and aunt,
explaining her houseboat scheme in the most sensible and
matter-of-fact fashion; for Madge knew that the fate of the four chums
depended, first, on what Mr. and Mrs. Butler thought of their niece's
idea. If they disapproved, Madge was certain that she could never be

happy again, for there was no other possible way of spending Cousin
Louisa's gift that would give her any pleasure. Madge's second letter
was directed to a boy cousin, who was at college in Baltimore. She
explained that she expected to rent a houseboat for the summer, and she
asked her cousin to give her the address of places in Baltimore where
such a boat could be hired. She wished it to cost the smallest sum of
money possible, for Eleanor had suggested that even houseboat girls
must eat. Indeed, the water was likely to make them especially hungry.
If all the two hundred dollars went for the houseboat, what were they to
do for food?
Madge's sole fortune was just ten dollars a month, which she used for
her dress allowance. Her uncle and aunt were not rich, but they were
paying for her education, and Madge knew she was expected to make
her own living as soon as she was old enough. Mr. and Mrs. Butler had
hoped she would become a teacher, for they held the old-fashioned
southern belief that teaching school was the only avenue open to the
woman who was forced by necessity to make her own living.
Madge, however, had decided, a long time before, that she would much
rather die than