Madge Morton, Captain of the Merry Maid | Page 7

decks and trailed over the sides
into the clear water. And on the deck of the little boat, lying or sitting at
their ease, she could see herself and her friends.
"Wake up, Phil! Come back to earth, please," teased Madge, giving her
usually sensible friend a sudden pinch. "I am going downstairs now to
ask Miss Tolliver if we can go into Baltimore day after to-morrow. We
must find our houseboat at once. School is so nearly over Miss Tolliver
will be sure to let us go."
"But the chaperon, Madge," reminded Eleanor. "We haven't decided on
one, you know."
"I have thought of a chaperon, if you girls are willing to have her," said
Madge almost hesitatingly.
"Well," cried the other three voices in chorus, "who is it? Tell us
sometime to-day!"
"Miss Jones!" declared Madge, a note of defiance in her voice. "I'm
going to invite her now before I have time to change my mind. I'll
explain later." Springing from her chair, she ran from the room, leaving
her three friends to stare at each other in silent amazement.


CHAPTER III
THE SEARCH FOR A HOUSEBOAT
"Eleanor Butler, do hurry!" urged Madge two days later. "If we miss
the train, I feel I shall never forgive you." The two girls were preparing
for their trip to Baltimore.
"Let me alone, Madge," Eleanor returned. "If you will stay out of the
room for ten minutes, I promise to be ready. You've talked so much in

the last half hour that I haven't known what I was doing and I don't
know now. You had better make another call upon Miss Jones. She is
even more enthusiastic about your old houseboat scheme than you are."
Eleanor laughed as Madge disappeared in the direction of Miss Jones's
room.
"You must wish with all your heart that we shall find the houseboat
to-day, Miss Jones," declared Madge in her impulsive fashion. "You
see, everything depends on our not having to waste any time. The
sooner we find our boat, the sooner we can begin our delightful
vacation."
Miss Jones smiled. She was beginning to understand the impetuous
Madge better than she had ever dreamed of knowing her, and she was
very grateful for her invitation. Miss Jones was fairly well aware of
how much it had cost her pupil to ask her. "Yes, I shall be thinking of
you girls every minute," she declared. "Let me see. This is the
twenty-fifth of May. School will close in another week. You girls wish
to spend a week at home with your parents and relatives; but just as
early in June as possible we are to go aboard our houseboat. That is our
plan, isn't it, Madge?"
Madge nodded. Then, as she heard Phil and Lillian calling her, she
waved a hasty farewell and darted from the room.
Madge had received a letter from the boy cousin who was at school in
Baltimore. He had given her several addresses in Baltimore where there
was just a bare chance that she might find a ready-to-use houseboat. He
assured her, however, that houseboats were usually made to order, and
that she might find some difficulty in securing what she wished, and
must, therefore, not become easily discouraged.
Just before noon the four young women arrived in Baltimore on their
quest for a house-boat. Lillian and Eleanor demanded their luncheon at
once, but Phil and Madge protested against eating luncheon so early.
"You can't be hungry already," argued Madge. "As for me, I shall never
be able to eat until we find our boat."

For two hours the girls tramped about the boat yards in search of their
treasure. They saw canoes and motor boats of every size and kind, and
models of private yachts, but not a trace of a houseboat could they find.
The representatives of the various boat companies whom they
interviewed suggested the building of a houseboat at a cost of anywhere
from six hundred to a thousand dollars.
Lillian and Eleanor were the first to complain of being tired. Then Phil,
who was usually the sweetest-tempered of the four girls, began to show
signs of irritability. Madge, however, undaunted and determined, would
not think of giving up the search.
"Just one more place, girls," she begged; "then we can rest and have
our luncheon somewhere. This is a very large ship-building yard we are
going to. I am sure we can find our boat there."
Half an hour later the four chums turned wearily away from another
fruitless quest. They were now in a part of Baltimore which none of
them had ever seen before. A few blocks farther down the street they
could see the line of the water and the masts of several sailing vessels
that were lying