CHAPTER XXII
IN THE WOODS
Bunker Blue seemed to be gone a long time. Five, ten--fifteen minuteswent past and he did not come back. Bunny and Sue began to get tired.
"He must be catching a lot of fish," said Bunny, after a bit, while hedangled his own hook in the water. Bunny wasn't catching anything--hedidn't have even a nibble, though he was using the right kind of hookand line, and he had a real "squiggily" worm on his hook--Bunker had putit there for him.
"Maybe Bunker caught a big fish," said Sue, "and it pulled him into thewater, eh, Bunny?"
Bunny shook his head.
"No," he said. "That didn't happen."
"Maybe it might," went on Sue. "There might be big fish in this lake. Ormaybe it was a muskrat, like the one Splash barked at."
Splash, asleep up in the front of the boat, hearing his name spoken,looked up and wagged his tail.
"I didn't call you," said Sue. "But, oh, Bunny! maybe Bunker _did_ fallin!"
Bunny shook his head again.
"No, he didn't fall in," said the little fellow. "If he had we'd haveheard him holler, and he hasn't hollered."
Sue thought that over. It seemed all right. She knew she would "holler,"as Bunny called it, if she fell into the water, and of course if a bigfish or a muskrat had pulled in Bunker, he, too, would cry out. And ithad been very still and quiet since the red-haired boy had gone ashoreon the island.
"I know what we can do," said Bunny, after a bit.
"What?" asked Sue.
"We can untie the boat, and row around to the other side of the islandwhere Bunker went," suggested Bunny. "He told us not to get out of theboat until he came back, and we won't, 'cause mother told us to mindBunker. But he didn't tell us not to row the boat around where he is."
"That's right," agreed Sue. "We can do that."
Bunny and Sue knew something about boats, and they could each row alittle. So while Bunny loosed the rope by which the boat was tied, Suetook up one oar. Then Bunny took the other. He shoved the boat out alittle way. It began to move, first slowly, and then faster. All at onceSue cried:
"Oh, Bunny! My umbrella!"
It was open, and a gust of wind almost blew it out of the boat. Bunnycaught the umbrella just in time. To do this he had to let go of hisoar, and it slid overboard, into the water. But Bunny was not thinkingabout the oar just then. He had a new idea.
As he held the open umbrella he felt the wind blowing strongly againstit. The wind was almost strong enough to blow the umbrella out of hishands. But he held on tightly.
"Oh, Bunny, your oar is gone!" cried Sue, as she saw it float away.
"I--I can't help it," answered her brother. "I can't reach it, Sue. Youget it."
"I can't. It's too far away."
"Well, let it go!" cried Bunny. "I know something else we can do, Sue.Oh, this will be fun! It's better than fishing!"
Sue was pulling, as best she could, on her one oar. But boats are notmeant to be rowed with one oar, though you can scull, or paddle, withone. If you row with one oar your boat swings around in a circle,instead of going straight ahead.
"I can't row this way, Bunny!" called Sue. She knew enough about boatsfor that. "You'll have to get your oar, Bunny."
"We won't need it, Sue," called her brother. "Take in your oar. We won'tneed that either. We're going to sail. Look! the umbrella is just like asail."
And so it was. The wind, blowing on the open umbrella Bunny held, wassending the rowboat along just as if a sail had been hoisted. The boatwas moving quite fast now. Bunny and Sue were so pleased that they didnot think about the lost oar, which had fallen overboard and hadfloated away. As Bunny had said, they did not need oars now.
"Isn't this fun!" cried Bunny.
"Yes," said Sue. "I like it. My dolly likes it, too! Do you like it,Splash?"
Splash did not answer. He hardly ever did answer, except with a bark ora whine, when Bunny or Sue spoke to him, and the children did notunderstand dog language. Anyhow, Splash seemed to like the umbrellasail, for he stretched out in the bottom of the boat and went to sleep.
Bunny held the open umbrella, and Sue held her doll. Of course, the dollhad nothing to do with the sailing of the boat, but Sue kept her in herarms.
"You aren't going to sail very far; are you, Bunny?" asked Sue as theboat kept on going faster and faster.
"Not very far," Bunny answered. "We'll just sail around the end of theisland where Bunker went fishing."
Now this would have been all right if the children had sailed around theend of the island where Bunker Blue happened to be. But they did not.It was not their fault, either. For Bunker had gone to the other end ofthe island, and he was sitting on a log, waiting for a fish to bite.
You see, this is the way it was. Bunker Blue told about it afterward. Hewent off the island, leaving Bunny and Sue in the boat. Bunker walked tothe lower end of the island. Bunny and Sue saw him going. He was goingto try for fish there.
But when the red-haired boy got to that end of the island he saw thatthe water was so shallow that no large fish could be caught in it.
"I'll just go to the other end," thought Bunker.
So, without calling to Bunny and Sue, Bunker walked along the othershore of the island, to the upper end. And Bunny and Sue, being behind alot of trees and bushes, did not know that Bunker was not in the placewhere he had said he was going.
Bunker found the water deep enough at the upper end of the island, andthere he sat down to fish.
"I'll just see if they're biting good here," he said to himself, "and,if they are, I'll go back and get the children."
Bunker had to wait quite a while for his first bite, and by that timeBunny and Sue had decided to start off themselves in the boat. And sothey did, with the umbrella for a sail, as I have told you.
Faster and faster they went, around the lower end of the island. Theyexpected to see Bunker there, but they did not, because he was at theupper end.
"Why--why--Bunker isn't here," said Sue, in surprise.
"Then we'd better go back," announced Bunny, still holding to theumbrella. "Stick your oar in the water, Sue, and steer back to where wewere."
You can steer a boat with one oar, if you can't row it with one, and Sueknew a little bit about steering. But the oar was too heavy for Sue'slittle hands, and it soon slipped over into the lake. She tried to grabit, but was too late. The second oar was lost overboard.
"Oh, dear!" Sue cried. "It's gone."
"Never mind," said Bunny. "We don't need oars with the umbrella for asail. Only we can't sail back where we were unless the wind blows theother way. And I don't see where Bunker is."
"Maybe he's gone home and left us," said Sue.
"He couldn't--not without a boat," objected Bunny. "We'll have to sailover to camp and get daddy or Uncle Tad to row back for him."
"Yes, let's sail to our camp," agreed Sue. "Won't they be s'prised tosee us come up this way with an umbrella?"
"I guess they will," said Bunny.
The wind blew stronger. It was all Bunny could do to hold to theumbrella now. The wind almost blew it from his hands. Even with Sue tohelp him it was hard work.
"If you could only tie it fast," suggested Sue.
"Maybe I can," said Bunny. "Here's a rope."
The rope by which the boat had been tied to a tree on the island lay inthe bottom of the boat. The umbrella had a crooked handle, and thetying of one end of the rope around this, helped Bunny to hold the queersail.
The boat now went on faster and faster.
"Why, there's our camp, away over there!" cried Sue, pointing. "Whydon't you sail to it, Bunny?"
Bunny looked. Indeed, the white tents of Camp Rest-a-While were on theother side of the lake--far away. And the wind was blowing the boatfarther and farther off. Bunny and Sue could not get back to camp, fornow they had nothing with which to steer their boat. Of course, if thewind had been blowing toward the tents, instead of away from it, theycould have gotten there without
steering. But now they could not.
"Oh, dear!" cried Sue. "Where are we going, Bunny?"
"We are going to the woods, I guess," he said. They were sailing towardthe wooded shores of the lake, away on the other side from their camp,and a long way down from the island where they had left Bunker Blue.
Harder blew the wind on the umbrella sail. Faster went the boat. Finallyit ran up on shore, right where the woods came down to the edge of thelake.
Splash jumped out with a bark, and began stretching himself. He did notlike to stay too long in a boat. He wanted to run about on shore.
"Bunny, where are we?" asked Sue.
"I don't know," answered her brother. "But we are on land somewhere, Iguess. It's nice woods, anyhow."
The trees and bushes grew thick all about.
"Let's get out," Bunny went on. He shut down the umbrella sail, and tookoff the rope. Then he tied the boat to a tree. He got out, and helpedSue.
"Where's our camp?" the little girl wanted to know.
Bunny looked across the lake. He could not see the white tents. Neithercould Sue.
"Bunny--Bunny," said the little girl slowly. "I--I guess--we're lostedagain."
"I--I guess so, too," agreed Bunny Brown.