Fairview Boys at Lighthouse Cove/Chapter 1
Fairview Boys at Lighthouse Cove
OR
CARRIED OUT TO SEA
CHAPTER I
VACATION PLANS
"Last day of school; hurray!"
"No more lessons! No more books!"
"Nothing but fun, from now on! I say, Frank, catch Sammy; he's going to fall!"
Three boys were standing together in the school yard, making merry over the coming of the Summer vacation. The last one who spoke was a jolly-looking lad, with a gleam of mischief in his eyes. Suddenly he put out his foot, caught it around the ankle of one of his companions, and gently pushed him over backwards.
"Catch Sammy, Frank!" he cried, and the other boy grasped the toppling one just in time.
"I told you so!" cried the fun-loving lad, as he sprang to one side.
"Look here. Bob Bouncer, what do you mean by that?" demanded the one who had been pushed, as he stood upright again. "What did you do that for?" and he started toward his companion.
"Oh, it was only a joke," answered the one who had been called Bob Bouncer. "I wanted to have some fun. I feel just full of fun when I think what good times I'm going to have this Summer."
"Huh! just because you feel good you needn't knock me all around," went on Sammy Brown. But, though he spoke a bit crossly he could not help smiling at Bob, who was making funny faces, and dancing about, just out of reach.
"I didn't hurt you," cried Bob, who was generally "cutting-up," or thinking up some joke to play on his chums. "I waited until Frank was there to catch you before I shoved you."
"Humph! You're getting mighty thoughtful, all of a sudden," said Bob. "What about it, Frank?"
"That's right," answered the third lad. "I didn't know what he meant when he said I was to catch you, for you were going to fall. Let up, Bob, can't you?"
"Yes, I won't do anything more—right away. But say, have you fellows made any plans for this Summer?"
"Oh, I s'pose the folks'll go way as they always do," said Frank. "My father was talking about some place in the mountains."
"Near a lake?" asked Bob.
"I don't believe so. I didn't hear much about it."
"Then I wouldn't go," said Sammy. "I want to be near the water. We're going to a cottage near a big mountain lake, I think."
"That sounds good!" cried Frank. "I wish we were going near a lake. I want to learn to sail a boat the right way this year."
"Yes, then we won't have any more shipwrecks, the way we did when we went out in the Puff," laughed Bob.
"Where are your folks going?" asked Frank, of the lad who had pushed Sam into his arms.
"To the seashore for ours! It's the first time since I was a little fellow, and I'm going to have lots of fun. We're going on a sort of cove, where there's still-water swimming, and lots of fishing and crabbing. Not far off, is the regular ocean, but of course I won't be allowed to do much swimming in that. I can hang on the bathing ropes, though. Oh, I'm going to have some great times all right!"
Bob Bouncer's two chums looked rather enviously at him. He seemed to be going to have the best time that Summer vacation.
About the three boys was gathered a crowd of other school children. There was laughter, talk, and various kinds of excitement, for it was the last day of the term, and, after some simple exercises, the building would be closed for the long vacation.
Because of this, discipline was a little relaxed. It was a little past the regular opening hour, but the principal, Mr. Tetlow, did not want to mark any one tardy on that last day, so he told the janitor not to be in too much of a hurry to ring the bell.
On all sides were heard questions,
"Did you pass?"
"Where are you going this Summer?"
"Oh, did you hear about Henry Black?"
"No, what about him?"
"Why, he didn't pass again. This is the third time he'll be in the fifth grade."
"Oh, isn't that too bad! But you know he won't study."
"No, he's too fond of fun."
"Who are you talking about; Bob Bouncer?" asked someone who had just come into the yard.
"No, Henry Black."
"Oh, him! Say, isn't it time we went in? I've got to speak a piece."
"I'm glad I don't have to. I'm only in the chorus."
And so it went on, boys and girls from the higher grammar grades down to the kindergarten, talking and laughing together.
Finally, when the last of the straggling pupils had reached the school, the bell was rung, calling them into the big auditorium, where the closing exercises would be held. These would be over about noon, and there would be no other session.
After the usual exercises, singing, and the reading from the Bible, Mr. Tetlow said that there would be music and declamation. That last was a word the smaller pupils used but little. They called it "speaking pieces."
Nellie Somers was in the midst of declaiming a sad little piece about a boy who had lost his pocketbook. She recited the line:
"Where, oh, where, is Donald's money?"
And then, suddenly, as she paused for a moment, Bob Bouncer said in a shrill whisper:
"Fellows, I've got it!"
Instantly there was laughter, and poor Nellie, up on the platform, blushed and was unable to go on. All eyes were shifted to Bob, who turned red, and the principal, rising suddenly, looked sternly at the lad.
"Who said that?" he asked, sharply.
"I—I did, sir," stammered Bob.
"Why did you do it? Did you want to make trouble, and cause Nellie to feel badly—saying you had the pocketbook she spoke of?"
"No, sir. I didn't mean anything about a pocketbook. I wasn't even listening to what Nellie said."
"Then why did you speak? What did you mean when you said, so we all could hear you, that you had it?"
Bob looked first at Frank, and then at Sammy. They, too, were wondering what he had meant by speaking aloud in school, especially during the closing exercises.
"I—I meant that I had an—idea," went on Bob, blushing redder than before.
"Well," said Mr. Tetlow, "perhaps you meant no wrong, but the next time you get an idea, please don't announce it to the whole school that way, and interrupt the proceedings." He was smiling now, and Bob knew he was forgiven.
Bob was usually a pretty good boy in school, and the principal realized this, for a thing like that had never happened before. Bob's explanation was accepted, and, as it was the last day, Mr. Tetlow did not want to punish him.
"Steady now! Quiet down!" said Mr. Tetlow to the pupils, for many of them showed signs of laughter again. "We will overlook it this time, Bob, but don't do it again. You may go on, Nellie. I think Bob is sorry he interrupted you."
"Yes, sir, I am," said Bob, earnestly.
Nellie smiled down at him, for he and she were good friends. Then she finished reciting her piece, and was applauded, and the rest of the exercises went on. Then came the giving of diplomas to those who were to graduate from the grammar department.
This was followed by the awarding of some prizes, and certificates of good conduct, and for prompt and punctual attendance. Then, with a final song by the whole school, the program ended.
"School is dismissed, until the middle of September!" announced Mr. Tetlow, and with happy faces the children marched out to a lively tune, played by Miss Williams, one of the teachers.
In the yard there was more talk and laughter, as the boys and girls started for their homes.
"Did vou hear what Bob Bouncer said?"
"Sure! We all did!"
"Wasn't he terrible?"
"And how awful Nellie must have felt! I was real sorry for her."
"So was I. Bob was scared too, I guess."
Thus Bob's companions talked about him.
Frank and Sammy made their way through the crowd to the side of their chum.
"Say, what in the world was the matter with you?" demanded Frank.
"Were you talking in your sleep?" Sammy wanted to know.
"No, I wasn't," answered Bob, quickly. "It was just as I told Mr. Tetlow. I suddenly got an idea, and, before I knew it, I popped out and said it. I didn't even know Nellie was speaking, as I was thinking of something else."
"What was it?" asked Frank.
"Yes, you may as well tell us, now that you went that far," added Sammy.
"Well, it was an idea about our Summer vacation," went on Bob. "Our folks are going to the seashore, you know, and I don't see any reason why you fellows can't come too."
"There are two good reasons," said Frank. "I have one, and Sammy has the other."
"None of our folks are going to the shore," said Sammy. "I wish we were, though, for we could have lots of fun together. Now we'll be a couple of hundred miles apart," he added, in disappointed tones.
"And that's just what my idea is about!" exclaimed Bob. "There's no use in us being separated. Look here, fellows, our folks are going to take a big cottage at the shore. It's too big a house for us, for I heard mom say so. But we couldn't get a smaller one. But I'm glad of it, for now there's going to be room for you two fellows. So why can't you come to the shore with me?"
"That would be swell!" cried Frank.
"It sure would," agreed Sammy. "But would our folks let us?"
"The only way to find out is to ask!" declared Bob quickly. "Come on, I'll go around with you and we'll see if they won't let you fellows go."
"First you'd better find out if your mother will want us," suggested Frank, who was quite practical, at times.
"Yes, we don't want to invite ourselves," put in Sammy. "My mother will be sure to ask first what your mother said, Bob."
"All right, then, we can go around to my house, and I'll ask mom. But I know she will want to have you. Say, maybe we won't have some good times together this Summer!"
"Where are you going?" asked Frank.
"To a place called Lighthouse Cove. There's a lighthouse there, and dangerous rocks, a bay, and"
"Any pirate treasure buried there?" asked Sammy, quickly.
"Ho! Ho! Listen to him!" cried Frank. "There he goes again, making up a mystery before he's even seen the place."
"Well, there might be pirate gold!" cried Sammy, stoutly.
"And you can have a hunt for it, if you'll only come," said Bob.
"Oh, I'll be sure to come if the folks will let me," replied Sammy. "Come on, let's hurry."
The three boys left their other school companions behind, and hastened on toward Bob's house. As Bob had said she would, his mother readily agreed to the plan of having Sammy and Frank go to the seashore cottage with the Bouncer family.
"Mr. Bouncer and I will be very glad to have you," she said to Sammy and Frank. "You will be company for Bob, and I won't have to amuse him so much. Come, by all means. I'll write notes to each of your mothers, inviting you, and then they'll know it will be all right."
The notes were soon ready, and Frank and Sammy, accompanied by Bob, set off for the homes of the two chums, to get the desired permission.
"Let me know whether or not you can go," Mrs. Bouncer called after Frank and Sammy.
"We will!" they chorused.
"And if you do go, be sure to bring picks and shovels to dig for the pirate gold," she added, with a smile.
"What's that!" cried Sammy, eagerly, and he started back on the run toward Mrs. Bouncer, who stood in the doorway of her house.