Baby Island by Carol Ryrie Brink, Helen Sewell Read Free Book Online Page B

well as the old. The girls fed him and petted him.
    Although Mary had been the one to rescue him, he soon became Jean’s particular baby. Some spirit of mischief and adventure in the two linked them together almost from the start. Jean named him Prince Charley after the ranch her father managed in Australia, and it was not long before he knew his name and came when he was called. Unfortunately he often got himself into trouble with Mary, because he liked to steal Jonah’s bottle, pull Ann Elizabeth’s hair, or get the twins into mischief. But he was so gay and amusing that they could forgive him a great deal.
    The girls soon settled down to a regular routine of housekeeping. As the days passed Mary checked them off onher calendar, so that they would know where they were in point of time, and Jean as regularly “mailed” her letter to Aunt Emma, sealing it in an empty can and tossing it out to sea. Sometimes the waves brought it back, sometimes on a calm day when the tide was going out it danced away in the sunshine until it was lost to sight. Mary always sighed and shook her head when Jean performed this rite; but she said nothing, as Jean seemed to derive some comfort from it.

    One of the first things they had to do was to build a pen for the babies, so that they could play safely without straying away. In the shade of a couple of palms they built a small stockade by driving sharpened sticks close togetherinto the ground. It was a hard task but well worth the trouble, for the twins and Ann Elizabeth were content to play there for hours without danger.
    Another great achievement was the building of the “pram”—perambulator for long, pram for short. This, like the tepee, was an idea which they had got from Cousin Alex’s fund of Indian lore. They made a litter of boughs, tied together with the strong sinewy vines that abounded everywhere and some pieces of their precious rope. More vines and rope made a sort of double harness which the girls put around their shoulders. When they wanted to go anywhere, they loaded the litter with blankets and babies and dragged the whole thing along behind them. True, it was very slow, and they once lost Blue off altogether and had to go back nearly a quarter of a mile for him. But on the whole the pram was very successful. They found the abundance of vines useful for many purposes. Jean discovered a natural swing hanging between two trees in the edge of the jungle.
    “Don’t you let either of them fall, Jean,” warned Mary. “I’ve got an awful responsibility to Mrs. Snodgrass, and I don’t know whether she would approve of swinging or not.”
    “Oh, they love it, Mary, and I’ll be awfully careful of them. You know,” Jean added a little wistfully, “I’m really beginning to feel settled—now that we have a swing.”
    They soon discovered that, when the tide was out, thelittle sun-warmed pools among the rocks made splendid bathtubs for the babies. One morning while baths were in progress, Jean suddenly began to rub her eyes.
    “Mary, do you see what I see?”
    “I see four darling babies, if that’s what you mean,” said Mary happily.
    “No, look down at that sandy stretch! Look! There are funny little squirts of water coming up.”
    “Sure enough,” said Mary.
    “But Mary, you’re so calm about it. I think it’s mighty queer to see water squirting right out of the sand. Come on, Pink, you’re dry enough, now. Let’s investigate.” Taking Elisha by the hand, and Prince Charley on her shoulder, she went down the beach to look at the queer little holes from which the water came. She picked up a piece of driftwood, and began to dig where the tiny spout of water had been. Presently she was digging faster and faster.
    “Ach! Mary! There’s something down here,” she called. “And it’s going down just as fast as I can dig. Oh, wait a minute, you! I’m getting it!” Suddenly she gave a triumphant shout. “Mary, look what the cat brought in!” And Jean