Everyone was up early to do as many chores as possible before breakfast. They made the beds, fed the chickens, gathered the eggs, milked the cows, took them down to the lake and then hurried them out to pasture.
“Think you can do it by yourself with Mollie’s help pretty soon?” Uncle Bob asked Naomi.
“Maybe not quite yet,” Naomi answered slowly, “but I’ll try before long.”
Somehow the cows looked extra big this morning as she thought about trying to handle them alone. What would she do if they decided to go into the woods instead of into the pasture?
Mother had packed a lunch to eat somewhere along the way, and shortly after breakfast they were down by the shore of the lake and climbing into the boat. Father pushed away from the shore and paddled out a few yards with an oar. Then he sat down and began to do things to the engine that was in the middle of the launch. Finally he rocked a wheel back and forth a few times, ending with a quick spin. Nothing happened.
Again he twisted and turned things here and there, then once more rocked the wheel. After several minutes of working, there was a sputtering and coughing — and at last the engine gave a roar.
By now the boat had drifted the wrong direction, so Father quickly grabbed a rope fastened to the rudder under the water at the back of the boat. Immediately, the launch swung around and headed out into the lake.
The girls held tightly to the sides of the launch, but they smiled and laughed with pleasure. As they got out into the deeper part of the lake, there were choppy little waves that made the boat bounce up and down as though it were spanking the waves to make them behave. The sun was warm, but the breeze was nice and cool and felt good as it blew their hair straight back from their faces.
As they came to a point of land that jutted out a short distance, Father cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted above the noise of the engine, “That’s Indian Point. There’s an Indian grave back in the woods a few feet. And that island we’re passing on your left is Goat Island. Nobody goes there much. Too much poison ivy all over it. See that nice strip of sandy shore this side of that bluff over there? We call that Sandy Beach. It’s the best place to swim on the whole lake. We’ll go there someday.”
A little later, he pointed out a large white pine tree that towered above the other trees along the shore. “There’s a huge nest of sticks at the top of that tree — can you see it? It’s an eagle’s nest, a bald eagle. Look sharp — there’s a pair of them now, circling way up there in the sky.”
There they were, so high above them they looked like tiny gliders.
The water was more calm after they had rounded Indian Point, and soon they passed half a dozen tiny cabins. Mother explained that they were for summer tourists. After what seemed a very long time, the lake narrowed down to a river. There was a channel between wide patches of what Father said was wild rice.
“The Indians will be harvesting it this fall. It’s very good. We’ll try to buy some from them. Watch now, on the left side. We’ll be going by an Indian village very shortly. There it is now, just up ahead.”
Looking where he pointed, they saw a cluster of small log cabins in a clearing by the river. One curious building was made of poles rounded over like big hoops and covered with birch bark. It was a summer building that they called a wigwam, Mother explained. A garden was on one side.
Father slowed down the engine so that they could smile and wave at the Indian children who came running down the bank to watch them go by.
“Someday let’s stop and get to know them,” Naomi coaxed eagerly, but Peggy Jean wasn’t so sure she wanted to. She felt safer in the boat.
“I wonder if anyone has ever told them about the Lord Jesus and God’s love for them?” Mother was thinking aloud as they all twisted around to get a last glimpse of the children. Peggy Jean was to think of that years later when God gave her the opportunity to do that very thing.
It was about eleven o’clock when they reached a place in the river where there was a large dock to which several boats were already tied. Father slowly edged the launch along the side of the dock where there was an empty place and tied a rope around a post to hold securely. Then he helped each one to climb up onto the dock. Last of all he jumped out himself and stretched his arms and legs.
“Now for a bit of a hike,” he said, grinning. “We’re not there yet. The town’s about three-fourths of a mile up this trail so we’d better get going.”
“We won’t need long for shopping,” Mother suggested, as they walked briskly. “We can probably be back at the boat by one o’clock and eat our lunch as we start for home.”
It seemed a very long walk to Peggy Jean, who had to run most of the way to keep up with the rest, but finally they were there.
“Is this town?” the girls cried in surprise. “Why, there’s only a few little houses and this bigger one with the funny sidewalk made out of boards in front of it. Where are all the stores?”
“Wait until you see what all is in this one building right here,” Father said, smiling. “See the second story up there? That’s the town’s hotel. Walk right in this door and see what our town has to offer.”
Inside, they found the store was so full of things that the few shoppers hardly had room to move about. There was a keg of nails sitting next to a barrel of apples. Harnesses, hams and slabs of bacon hung overhead, along with pots and pans and gardening tools. The store seemed to be a combination of grocery, dry goods, hardware and drug store. On one side in the back was the post office, and on the other side there was a potbellied stove with a few men sitting around it talking. The stove was not burning, for it was a warm day, but it appeared to be a general meeting place to hear the news of the town.
While Mother and Father were doing their shopping, the girls looked around for books or toys, but there didn’t seem to be any. They saw some round, white, hard peppermints and lemon drops, and the girls were glad when they heard their mother say, “I must get some of these. Bob is fond of them. Won’t he be pleased when we bring him the two letters from Sue that are in the mail.”
The girls knew that Aunt Sue was still back East in Philadelphia working until Uncle Bob and Father got a house built for them.
They didn’t walk quite so fast on the way back to the boat, for Father’s arms were filled with boxes of canning jars, and each of the rest had something to carry also.
The launch started without so much sputtering this time, and they munched happily on their sandwiches as they started homeward. They had hardly finished their lunch before Peggy fell sound asleep, and she didn’t wake up until they reached their own boat landing.