en had sailed around the
end 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 of
the 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. He
went off the island, leaving Bunny and Sue in the boat. Bunker walked to
the lower end of the island. Bunny and Sue saw him going. He was going
to try for fish there.
But when the red-haired boy got to that end of the island he saw that
the 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 other
shore of the island, to the upper end. And Bunny and Sue, being behind a
lot of trees and bushes, did not know that Bunker was not in the place
where he had said he was going.
Bunker found the water deep enough at the upper end of the island, and
there 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 time
Bunny and Sue had decided to start off themselves in the boat. And so
they did, with the umbrella for a sail, as I have told you.
Faster and faster they went, around the lower end of the island. They
expected to see Bunker there, but they did not, because he was at the
upper end.
"Why--why--Bunker isn't here," said Sue, in surprise.
"Then we'd better go back," announced Bunny, still holding to the
umbrella. "Stick your oar in the water, Sue, and steer back to where we
were."
You can steer a boat with one oar, if you can't row it with one, and Sue
knew a little bit about steering. But the oar was too heavy for Sue's
little hands, and it soon slipped over into the lake. She tried to grab
it, 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 a
sail. Only we can't sail back where we were unless the wind blows the
other 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 sail
over 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 to
see us come
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