You're an old slow poke. You
finished that picture long ago."

But Shirley delayed still longer to put her large camera carefully
away. The small one she tucked under her arm to take with her to the
river.

It was Kit's first trip to the little beach belonging to Bet's father.
The bath house with its tiny dressing rooms pleased her immensely.
"Imagine," she exclaimed, "building a house to dress and undress in. A
clump of mesquite bushes always served my purpose."

Kit could not pretend to be other than she was. Fearing that these
girls, whose homes were so elegant, might look down upon her, she had
planned to keep her affairs to herself, but whenever anything unusual
came up, she was startled by the contrast and blurted out the queer
makeshifts that they had in her crude home in the desert.

She had no need to fear. The girls were as interested in Kit's
description of her home life as they were in the exploits of the
cowboys that she loved to talk about.

"I'd just love to eat out under a cotton-wood tree by the stream. That
must be a lovely way to live," exclaimed Bet.

"I don't think you'd enjoy it for long, after what you're used to.
You'd want to get back to all that lovely glassware and beautiful
dishes. You'd miss your Manor."

"Of course I'd miss the Manor if I was away from it, but I'd love the
other, too, I know I would."

They had just come in sight of the broad Hudson and Kit stopped short
to gaze upon that wide flow of water.

"And oh, look at that lovely boat out there! Whose is it?"

"That's Dad's motor boat. I'm not allowed to run it, although I know I
could just as well as not. Dad seems to think I'm still a baby and a
girl baby at that."

They had reached the beach and Bet was opening the door of the boat
house as she spoke and when Kit saw the little green canoe, she was
speechless. She looked at it with glowing eyes.

"Isn't it a dear? It's mine!" said Bet.

"Can you go out with it whenever you want to?"

"Yes, any time."

"I've never been in a boat in my life!" Kit's breath came in excited
little gasps. "Could we go out in it today?"

"Never had a boat ride!" exclaimed Joy. "How funny! What did you do
with yourself?"

"Well, mostly I rode Powder, my cowpony. That was fun. Horseback
riding is great sport!"

"You're the lucky one! I've never had a horseback ride in my life."

"What!" cried Kit. "Never had a horseback ride? How funny!"

And everybody laugh