an, don't you?" laughed Phyllis, as she wrapped
her sweater about her friend. "Madge, will any one ever be able to
guess what you are going to do next?"

"Just listen, girls," Madge went on with shining eyes. "I have been
determined, ever since I got my letter from Cousin Louisa, that we
girls should do something original for our summer vacation. And while
I was rowing peacefully along, without meaning to create a disturbance,
it suddenly came to me that the most perfect way to spend a holiday
would be to live out on the water. First I thought we might just take
the 'Water Witch' and row along the river all summer, sleeping in
hotels and boarding-places at night. But I know we must have a
chaperon; and meals and things would make it cost too much. Then it
occurred to me that we could get a boat big enough to live in by day
and sleep in by night--a canal boat, or something----"

"Madge Morton!" cried Phil, clapping both hands, "you are a goose, but
sometimes I think you are a genius as well. You mean you can rent a
houseboat with your money and we can truly spend our vacation together
out on the water. I never heard of such a splendid plan in my life."

Madge gave a little shiver, half from the cold and half from happiness.
She was beginning to feel the chill of her wet clothing.

"Eleanor, Phyllis, Lillian," she said impressively. "I hereby invite
you to spend six weeks of your vacation aboard a houseboat. Now, the
next thing to be done is to find one."

CHAPTER II

CHOOSING A CHAPERON

Madge Morton walked into the school library with a grave expression on
her usually laughing face. She had two letters in her hand, which she
intended putting into the school post-bag, that was always kept in the
library. One of the letters she had written to her uncle and aunt,
explaining her houseboat scheme in the most sensible and matter-of-fact
fashion; for Madge knew that the fate of the four chums depended,
first, on what Mr. and Mrs. Butler thought of their niece's idea. If
they disapproved, Madge was certain that she could never be happy
again, for there was no other possible way of spending Cousin Louisa's
gift that would give her any pleasure. Madge's second letter was
directed to a boy cousin, who was at college in Baltimore. She
explained that she expected to rent a houseboat for the summer, and she
asked her cousin to give her the address of places in Baltimore where
such a boat could be hired.