re! I _knew_ you'd ask me to do that!" cried Rose, and her voice was
not just as pleasant as it might have been.

"Never mind, Rose," whispered Russ to her. "I'll give you a longer ride
than I give them. Anyway, they'll soon get tired of the raft, and then
you and I can play sailor, and steamboat around as much as we like."

"And will you let me help push with the pole?" asked Rose.

"Yes, you can do that, of course," Russ agreed.

"All right," assented Rose. "I'll wait. Go on, Violet and Laddie. You
may have your ride first."

With shouts of glee the twins ran down to the edge of the lake where the
raft, or, as Russ called it, the "steamboat," was tied by a rope to an
old stump. Russ, with the help of Tom Hardy, the hired man, had made the
raft, and on it the children had had lots of fun.

Russ now took his place in the middle, holding a long pole by which he
pushed the raft about in the shallow cove of the lake. The water here
was not deep--hardly over the children's knees.

"All aboard!" cried Russ, and Laddie and Violet got on the raft. Mother
Bunker and Grandma Bell sat down in the shade to watch, while Mun Bun
and Margy ran over to a little hill, covered with dry, slippery pine
needles, and there they started to roll over and over down the slope,
tumbling about in the soft grass at the foot, laughing and giggling.

Up and down, and around and around the little cove of Lake Sagatook Russ
pushed his little twin brother and sister. The raft was just about large
enough for three children of the size of those who were on it, but any
more would have made it sink to the sandy bottom of the lake. Then,
though they might have played "shipwreck," it would not be as much fun,
Russ thought.

"Toot! Toot!" cried Russ, making believe he was the steamboat's whistle.
Then he ding-donged the bell and hissed, to let off steam. Violet and
Laddie laughed, and did the same thing, pretending they were part of the
engine of the boat.

"Well, I think you have ridden on the steamboat long enough now, Laddie
and Vi!" called Mother Bunker, after a bit. "Give Rose a turn."

"Just one more ride!" pleaded Laddie.

"All right--just one more. But that's the last," said Russ.

So he poled the raft across the cove again, and then his little brother
and sister got off while Rose waded out in her bare feet and got on
board, carrying a pole so she could help push the raft; for it had no
sails like a sailboat, and no motor like a motor-b