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Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue at Christmas Tree Cove, a novel by Laura Lee Hope |
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Chapter 13. A Crash |
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_ CHAPTER XIII. A CRASH Bunker Blue, who was at the steering wheel of the _Fairy_, heard the dull noise, felt the shock, and saw the boat tip over to one side. Instantly he pulled the wire which shut off the motor, and then he turned the steering wheel over, trying to make the boat come upright again. This the craft did, though Sue kept on calling: "We're going to sink!" Soon the boat was resting quietly in the water, on a "level keel," as a sailor would say, and floating slowly along. "Now we're all right, Sue!" said Bunny. "Stop your yelling! We're not going to sink!" "How do you know?" she asked. "We bumped into something, and maybe there's a hole, and the water's coming in, and----" Just then Mr. and Mrs. Brown came running up on deck, followed by Uncle Tad and Captain Ross. The old seaman, with an anxious look around, called to Bunker Blue. "What happened? Did some one run into us?" "Felt more as if we ran into something," Bunker answered. "But I didn't see so much as a canoe." "We struck something under water, of that I'm sure," said Captain Ross. "We'd better take a look. We're near shore, anyhow, and it won't take long to row over if we have to," he added. "But we surely did hit something." "Maybe it was a whale," suggested Sue. "Whales don't come up in the bay. They're too big and fat," declared Bunny. "Well, maybe then it was a shark," the little girl went on. "They're not so fat." Captain Ross and Mr. Brown hurried below deck again, but presently came up, and the seaman said: "We can't find anything wrong below--no leak or anything. We may have hit a big, submerged log or piece of a wreck. Start the motor again, Bunker, and we'll see if that's all right." The gasolene engine was not damaged, but something else was wrong. As soon as the machinery started there was a trembling and throbbing throughout the whole boat, but she did not move ahead. "I see what the matter is!" said Captain Ross. "The propeller is broken. It hit something." "Oh, can't we go to Christmas Tree Cove?" asked Sue. "We'll get there somehow," answered Captain Ross. "But the propeller is surely broken." And so it proved. The propeller, you know, is something like an electric fan. It whirls around underwater and pushes the boat ahead. The propeller on the _Fairy_ had struck a floating log and had been broken, as they found out later. "If we can't go by means of the engine we can sail," remarked Captain Ross, when it was found that the boat would not move an inch, no matter how fast the motor whirled around. "Hoist the sail, Bunker. We'll get Bunny Brown and his sister Sue to Christmas Tree Cove yet! Hoist the sail!" "Oh, it's lots of fun to sail!" cried Bunny. "I like it better than motoring!" added Sue, who was no longer yelling. Soon the white sail was hoisted, and, as the wind blew, the _Fairy_ slipped easily along through the water. There was no "jiggle" now, as Bunny called it, for the motor was not running like a sewing machine down in the hold of the boat. Nearer and nearer the boat approached the shore. The clumps of green trees became more plain. Soon little houses and bungalows could be seen. Then the children saw a long dock extending out into the water. "That's where we tie up," said Captain Ross. "I think the wind will hold until we get there." "It's too bad you had such bad luck bringing us here," said Mrs. Brown. "I'm sorry, Captain, that your boat is broken." "Oh, a smashed propeller isn't anything," he answered, with a laugh. "I was going to get a new one, anyhow. I'll just land you folks and then I'll sail back to Bellemere and have my boat fixed." "And then you can come back and get us," said Sue; "but not for a long, long time, 'cause Bunny and I are going to stay at Christmas Tree Cove and have fun." "That's what we are!" said Bunny Brown. Slowly the boat swept up to the dock. Then the sail was lowered, and she was tied fast. Next began the work of unloading the things the Browns had brought with them to keep house all summer in the little bungalow, which was not far from the dock. Mr. Brown, Uncle Tad, Captain Ross and Bunker Blue unloaded the things, and Mr. Brown hired a man to cart them to the bungalow. Bunny and Sue said good-bye to Captain Ross, who, with the help of a man whom he could hire at Christmas Tree Cove, would sail his boat back later that day. Then the children, with their mother, walked up a little hill to the little house where they hoped to spend many happy days. "Oh, isn't it pretty!" exclaimed Sue, as she strolled up the path, bordered with clam shells. "It's awful nice here." "I hope you will like it," said Mrs. Madden, the woman who had been engaged by Mr. Brown to open the bungalow and sweep it out in readiness for the family. "I live near here, and we like it very much," she added, as she held the door open for Mrs. Brown and the children. "Can you catch any fish?" asked Bunny, looking down toward the water and the dock where his father and the others were lifting things out from the boat. "Oh, yes, there's fine fishing and clamming and crabbing," said Mrs. Madden. "My boy and girl will show you the best places." "That will be nice," said Mrs. Brown. "Now we'll have a look at the place." Neither Mother Brown nor the children had yet seen the bungalow which Mr. Brown had engaged for them. They went inside, and while Mrs. Madden was showing Mrs. Brown about the house Bunny and Sue ran off by themselves to see what they could find. Mrs. Madden was just pointing out to Mrs. Brown what a pleasant place the dining-room was, giving a view of the bay, when suddenly a great crash sounded throughout the house. It was followed by silence, and then Sue's voice rang out, saying: "Oh, Mother! Come quick! Bunny's in! Bunny's in!" _ |
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