E-text prepared by Al Haines
Transcriber's note:
The book's Frontispiece was missing. There were no other illustrations.
by
Author of "The Testing of Janice Day,"
"How Janice Day Won,"
"The Mission of Janice Day," Etc.
Illustrated by Walter S. Rogers
The Goldsmith Publishing Co.
Cleveland
Copyright, 1914, by
Sully & Kleinteich
"Well! this is certainly a relief from the stuffy old cars," saidJanice Day, as she reached the upper deck of the lake steamer, droppedher suitcase, and drew in her first full breath of the pure air.
"What a beautiful lake!" she went on. "And how big! Why—I had noidea! I wonder how far Poketown is from here?"
The ancient sidewheel steamer was small and there were few passengerson the upper deck, forward. Janice secured a campstool and sat downnear the rail to look off over the water.
The officious man in the blue cap on the dock had shouted "All aboard!"the moment the passengers left the cars of the little narrow-gaugerailroad, on which the girl had been riding for more than two hours;but it was some minutes before the wheezy old steamer got under way.
Janice was interested in everything she saw—even in the clumsy warpingoff of the Constance Colfax, when her hawsers were finally released.
"Goodness me!" thought the girl, chuckling "what a ridiculous old tubit is! How different everything East here is from Greensboro. There!we're really off!"
The water hissed and splashed, as the wheels of the steamer began toturn rheumatically. The walking-beam heaved up and down with many apainful creak.
"Why! that place is real pretty—when you look at it from the lake,"murmured Janice, looking back at the little landing. "I wonder ifPoketown will be like it?"
She looked about her, half tempted to ask a question of somebody.There was but a single passenger near her—a little, old lady in anold-fashioned black mantilla with jet trimming, and wearing black lacehalf-mitts and a little bonnet that had been so long out of date thatit was almost in the mode again.
...