rented. The girls half-planned to hire one to use as headquarters in case they camped on the island.
"It doesn't look very—ghostly," said Betty, as she surveyed it from the cockpit of her craft.
"No, it looks lovely," said Grace.
"Is the ghost going to keep us away?" asked Mollie.
"Never!" cried the Little Captain, vigorously.
"Hurray!" shouted Will, waving the boat's flag that he took from the after-socket.
They made a turn of the island, and started back up the river for Deepdale, reaching Mollie's dock without incident.
Busy days followed, for they were getting ready for the cruise. Uncle Amos went out with Betty and the girls several times to offer advice, and he declared that they were fast becoming good sailors.
"Of course not good enough for deep water," he made haste to qualify, "but all right for a river and a lake."
The girls were learning to tell time seaman fashion. Betty fairly lived aboard her new boat, her mother complained, but the Little Captain was not selfish—she invited many of her friends and acquaintances to take short trips with her.
