CHAPTER VII--JACK'S BATH
Out into the sunlit Chelton river swung the smart motor boat with Coraat the wheel. The sun glinted on the water, it reflected from thepolished brass rail and the white forward deck of the craft, it sparkledfrom the brass letters of the name--_Corbelbes_, and danced in javelinsof light on the little waves.
The _Corbelbes_ was the latest name of the motor boat which had beenvariously christened at times. The craft was owned jointly by Cora,Belle and Bess, and in accordance with their agreement they had in turnthe privilege of naming it, such name to be used during a whole season.
In turn the girls had adopted various more or less classicalnomenclature. Each one's time having expired, it came to Cora again, andshe confessed that she did not know what to select.
"Let me name the boat for you," suggested Jack. "I've thought of a swellname."
"Something ridiculous, I'm sure of that," ventured Cora.
"No, something really classy. How's this," and Jack quickly printed on apiece of paper the name now glinting on either bow of the craft.
"_Corbelbes_," repeated his sister. "That isn't half bad. What is it,Spanish or Latin?"
"It's French for curling iron and face powder," laughed Jack.
"You mean thing!"
"No, it isn't, Sis. Don't you see, it's the first part of the names ofall three of you."
"Oh, so it is." Cora was smiling now.
"What better name could you have for a boat?" Jack demanded. "It'ssomething distinctive and individual."
Cora and her chums agreed with him, and the motor boat became the_Corbelbes_, and as such had remained.
"Does she steer all right, Cora, with the new tiller ropes on?" askedJack, as he lolled lazily on one of the cushioned lockers, which, atnight, could be turned into comfortable bunks.
"A bit stiff," responded his sister.
"Well, the ropes will stretch, after they've been used a bit, so it'sjust as well to have them tight now. You get quicker action when youturn the wheel, though the river will not be crowded after we get up away."
Bess, Belle and Hazel busied themselves setting to rights their variouspossessions in the little cabin, and then they sat out in the wickerchairs in the after part of the craft, where Jack and Walter were. Paulseemed to find entertainment up in the bow with Cora.
"Where are the eats?" demanded Walter, when they had been under way forperhaps a half hour. "Didn't I see you smuggling something on board,Bess?"
"Eats? Now?" cried Jack. "And if you saw Bess have anything it was a boxof chocolates."
"It was not, Jack Kimball!" retorted the pretty, plump twin. "I've givenup chocolates."
"For how long?" he teased.
"For ever. I'm eating lime drops and lemon drops now. Have some?"
"I knew I saw you have something," declared Walter. "Why, they'rechocolates after all!" he went on, as he helped himself to what Bessoffered.
"I know they are, but the chocolate coating is very thin," she said."They're sour inside."
"Sort of Christian Science treatment," remarked Jack. "Bess couldn'taltogether give up her chocolate, so she takes it in homeopathic doses.Whew! they _are_ sour!" he cried, as he bit into one of the candies,making a wry face.
"Fruit acids make one thin, I read," Bess stated, "so I had these madeto order."
"Bess Robinson, you never did!" voiced her sister in surprised accents.
"Why shouldn't I? They didn't cost any more than the others. All thecandy shop did was to dip their regular lime and lemon drops intochocolate for me."
"Well!" exclaimed Belle. "Did you hear that, Cora?"
There was no reply from the girl at the wheel. She and Paul were busytalking.
"Let her alone," urged Bess. "She knows about my candy. I told her."
"Yes, don't disturb 'em," agreed Walter. "But I want something moresubstantial than candy. Didn't you bring anything else, Bess?"
"Yes, we have a nice lunch, but I'm not going to have you spoil yourappetite by eating now," declared Belle.
"You don't know how hard it is to spoil his appetite," laughed Jack."I've tried several times to find out just where the vanishing point is,but I haven't succeeded. I've begun to believe that his appetite is likethe poor--always with us--or him."
"Base traitor!" retorted Walter, reaching out to punch Jack, but findinghim too far away he did not exert himself.
The Chelton river was a busy place in the neighborhood of the town whereour friends lived. On the way up the _Corbelbes_ passed a number ofcraft, some of them slow-moving coal or grain barges, others passengersteamers, and not a few pleasure craft. Those in charge of the latterrecognized the _Corbelbes_ and saluted her with the regulation threewhistles, which Cora returned.
"We couldn't have had a better day," remarked Paul, as he sat besideCora.
"No, it's perfect. If the weather only behaves when we get to camp we'llbe in all sorts of ways obliged to it."
"Oh, I guess it will," was the comment. "Look out for that fellow, Cora.He doesn't seem to know which way he wants to go."
"I've been noticing him," and Cora looked at a man in a rowboat who wasyawing from side to side as though unfamiliar with the proper method ofnavigation.
Cora blew the whistle sharply as the man seemed about to cross her bows,and this further confused him so that he was really in danger of beingrun down.
"Look out!" cried Paul again, instinctively, though he knew Cora knewhow to manage the boat.
And she proved that she did by quickly reversing the propeller, while aseries of sharp blasts informed any craft coming astern to look out forthemselves.
"What's the matter with you?" demanded Paul, as the _Corbelbes_ passedthe man in the rowboat. "You ought to take lessons before you come outon the river."
The man looked frightened but did not answer, pulling awkwardly away.
"What are you trying to do, Cora?" demanded Jack. "Have an accidentbefore we're fairly started? Better let me steer."
"I will not, indeed! It wasn't my fault!"
"I should say not!" cried Paul. "That fellow was a dub!"
That was the only near approach to a collision, though the river wasunusually crowded that morning. In a little while, however, the watertraffic thinned out, and Cora did not have to devote so much attentionto the wheel.
"Say, isn't it time for lunch now?" demanded Walter, insinuatingly.
"It's only eleven," announced Belle, with a look at her wrist watch.
"That's his regular feeding time--at least he'll say so," put in Jack,before his chum had a chance to answer.
"I had an early breakfast," put in Walter in extenuation.
"Oh, well, give the child something," laughed Bess, "and let us havepeace!"
Sandwiches, cake and other things were brought out, set on a table whichunfolded from the side of the boat, and the merry chatter was sooninterspersed with periods of silence to allow a chance to eat.
"We'll get there in good season," Cora was saying, when the engine gavea sudden combined cough, wheeze and sneeze, and stopped.
"No gasoline!" cried Walter.
"Indeed not!" answered Cora. "Both tanks are full."
"Ground wire broken," suggested Paul.
A hasty look at the conductors proved this theory to be wrong.
"Then it's the carburetor," Jack affirmed. "The worst possible place fortrouble. I'll look after it, Sis. I've had the dingus apart, and ifanybody knows about its insides I do. Throw that anchor overboard,Wally, and I'll tinker with the troublemaker."
A small anchor splashed into the river, while Jack, putting on an oldjumper and overalls, kept for such emergencies, took off the carburetorand proceeded to examine it, from cork float to butterfly valve.
"Must be poor gasoline they're serving us lately," he said. "It'sawfully dirty. Look!" and he held up his grimy hands.
"Have you found the trouble?" Cora asked.
"Yes, it was the air intake valve. Little speck of carbon in itprevented the proper
mixture. I'll have it fixed in a jiffy."
Jack proved the truth of his assertion by replacing the carburetor, and,a little later, by starting the engine without any trouble.
"Hurrah!" cried Paul. "That's what it is to have a good mechanicianaboard."
"It's a wonder you wouldn't qualify yourself," said Jack grimly. "Lookat me! I'll have to take a bath!" and he held up his hands, grimier thanever.
"There's some of that mechanic's soap--with pumice stone in it--in one ofthe lockers," volunteered Cora. "Use that, Jack."
The anchor was hauled in and the _Corbelbes_ started up the river oncemore. Jack knelt down on one side of the stern deck, and, reaching downinto the river, wet his hands, rubbing on them some pasty soap,guaranteed to remove grime of all kinds and leave most of the originalskin.
"Where's the camera?" asked Bess.
"What for?" demanded her sister.
"I want a view of Jack at his bath. Doesn't he look cute?"
"Wait until I pose for you," Jack suggested, making a lather of thesoap. "I'm a dandy when it comes to poses. Just watch me."
He stood up on the after deck, but his foot slipped on a bit of thelather that dropped from his hands, and, a moment later, Jack plungedoverboard.