Caddie Woodlawn Read Online Free PDF Page B

steering.
    â€œHey, you little whippersnapper, you!” he shouted at Caddie, shaking his fist good-naturedly.
    Caddie came back laughing and circled around the raft in her canoe. “Oh, I’m sorry, Uncle Edmund. Honestly I am. But I can’t help laughing. You look so funny. You can take the canoe coming back, and I’ll take the raft, and I’ll beat you that way, too. See if I don’t!”
    â€œOh, you’ll beat me that way, too, will you?” said Uncle Edmund, a fine edge sounding in his voice. “How much will you bet?”
    â€œOh, I haven’t any money and Mother doesn’t like us to bet, but I’ll beat you just the same.”
    â€œAll right,” said Uncle Edmund. “You won’t bet, but I’ll tell you what I’ll do. If you can beat me coming back, I’ll give you a silver dollar, that’s what I’ll do. Mind—you take the raft and I take the canoe.”
    â€œBully for you!” cried Caddie, echoing Tom’s favorite expression. She was confident of winning. A silver dollar! The Woodlawn children never had much money to spend, and, in those days of war-time “green-backs,” a silver dollar was worth nearly three times the value of the paper dollar. Caddie was so delighted by Uncle Edmund’s generosity that she offered to tow the raft to shore. But Uncle Edmund declined her offer and finally got himself awkwardly tothe end of the lake. They beached their craft and started through the woods. But Uncle Edmund had forgotten something.
    â€œWait here a moment, Caddie. I left my game bag back on the raft.”
    â€œI’ll get it, Uncle Edmund.”
    â€œNo, wait here. I’ll go myself.”
    Uncle Edmund was gone quite a long time, but at last he returned with the bag.
    Now they went slowly and quietly, Uncle Edmund peering through his thick glasses at the nearby trees, Caddie’s bright eyes searching the more distant places. Nero walked beside them, deeply excited. His business was sheep and cows, not game, but, as Edmund often said, a little training would have made him an admirable hunter. Suddenly Caddie stopped, her body stiffened, she put a tense hand on Uncle Edmund’s arm.
    â€œThere!” she whispered, pointing to the branch of a tree some yards ahead. A squirrel sat there motionless, trying to look like a part of the tree. Uncle Edmund followed the direction of her finger with his nearsighted eyes. He raised his gun to his shoulder. Bang! The report reverberated through the woods, shattering the silence into a hundred echoes.
    â€œI got him!” shouted Uncle Edmund exultantly.“By golly, Caddie, I got him!” Caddie was as delighted as Uncle Edmund. She and Nero raced to retrieve the squirrel for Uncle Edmund’s game bag.
    It was well along in the afternoon when they started back toward the lake. Uncle Edmund was treading on air, for he had three squirrels and a brace of partridges, and, for a near-sighted man, that was a good bag. Caddie’s mind returned to the silver dollar she was going to win.
    â€œRemember, I’m going to beat you across the lake, Uncle Edmund,” she chirped.
    â€œSo you said. So you said,” agreed Uncle Edmund jovially, chuckling to himself. He sprang into the canoe, and pushed off. Caddie thrust the raft into the water and jumped on. Nero sprang on behind her, and Caddie began to pole the raft. She and Tom had handled the raft so often that she knew just how to manage it to the best advantage. A few deft strokes brought her alongside Uncle Edmund, who was hopelessly inefficient, even with such a delicate craft as a canoe. But something curious was beginning to happen to the raft. One by one the small logs of which it was built were beginning to float away. Caddie could not believe her eyes. She poled for dear life, but the faster she poled, the more quickly the logs fell away from the raft. The space on which she stood grew smaller