`` Do you want a ducking ? '' sternly demanded Gus , anxious to preserve discipline . `` Should n't mind , its so warm . '' But Jack said no more , and soon the `` Rhodora '' was alongside the `` Water Witch , '' exchanging greetings in the most amiable manner . `` Pity this boat wo n't hold four . We 'd put Jack in yours , and take you girls a nice spin up to the Hemlocks , '' said Frank , whose idea of bliss was floating down the river with Annette as coxswain . `` You 'd better come in here , this will hold four , and we are tired of rowing , '' returned the `` Water Witch , '' so invitingly that Gus could not resist . `` I do n't think it is safe to put four in there . You 'd better change places with Annette , Gus , and then we shall be ship-shape , '' said Frank , answering a telegram from the eyes that matched the blue jacket . `` Would n't it be more ship-shape still if you put me ashore at Grif 's landing ? I can take his boat , or wait till you come back . Do n't care what I do , '' said Jack , feeling himself sadly in the way . The good-natured offer being accepted with thanks , the changes were made , and , leaving him behind , the two boats went gayly up the river . He really did not care what he did , so sat in Grif 's boat awhile watching the red sky , the shining stream , and the low green meadows , where the blackbirds were singing as if they too had met their little sweethearts and were happy . Jack remembered that quiet half-hour long afterward , because what followed seemed to impress it on his memory . As he sat enjoying the scene , he very naturally thought about Ed ; for the face of the sister whom he saw was very anxious , and the word `` fever '' recalled the hard times when Frank was ill , particularly the night it was thought the boy would not live till dawn , and Jack cried himself to sleep , wondering how he ever could get on without his brother . Ed was almost as dear to him , and the thought that he was suffering destroyed Jack 's pleasure for a little while . But , fortunately , young people do not know how to be anxious very long , so our boy soon cheered up , thinking about the late match between the Stars and the Lincolns , and after a good rest went whistling home , with a handful of mint for Mrs. Pecq , and played games with Jill as merrily as if there was no such thing as care in the world . Next day Ed was worse , and for a week the answer was the same , when Jack crept to the back door with his eager question . Others came also , for the dear boy lying upstairs had friends everywhere , and older neighbors thought of him even more anxiously and tenderly than his mates .
It was not fever , but some swifter trouble , for when Saturday night came , XXXXX had gone home to a longer and more peaceful Sabbath than any he had ever known in this world .
Annette Ed Frank Gus Jack Jill Lincolns Rhodora rowing week