The race duly came off , but as it ended in a general shipwreck , it was not mentioned in public ; and the Commodore had serious thoughts of retiring to a desert island , so disgusted was he with his kind for a time . No desert island being convenient , he was forced to remain among his friends , and found consolation in building a boat-house . The little girls indulged in the usual plays of their age , improving upon them somewhat as their lively fancies suggested . The chief and most absorbing play was called `` Mrs. Shakespeare Smith ; '' the name was provided by Aunt Jo , but the trials of the poor lady were quite original . Daisy was Mrs. S. S. , and Nan by turns her daughter or a neighbor , Mrs. Giddygaddy . No pen can describe the adventures of these ladies , for in one short afternoon their family was the scene of births , marriages , deaths , floods , earthquakes , tea-parties , and balloon ascensions . Millions of miles did these energetic women travel , dressed in hats and habits never seen before by mortal eye , perched on the bed , driving the posts like mettlesome steeds , and bouncing up and down till their heads spun . Fits and fires were the pet afflictions , with a general massacre now and then by way of change . Nan was never tired of inventing fresh combinations , and Daisy followed her leader with blind admiration . Poor Teddy was a frequent victim , and was often rescued from real danger , for the excited ladies were apt to forget that he was not of the same stuff their longsuffering dolls . Once he was shut into the closet for a dungeon , and forgotten by the girls , who ran off to some out-of-door game . Another time he was half drowned in the bath-tub , playing be a `` cunning little whale . '' And , worst of all , he was cut down just in time after being hung up for a robber . But the institution most patronized by all was the Club . It had no other name , and it needed none , being the only one in the neighborhood . The elder lads got it up , and the younger were occasionally admitted if they behaved well . Tommy and Demi were honorary members , but were always obliged to retire unpleasantly early , owing to circumstances over which they had no control . The proceedings of this club were somewhat peculiar , for it met at all sorts of places and hours , had all manner of queer ceremonies and amusements , and now and then was broken up tempestuously , only to be re-established , however , on a firmer basis . Rainy evenings the members met in the schoolroom , and passed the time in games : chess , morris , backgammon , fencing matches , recitations , debates , or dramatic performances of a darkly tragical nature . In summer the barn was the rendezvous , and what went on there no uninitiated mortal knows .
On sultry XXXXX the Club adjourned to the brook for aquatic exercises , and the members sat about in airy attire , frog-like and cool .
Tommy ascensions bath-tub boat-house earthquakes evenings hours recitations tea-parties whale