But Nellie had a very bad cold and was quite unfit to go sailing across the harbour on a raw , chilly November day . So there was nothing to do but leave Mary Margaret in charge , and Mary Margaret was quite pleased at the prospect . `` You know , Mother Campbell , I 'm not afraid of anything except tramps . And no tramps ever come to the Dippers . You see what an advantage it is to live on an island ! There , Uncle Martin is waving . Run along , little mother . '' Mary Margaret watched the boat out of sight from the window and then betook herself to the doing of her tasks , singing blithely all the while . It was rather nice to be left in sole charge like this -- it made you feel so important and grown-up . She would do everything very nicely and Mother would see when she came back what a good housekeeper her daughter was . Mary Margaret and Nellie and Mrs. Campbell had been living on the Little Dipper ever since the preceding April . Before that they had always lived in their own cosy home at the Harbour Head . But in April Captain Campbell had sailed in the Two Sisters for a long voyage and , before he went , Mrs. Campbell 's brother , Martin Clowe , had come to them with a proposition . He ran a lobster cannery on the Little Dipper , and he wanted his sister to go and keep house for him while her husband was away . After some discussion it was so arranged , and Mrs. Campbell and her two girls moved to the Little Dipper . It was not a lonesome place then , for the lobstermen and their families lived on it , and boats were constantly sailing to and fro between it and the mainland . Mary Margaret enjoyed her summer greatly ; she bathed and sailed and roamed over the rocks , and on fine days her Uncle George , who kept the lighthouse on the Big Dipper , and lived there all alone , often came over and took her across to the Big Dipper . Mary Margaret thought the lighthouse was a wonderful place . Uncle George taught her how to light the lamps and manage the light . When the lobster season dosed , the men took up codfishing and carried this on till October , when they all moved back to the mainland .
But Uncle Martin was building a house XXXXX himself at Harbour Head and did not wish to move until the ice formed over the bay because it would then be so much easier to transport his goods and chattels ; so the Campbells stayed with him until the Captain should return .
After between for like on over since to while with