“but I’m jolly glad it’s only one cow we’re taking, not a whole herd!”
They said no more till they came in sight of the island, which loomed up near by, black and solid. The girls had heard the splashing of the oars, and had come down to the beach with a candle.
“Have you got the cow, Jack?” they called.
“Yes,” shouted back the boys. “She’s come along behind beautifully. But she doesn’t like it, poor creature!”
They pulled the boat up the beach and then dragged out the shivering, frightened cow. Jack spoke to her kindly and she pressed against him in wonder and fear. He was the one thing she knew, and she wanted to be close to him. Jack told Mike to get a sack and help him to rub the cow down, for she was cold and wet.
“Where shall we put her for to-night?” asked Mike.
“In the hen-yard,” said Jack. “She’s used to hens and hens are used to her. There is a lot of bracken and heather there and we can put some more armfuls in for her to lie on. She will soon be warm and comfortable. She will like to hear the clucking of the hens, too.”
So Daisy was pushed into the hen-yard, and there she lay down on the warm heather, comforted by the sound of the disturbed hens.
The girls were so excited at seeing the cow. They asked the boys over and over again all about their adventure till Mike and Jack were tired of telling it.
“Jack! You do look awfully fat to-night!” said Nora suddenly, swinging the lantern so that its light fell on Jack. The others looked at him in surprise. Yes, he did look enormous!
“Have you swollen up, or something?” asked Peggy anxiously. Jack laughed loudly.
“No!” he said, “I found some clothes of mine in a box and brought them along. As the easiest way to carry them was to wear them, I put them on. That’s why I look so fat!”
It took him a long time to take all the clothes off, because they were all laughing so much. Peggy looked at the holes in them and was glad she had brought her work-basket along. She could mend them nicely! The blanket, too, would be useful on a cold night.
“What’s that funny light in the sky over there?" said Nora, suddenly, pointing towards the east. “Look!”
“You silly! It’s the dawn coming!” said Jack. “It must be nearly daylight! Come on, we really must go to sleep. What a night we’ve had!”
“Moooo-oo!” said Daisy, from the hen-yard, and the children laughed.
“Daisy thinks so, too!” cried Peggy.
Chapter VIII - A Lazy Day - With a Horrid Ending
The next morning the children slept very late indeed. The sun was high in the sky before anyone stirred, and even then they might not have awakened if Daisy the cow hadn’t decided that it was more than time for her to be milked. She stood in the hen-yard and bellowed for all she was worth.
Jack sat up, his heart thumping loudly. Whatever was that awful noise? Of course - it was Daisy! She wanted to be milked!
“Hi, you others!” he shouted. “Wake up! It must be about nine o’clock! Look at the sun, it’s very high! And Daisy wants to be milked!”
Mike grunted and opened his eyes. He felt very sleepy after his late night. The girls sat up and rubbed their eyes. Daisy bellowed again, and the hens clucked in fright.
“Our farmyard wants its breakfast,” grinned Jack. “Come on, lazy-bones, come and help. We’ll have to see to them before we get our own meal.”
They scrambled up. They were so very sleepy that they simply had to run down to the lake and dip their heads into the water before they could do anything!
Then they all went to gloat over their cow. How pretty she was in her brown and white coat! How soft and brown her eyes were! A cow of their own! How lovely!
“And what a voice she has!” said Jack, as the cow mooed again. “I must milk her.”
“But I say - we haven’t a pail!” said Mike.
The children stared at one another in dismay. It was true - they had no pail.
“Well, we must use the saucepans,” said Jack firmly. “And we can all do with a cup or two of milk to start the day. I’ll use the biggest saucepan, and when it’s full I’ll have to pour it into the bowls and jugs we’ve got - and the kettle, too. We must certainly get a pail. What a pity I didn’t think of it last night!”
There was more than enough milk to fill every bowl and jug and saucepan. The children drank cupful after cupful. It was lovely to have milk after drinking nothing but tea and cocoa made with water. They could not have enough of it!
“I say! Daisy has trodden on a hen’s egg and smashed it,” said Nora, looking into the hen-yard. “What a pity!”
“Never mind,” said Jack. “We won’t keep her here after to-day. She shall go and live on that nice grassy piece, the other side of the island. Nora, feed the hens. They are clucking as if they’d never stop. They are hungry.”
Nora fed them. Then they all sat down to their breakfast of boiled eggs and creamy milk. Daisy the cow looked at them as they ate, and mooed softly. She was hungry, too.
Jack and Mike took her to the other side of the island after they had finished their meal. She was delighted to see the juicy green grass there and set to work at once, pulling mouthfuls of it as she wandered over the field.
“She can’t get off the island, so we don’t need to fence her in,” said Jack. “We must milk her twice a day, Mike. We must certainly get a pail from somewhere.”
“There’s an old milking-pail in the barn at Aunt Harriet’s farm,” said Peggy. “I’ve seen it hanging there often.”
“Has it got a hole in it?” asked Jack. “If it has it’s no use to us. We’ll have to stand our milk in it all day and we don’t want it to leak away.”
“No, it doesn’t leak,” said Peggy. “I filled it with water one day to take to the hens. It’s only just a very old one not used now.”
“I’ll go and get it to-night,” said Mike.
“No, I’ll go,” said Jack. “You might be caught.”
"Well, so might you,” said Mike. “We’ll go together.”
“Can’t we come, too?” asked the girls.
"Certainly not,” said Jack, at once. “There’s no use the whole lot of us running into danger.”
“How shall we keep the milk cool?” wondered Peggy. “It’s jolly hot on this island.”
“I’ll make a little round place to fit the milk-pail into, just by one of the springs,” said Jack, at once. “Then, with the cool spring water running round the milk-pail all day, the milk will keep beautifully fresh and cool.”
“How clever you are, Jack!” said Nora.
“No, I’m not,” said Jack. “It’s just common sense, that’s all. Anyone can think of things like that.”
“I do feel tired and stiff to-day,” said Mike, stretching out his arms. “It was pretty hard work pulling old Daisy along last night!”
“We’d better have a restful day,” said Jack, who was also feeling tired. “For once in a way we won’t do anything. We’ll just lie about and read and talk.”
The children had a lovely day. They bathed three times, for it was very hot.