Helen Beecher Long

Janice Day at Poketown Helen Beecher Long

Publisher Marketing: "Well! this is certainly a relief from the stuffy old cars," said Janice Day, as she reached the upper deck of the lake steamer, dropped her suitcase, and drew in her first full breath of the pure air. "What a beautiful lake!" she went on. "And how big! Why-I had no idea! I wonder how far Poketown is from here?" The ancient sidewheel steamer was small and there were few passengers on the upper deck, forward. Janice secured a campstool and sat down near the rail to look off over the water. The officious man in the blue cap on the dock had shouted "All aboard!" the moment the passengers left the cars of the little narrow-gauge railroad, on which the girl had been riding for more than two hours; but it was some minutes before the wheezy old steamer got under way. Janice was interested in everything she saw-even in the clumsy warping off of the Constance Colfax, when her hawsers were finally released. "Goodness me!" thought the girl, chuckling "what a ridiculous old tub it is! How different everything East here is from Greensboro. There! we're really off!" The water hissed and splashed, as the wheels of the steamer began to turn rheumatically. The walking-beam heaved up and down with many a painful creak.