Tommy had gotten a broom and a dustpan and was already raising a cloud of dust by her efforts at sweeping.

“For goodness’ sake, sprinkle the floor before you sweep,” begged Margery chokingly.  Hazel dipped up a pail of water from the lake and sprinkled it through her fingers over the floor of the boat.  All the others save Harriet had fled, driven out by the choking dust.  The sweeping was now attended with more comfort.  Dustpan after dustpan full of dirt was gathered up and tossed into the lake.  Tommy surveyed her work with a frowning face.

“It lookth worthe than it did before,” she declared.  “Thee the greathe thpotth.  What fine houthekeeping.”

“Men are lazy housekeepers,” laughed Miss Elting.  “I shall have to write to Bert and tell him what we think of his housekeeping.”

As soon as the water was heated, Jane produced some full length gingham aprons, which she tossed to her companions.  Arrayed in these, the girls took up scrub brushes and soap and got to work on the inside of the cabin.  Their skirts were pinned up, their sleeves rolled back to the shoulders and they looked like veritable scrub women.

“Let’s all work on the same side of the boat,” called Jane.  “I want one side to get dry so we can begin to paint it.”  The slap, slap of the painters’ brushes already was heard on the outside.  The remaining boards over the windows had been torn off and carefully laid aside for other uses.

Two hours later Jane got the painters to open the cans of white paint and stir up the contents.  The men put in plenty of drier so the paint would dry quickly and began their work.  Tommy could not resist trying to paint too.  Seizing a brush she began laying about her, sending the paint into her hair, over her clothes and spattering her companions until they threatened to throw her overboard if she did not desist.  Tommy’s impish face already was decorated with polka dots of white paint.

“I would suggest that Tommy go out and use some red paint,” said Harriet laughingly.  “Some red dots would make you look perfectly lovely, dear.”

“Yes and some blue,” added Jane.  “She’d be red, white and blue then, and we could hang her over the stern.  That would save getting a flag.”

“Girls, what are we going to do with the ceiling!” asked Miss Elting, regarding it with wrinkled forehead.

“We might paint in white between the beams, covering the beams themselves with green,” suggested Harriet.

“That would be pretty,” agreed the guardian, tilting her head to one side and regarding the ceiling reflectively.  “Yes, it would be very artistic.  Have we any green paint?”

“We’ll have some,” answered Jane promptly.  “What shade?”

“Grath green,” suggested Tommy.

“Olive,” suggested Hazel.

Miss Elting nodded.  Olive green paint would look well for the ceiling, she decided.  Already the interior of the houseboat was beginning to brighten.  But they saw that, to do a thoroughly good job, at least two coats of paint would be necessary.  They hoped to get one coat of paint on before night, putting on the finishing coat on the following morning.