"Well, well, if it isn't the Meadow-Brook Girls."
"It's Captain George Baker," cried Harriet, really overjoyed to meet their old friend whom, last season, they had beaten in a cross country contest of endurance and cleverness.
The girls left the boat and ran down to the shore to welcome the newcomers. The boys were calling their welcome before they had fairly landed. With Captain Baker were his friends Dill Dodd and Sam Crocker, and two other lads, whom Captain Baker introduced as Larry Goheen and Billy Gordon.
"Where are the rest of the tramps?" asked Miss Elting laughingly, hurrying down to the beach to greet the boys.
"In camp about two miles below here."
"I believe we have met Mr. Gordon and Mr. Goheen before," said the guardian. "They were good enough to give us a tow."
"Yes," answered George. "They told us about that. Somehow, I half suspected it to be you folks. After the storm of last night I wondered how the houseboat with its crew of girls had fared, so we set out to look for you this morning. We found you. Well, you are in a mess, aren't you?"
"Harriet and Jane were bailing water out of the boat nearly all night, Captain Baker," Miss Elting informed him.
"You certainly must have had a bad night," returned George Baker sympathetically.
The guardian related briefly the experience of the night.
"Once more I take off my hat to you," said Captain Baker admiringly. "And I take off my coat too. Fellows, all off with your coats! There's work to be done here. How is your boat?"
At this juncture Billy Gordon, who had been looking about the deck of the houseboat, stepped ashore.
"I don't think the hull is damaged at all. One door is smashed in and things are pretty well soaked up. If you will permit it, we fellows will clean up. There's a ton or more of sand and gravel in the after cockpit. Have you a shovel?"
The girls shook their heads.
"We have a dutht pan," Tommy answered.
"We will use that and a pail, if you have one."
The lads started for the boat, having discarded their coats.
"Oh, by the way, have you any matches?" asked Harriet. "We need some coffee this morning, but we have nothing with which to build a fire."
"Sam, you make a fire."
"The oil stove may work," suggested Miss Elting. They tried it, but there was still too much water in the tanks, so Sam built a fire on shore, and shortly after Harriet and Jane were busily engaged in getting breakfast, while the boys worked steadily in the houseboat. Finding nails, saw and hammer, they patched up the broken door and hung it back in place. Then they removed all the supplies that had been left aboard and began cleaning up. They bailed the remaining water out, also shoveling out the gravel and the sand, after which they scrubbed the floor and the walls to a height of about three feet from the floor, where the water had left a dark line on the white woodwork.
An hour after the visiting boys had begun their work the cabin was ready for occupancy again, but the quilts, sheets and blankets were still wet. A larger fire was built. The boys rigged a clothes line about the campfire and assisted the girls to hang up the wet bedding. By this time the lads were hungry. They readily accepted the invitation of the Meadow-Brook Girls to sit down with them to breakfast. The table and chairs had been brought ashore, and there in the cove, with the trees and bushes for a background, the Meadow-Brook Girls and the Tramp Club sat down to breakfast. There was plenty of good cheer, though the faces of the girls were pale, and Harriet and Jane looked particularly tired.
"I'll tell you what you must do," declared Captain George during breakfast. "When you wish to shift your position, let us know, and we'll tow you about. Did your rope break?"
Harriet confessed that she had not looked. The captain said he would look into the matter after breakfast. The first thing to be done, after getting the equipment back on board, would be to tow the "Red Rover" off the shore. To do this they arranged to pass a rope to the launch, the launch to pull ahead while some of the boys pushed on the houseboat.
In the meantime, while waiting for the equipment to dry out, George and his friend, Billy Gordon, who owned the launch, took Harriet and Jane to town, where Jane wished to go to renew some of their supplies, as well as to purchase a couple of flatirons with which to press their wet clothing that had hung in the cabin when the deluge came.
During the trip George had drawn out the story of their previous disaster when they had drifted ashore, though Harriet refrained from mentioning the fact that their anchor rope had been cut on that occasion. From George's questions it was plain that he suspected something was wrong, though Harriet failed to gratify his suspicions by direct answers to direct questions.
George explained, during the trip to the town, that the Tramp Club had been invited by Billy Gordon, who owned the launch, to spend a few weeks with him on the lake. He was to furnish the launch for their cruises, while the boys supplied the camp equipment. Billy knew the lake and they knew how to camp, and now that they had renewed acquaintance with their old rivals, the Meadow-Brook Girls, the Tramp Club were glad they had accepted Gordon's invitation.
The trip to town was quickly made, and the two girls completed their purchases with little loss of time, and were back on board the launch within an hour from the time they had started.
"Now," said George, after they had started on their return voyage, "is there any place you wish to go?"
"I want as soon as possible to get back to the boat and discuss with the girls what is to be done," answered Harriet.
"Well, can we help you? Is there anywhere you wish us to tow your houseboat?"
"Let me see," pondered Captain Burrell, "I think I should like to get out of that cove. We haven't made any plans."
"Then suppose we tow you over in front of our camp? We'll be handy, then, in case you need us again."
Harriet shook her head.
"I don't think that would be best. You see, we wish to go it alone. We don't wish to have to depend upon any one."
"You don't have to do so. You are able to take care of yourselves. I'd back the Meadow-Brook Girls against the world," declared George, confidently, which aroused a laugh from the other occupants of the boat. "We helped you this morning, did we not?"
"Indeed, you did."
"But they would have gotten out of the scrape without us," nodded Billy.
"Surely we would," chuckled Crazy Jane. "We always do get out of our scrapes, somehow. But we thank you just the same."
"Indeed, we do," agreed Harriet earnestly. "I was about to say, when you asked me if there were any place we wished to go, that we do wish to go over to the other side of the lake some day soon, and—"
"Any time," interrupted Billy. "I'll take you over to-day, if you say the word."
Harriet shook her head.
"Boys, we've got business on hand to-day," said Jane briskly. "There is plenty to be done. It will take us two days to get well settled again. You will look us up occasionally, I am sure. We can then let you know where and when we wish to go, can't we?"
"Surely you can," agreed George enthusiastically. "But I'm sorry you won't come to anchor near our camp."
Harriet told him they should be moving frequently; that they hoped to be able to make a complete circuit of the lake before they had finished their vacation. George said that the boys, too, were going to move their camp now and then. He told the girls the Tramp Club had planned to spend a week on one of the islands in the lake, and that they would so arrange the time as to do so when the Meadow-Brook party was in that vicinity.
By the time they had reached the cove where the "Red Rover" lay the boys who had remained behind had gotten nearly all the belongings aboard. Miss Elting and the girls were helping them, Tommy taking it upon herself to "boss" the whole job.
As soon as the motor boat party had landed, Harriet said she must look for the anchor rope, which had not been seen that morning.
"I'll do that," offered Larry Goheen. "You ought to make it secure, so that the boat can't get away," he added.
"I thought I secured it last night. I made a stout loop and slipped it over the cleat on the deck. I don't see how the boat could have gotten away unless the rope broke, which it undoubtedly did."
George said he would see about that. The rowboat had drifted ashore unharmed. Captain George launched the boat and rowed out, paddling about until finally they saw him stop and raise the end of a rope from the water.
"Bring the launch out here, Bill," he called. "Yes, I've found it, and I've found something else too. There's been some crooked work here!"
"What do you mean?" called Harriet.
"I'll tell you when I come in. I've made a find, all right!"
The captain had indeed made a find—one that more than confirmed the suspicions he had formed earlier in the morning.
Billy Gordon got aboard the launch and paddled it out to where Captain Baker sat examining the rope, the end of which he had picked up from the water.
"What have you found? More mystery?" shouted Crazy Jane.
"Yes. I'll tell you when I get ashore. What kind of an anchor have you down here?"
"Just an anchor, that's all," answered Harriet. "Why?"
"Nothing. I was just wondering."
George climbed over into the launch, tying the rowboat behind it. Then the two lads hauled the anchor aboard the power boat. After examining the anchor, they paddled the launch ashore, towing the smaller boat behind them.
"We have the old anchor. It's a good one too," announced Billy, stepping ashore. "I take back all I said. George has some questions to ask you."
"Yes," nodded young Baker. "Was the anchor rope in good condition when you put out the anchor, Miss Burrell?"
"So far as I know. Did it break?"
"It broke, all right. Will you show me where you made it fast last night?"
Harriet led the way to the forward deck of the "Red Rover," pointing to a hard wood cleat.
"I made a loop in the rope and slipped it over the cleat, drawing it tight. I do not see how it would be possible for the loop to slip off, nor, in fact, for the rope to break."
"Hm-m-m-m!" pondered George, feeling the cleat with critical fingers. "Smooth. No chance for it to have worn through. There is something to be explained in this affair, Miss Burrell."
Harriet gazed searchingly at him, but said nothing.
"I wish you would have a look at the rope. It's there on the shore. Then, after you have examined it, tell me what you think about the matter, but tell me just whatever you wish to. I'm not going to question you about something you don't wish me to know."
"What do you mean, Captain?"
"Have you any enemies up here?"
"I do not know of any. I have a rival here, though."
"Eh? Who?"
"You," answered Harriet, with a smile.
"Oh!" Captain Baker flushed, then he laughed heartily. "That was last summer. You beat us fairly. Of course we wanted to win the race home, and so did you, but you won it fairly and squarely, and that's all there was about it. We got you into trouble by stealing the melons and giving them to you, but honestly, we didn't mean to have the farmer hold you responsible."
"We owe you something for telling George's fortune," laughed Sam.
"Then pay your debts," retorted Harriet.
"Don't you do anything of the sort, boys," warned Jane. "You know what will happen to you, if you do."
"What will happen?" demanded Baker, turning to Crazy Jane.
"Oh, that would be telling. We should be even with you before we had finished, you know. Girls are always more resourceful than boys."
"I don't agree with you," retorted George Baker.
"Do you wish us to prove it to you?" asked Harriet laughingly.
"I'll give you a chance to fail," returned George. "As long as we're going to spend our vacations on this lake we'll give you girls a chance to prove your superiority as strategists. I'll wager you a No. 2 Brownie Camera, to be the joint property of whichever side wins it, that the Tramp Club can completely outwit the Meadow-Brook Girls three times inside of three weeks. What do you say?"
"Shall we accept the challenge, Miss Elting?" asked Harriet. "What do you say, girls?"
"Done!" chorused the girls and their guardian.
"Very well," smiled Harriet. "The contest begins now, and of course all unfair tricks are to be barred out by both sides."
"Of course," agreed George. "But come along and have a look at the rope."
Harriet stepped briskly ashore, followed by Jane and the two boys. She went directly to where the rope and the anchor lay. Picking up the former she ran it through her hands until she came to the loop that had been drawn about the cleat on the deck when the boat had been anchored on the previous afternoon. The Meadow-Brook Girl held the loop on the palm of her left hand, gazing at the rope reflectively. She frowned slightly as she looked at it.
"Well, what do you find?" questioned the captain briskly.
Harriet glanced up at him quickly.
"I understand," she said.
"What is it, Harriet, dear?" asked Miss Elting.
"Oh, what a mess!" muttered Jane, who had been looking over Harriet's shoulder. "Here's more trouble for the Meadow-Brook Girls, and trouble for somebody besides them, too."
"You can see for yourself," replied Harriet, handing the end of the rope to the guardian.
"The loop has been cut!" exclaimed Miss Elting.
Harriet nodded.
"It has, indeed," agreed Jane.
Miss Elting and Harriet Burrell exchanged significant glances. George Baker observed the looks. He nodded to Billy. Larry Goheen winked wisely.
"There is something behind this business then, Miss Elting?" asked the captain.
"I don't mind admitting that there is, Mr. Baker," answered the guardian. "What do you say, girls, shall we tell the boys?" she inquired, turning to her wards.
"If you think best," agreed Harriet.
"Surely. Tell them. Maybe they'll be able to catch the rascal," urged Jane McCarthy.
"This is not the first time we have been troubled by some person who wishes to annoy us," Miss Elting informed the Tramp Club. "Before we began to live on the boat, and while we were getting it ready for occupancy, some person did the same thing. That is, he cut the rope and cast the boat adrift. It was anchored at Johnson's dock. Perhaps you do not know where that is."
"I know," spoke up Billy. "It's about two miles above here. That's where we landed to-day, George."
Captain Baker nodded.
"How do you know they cast the 'Red Rover' adrift?" he asked.
"The rope had been cut," replied Harriet Burrell. "It was just as Miss Elting has told you. The anchor rope had been cut cleanly with a sharp knife. This time the loop, instead of the rope, has been cut."
"I thought you said you had no enemies," observed Sam Crocker.
"Nor have we, as far as we know," answered the guardian.
"I don't know what you would call the person who did this, then. This is all the more reason why you should anchor near our camp."
"Oh, no. We are perfectly able to take care of ourselves," smiled Miss Elting. "Experiences such as these aid in making us self-reliant."
"Have you a revolver on board?" questioned Gordon.
"Miss Elting has a revolver," answered Jane.
"We hope never to be forced to use it, however. The trouble is that our friend doesn't show himself. But just wait. One of these fine nights we'll catch him, then he'll take a bath in the lake."
"You have no idea who he is?"
"I can't say that we have," replied the guardian slowly.
"Do you know Mr. Dickinson?" asked Harriet, looking sharply at Gordon.
"Dee? Yes."
"What sort of person is he?"
"Oh, Dee's all right. He doesn't amount to a whole lot, but he is a good fellow. Why?" He shot a suspicious glance at Harriet.
"Nothing, except that he was looking after the boat for Miss Elting's brother before we came down here."
George put an end to the conversation by announcing that it was time they got the "Red Rover" out. The motor boat was paddled out into deeper water, then the houseboat was fastened to the motor boat and the power started, while all the boys save two pulled and hauled on the heavy houseboat. It floated slowly out into deeper water, while the girls cheered the efforts of the Tramp Club.
The anchor, in the meantime, had been put on board and a new loop made at the end of the rope. The girls now climbed into the rowboat and were rowed out to the "Red Rover," after which the motor boat began towing the "Red Rover" into the lake, with Captain George Baker at the helm. He had remained aboard to give further assistance, if needed.
"This is the worst old tub to steer that ever I took hold of," he declared.
"We found it so," agreed Harriet. "You will get the knack of it soon. When you do, you will find steering it rather easy."
They reached a cove farther up the lake, shortly after noon. Here the Meadow-Brook Girls decided to anchor, as there was a farmhouse on a bluff a little way inland, where they thought they would be able to get milk, eggs and vegetables. George decided that he would call in the motor boat and return to camp, promising to come over and see them later to get their orders for the following day.
Miss Elting and her girls expressed their appreciation of the kindness of Captain Baker and his friends.
"We haven't done anything worth while yet," retorted Captain Baker. "Perhaps we may give you a real opportunity to thank us, later on. On the other hand, you may not wish to thank us," he added, with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.
"Now, I wonder what the boy meant by that?" thought Crazy Jane, regarding George shrewdly through half-closed eyes.
Captain Baker went over the side, boarding the motor boat after he had cast anchor for the girls and made everything snug. Then, with many good-byes on both sides, the power boat chugged away toward the Tramp Club camp, the Meadow-Brook Girls turning to the duties of the day.
The first task was to get their clothing in condition. There was now no one to interfere with them. Flatirons were put on the oil stove, which was once more in working order, and the work of pressing out their wrinkled clothing was begun. Harriet and Jane handled the irons. Miss Elting took down the curtains, which also were sadly in need of ironing, while Margery and Hazel prepared the noon meal. Tommy perched herself on the rail of the upper deck, and caroled forth a lisping ditty.
After dinner, Harriet and Jane rowed ashore and purchased supplies from the farmhouse that they had observed on their way to the present anchorage. The day passed all too quickly. Twilight was upon them almost before they realized it. Supper was late that night, and ere they had finished the dishes the motor boat drew up to them and the Tramp Club swarmed over the side of the houseboat with merry greetings.
"It is almost like being boarded by pirates," laughed Harriet. "In this case the pirates are welcome."
The boys had brought with them a bag of early apples, which Captain Baker gravely assured them had been duly bought and paid for. The boys also had brought their harmonicas, and later in the evening there was a harmonica concert on the upper deck of the "Red Rover." Later on the girls served their guests with cake and coffee. Larry Goheen, who, like Jane McCarthy, was gifted with true Irish wit, was the life of the party. He and Crazy Jane bandied words and said witty things to each other to the delight of the rest of the company.
The boys took their leave at ten o'clock. First, they left a lantern for the houseboat, which George Baker lighted and set in place at the stern. The anchor light of the houseboat had been lost in the storm of the previous night, or else it had been stolen, which latter they doubted. The girls were quite ready to retire, and lost no time in turning in after the departure of their guests. Then quiet settled down upon the "Red Rover." A gentle swell on the water lulled the girls into deep, peaceful slumber, until after sunrise next morning.
Tommy, for a wonder, was the first to get out of bed in the morning. Half-asleep she staggered, blinking, to the after deck, and then leaned over to wash the last of the sleep out of her eyes. There followed a sudden, sharp splash, and a moment later the blonde head of Tommy Thompson appeared from out of the lake. Tommy had fallen in again. This time she did not scream. She climbed aboard the boat, grumbling to herself, and proceeded to dress without further delay.
"For goodness' sake, Tommy, what is the matter?" demanded Harriet, sitting up in bed, rubbing her blinking eyes. "Did you fall into the lake again?"
"I gueth I had a bath thith morning," answered Tommy.
"An impromptu plunge, I should call it," answered Harriet smiling. Then she glanced sharply out through the rear door of the cabin. Her eyes narrowed as she gazed. She rose from her cot and walked to the door, looking over the water towards the opposite shore, her forehead wrinkling into a perplexed frown. "Girls! Get up! Come out and view the scenery. I promise you it is well worth seeing this morning. Oh, Miss Elting, do you know where you are?"
"Why—why, what does it mean?" gasped the girls who had hurriedly tumbled out following Harriet's summons.
The guardian could scarcely believe her eyes. They were not in the cove where the boat had been anchored the day before. The scenery on the shore near them was strange and new.
"What does it mean, Harriet?" demanded the guardian.
"I think a fairy must have touched the world with her wand and changed it into something else during the night," replied Harriet. "But don't you know where you are, Miss Elting?"
"I do not. Do you?"
"I think I do."
"I know," piped Tommy. "We are on the water. I wath in it earlier thith morning."
No one gave any heed to Tommy's pleasantry. They were too amazed and perplexed to give thought to anything but the strangeness of their surroundings.
"Then I will tell you," said Harriet, "We are on the other side of the lake. Do you see that white house on the bluff across the lake? Well, that is the farmhouse where we got our milk yesterday."
"But—but——" gasped Miss Elting.
"We are now where we wanted to be, across the lake near the beautiful islands and the pretty wooded shores."
"But how did we get here?" finished Miss Elting.
"I don't know. I know only that we're here. Somehow we must have made a mysterious journey across the lake during the night, or else the fairy that I spoke of has turned the lake around in the night and left us standing exactly as we were. But I can't think on an empty stomach. Let's dress and get breakfast; then we will consider what has happened to us. We are anchored all right, so there is no occasion for worry. The weather is fine too. Our unknown enemy did us a good turn, this time, if he only knew it. Come along, girls."
"It is the most mysterious thing I ever encountered," declared Miss Elting at breakfast, after she had stepped to the window again to gaze off over the lake to the cove—in the distance—where the "Red Rover" had lain when they retired the night before.
None of the girls except Harriet and Jane had much appetite for breakfast. They were too excited over the mysterious changing of their position.
"What I cannot understand," continued the guardian, "is how we, who pride ourselves on being woodsmen, trailers and scouts and all the other things, could possibly be carried across a lake, dragged over several miles of water and not know anything about it. Can you explain why we didn't wake up, Harriet Burrell?"
Harriet shook her head.
"And we are anchored just the same as we were last night," remarked Jane. "It's spirits, girls. No mistake about that."
"Now, Jane," laughed Harriet. "You know very well that the mere fact that our anchor was pulled up before we left the other side of the lake, then let down on this side, makes your spirit theory impossible."
"Itwaththpookth," declared Tommy. "I thaw one thtanding on the handle of the mop pail latht night after I went to bed. I heard the water thplathh when he jumped in the pail."
"What a marvelous imagination you have," jeered Jane.
"All this talk doesn't help us to solve the mystery," averred Hazel. "How did we get here?"
"We do not know, but we are going to find out," replied Harriet.
"How?"
"I can't tell you. Something will turn up to give us a clue to this and the other mysteries. I have my suspicions of the Tramp Club in this matter. I am very glad that the rope was not cut, this time, or thrown overboard after being removed from the boat. If the boys are responsible for this, rest assured they'll be the first to tell us. You know the island that we admired so much from a distance, Miss Elting?
"We are within a mile of it now. After breakfast, with your permission I'll row over," continued Harriet. "I want to see that island at close range. Jane, will you come with me?" Jane was prompt to accept Harriet's invitation. Miss Elting also was invited, but concluded to remain with the other girls on the houseboat.
Harriet and her companion rowed rapidly to the island shortly after breakfast. It was a good sized island, as they discovered by rowing down one side of it, the side nearest to the shore of the mainland near which the houseboat was anchored. The girls rowed in so close that they were able to reach up and touch the foliage overhead and in places it trailed in the water. The island was rocky, still it was heavily wooded. One side of it was popular with picnic parties, but on the side where the girls were few boats ever landed. As they were rowing slowly along the edge, Harriet's eyes were constantly searching the shore.
"This is about what I thought we should find, Jane."
"What are you looking for, dear?"
"I am trying to find a place where we can run the 'Red Rover' in under the trees, and where the boat cannot be seen from the lake on either side of the island."
"You will have to change its color then. Why, in the sunlight you could see that tub fifty miles away."
Harriet did not answer. She had rested on the oars, and was peering over her right shoulder towards the thicket at the shore of the island.
"No, my dear, not where I am going to put the boat provided there is room for it. Do you see that current swirling right into the island there? I saw that from the deck of the 'Red Rover,' this morning, when looking through the glasses. At least I thought it was a current. The water everywhere else was very still, but a slight discoloration there, as you see it, led me to believe there was a creek running into the island."
"You have sharp eyes, Harriet. But where's your creek? I don't see it," laughed Jane.
"Neither do I. There may be no creek there, but if there is, it's going to be a splendid place to hide."
"Hide?" wondered Jane.
"Yes."
"But why should we hide, darlin'?"
"In that way we may be able to get some clue to our unknown enemy," nodded Harriet. "If the boys did tow us over here, of course they'll wonder what became of us."
"Do you think our enemy will try to find us?" asked Jane.
"Yes."
"I don't. We'll be wasting our time. The boys won't look for us, here, either."
"Well, here is the creek, at any rate," exclaimed Harriet, swinging the bow of the boat in as she spoke. "And oh, Jane! Look!"
A smooth sheet of dark water was revealed to the eyes of the girls. It was shimmering in the deep shadow of the foliage under which it flowed until it became lost in the shadows of foliage and rocks. Harriet drove her boat in without the least hesitancy. She saw by glancing above her head that there were no heavy limbs of trees hanging over the little waterway. A sounding with the oar developed the fact that there was only about three feet of water in the stream.
"Do you know where you are going, Harriet?" questioned Jane anxiously.
"No. But I don't care. Do you?"
"Not I. I can go where you go. Oh, look at that hole. It's a cave, Harriet, and the stream goes right into it."
"I think you are mistaken, Jane. That looks to me more as if the water had worn an opening in the rocks. The water must have been very high to make such a large opening. Yes. See! The water swirls in at one side of the opening and comes out on the other side, making a sort of horseshoe shape of the cut-out place. Isn't this a place in which to hide, Jane McCarthy?" cried Harriet triumphantly.
"Hurrah! The greatest hiding place in the world."
"And won't the Tramp Club be amazed when they find we are missing? They'll think their chance of winning the camera is doubtful."
"Perhaps they'll think we're drowned," answered Jane, her eyes sparkling mischievously.
"A little scare will do them good," returned Harriet, the mischievous sparkle appearing in the depths of her brown eyes. "What do you think of it, dear?"
"Fine! It's glorious. We'll have a picnic here. What fun, what fun! And it's such a beautiful place too. What shall we call it?"
"I think we might call it the Island of Delight," answered Harriet, after brief reflection.
"That's the name! Now, let's explore the place."
"Oh, no, not now, Jane. We must go and lay our plan before Miss Elting first. I do not think she will object, but we must ask her, of course, before we make any further arrangements."
"When do you plan to move in here?"
"Just as soon as we are able to get the 'Red Rover' in here. I am in a hurry. The boys are likely to be sailing over here almost any time now. We must get out of sight before they come near here."
"Hurrah!" shouted Crazy Jane.
"Save your breath. You will need it before we have gotten our big boat in. It is going to be a hard pull to get it through all this foliage and then it is going to be another difficult job to get it out again. When we get those boys on the Island of Delight we are going to give them something to think about," chuckled Harriet. "This time, the Meadow-Brook Girls will score."
"I should like to know how you are going to get them here?" wondered Jane.
"Oh, that is easy. One doesn't even need to think to know how to do that," laughed Harriet Burrell.
Jane regarded her admiringly.
"You sure are a wonderful girl. My daddy says he'd give a million if you were his daughter."
"I'm worth much less than that," smiled Harriet. "Now let's go back. We haven't any time to spare. When we get out into the lake both of us will row, but let's be certain that there is no one in sight. We don't want to be seen coming from this place or our plans will be spoiled before we have had a chance to carry them out."
They shoved the rowboat back through the foliage by placing the oars on the bottom and pushing. They made better progress this way than they could have made by rowing, for the low hanging branches of the trees fouled the oars, making rowing a difficult method of travel, as they had learned when they entered the narrow little waterway.
No person was in sight when they emerged. The two girls bent to their oars with a will and made rapid progress on their way back toward the "Red Rover."
Those on the houseboat saw the girls coming.
"Harriet ith in a hurry about thomething," observed Tommy, wrinkling her forehead into sharp little ridges of perplexity. She did not understand how any one could be in a hurry on such a hot day as this.
The rowers reached the "Red Rover," and jumping aboard, their faces flushed and eyes sparkling, proceeded to tell their companions of their great find.
"And what is your plan?" asked the guardian, smiling good-naturedly.
Harriet told her, whispering part of what she had to say, in the ear of Miss Elting.
"That will be fine," glowed the guardian, instantly entering into the spirit of the plan. "We shall at least have a good time there."
"And we'll be hidden from the world so no one will know we are on this island at all," interjected Jane.
"I am with you, girls. But we must not let people get the idea that anything has happened to us. That would not be right, you know."
"No one about here knows, or at least cares, what happens to us, unless it is the Tramp Club," replied Harriet, "Besides, I shall find a way to let them know we are above water, rather than underneath it."
"All right. I suppose you wish to move into this retreat to-day, Captain Harriet?"
"Yes. At once."
"Then get under way, Captain, as soon as you wish. Able seaman Tommy Thompson will heave the anchor for you," averred the guardian merrily.
"Able theaman Tommy will do nothing of the thort," retorted Tommy. "Able theaman Tommy will heave herthelf overboard if thhe trieth to do any heaving at all."
"Miss Elting, I think you can steer the boat. I am needed in the rowboat with Jane," interrupted Harriet.
"Girls, I am afraid it is going to be a pretty hard pull in this heat. Hadn't we better wait until the evening?" suggested the guardian.
Harriet and Jane protested that they didn't mind the heat at all, and that they could pull the big boat over to the island without the least difficulty. Miss Elting offered no further objections. The "Red Rover" was a scene of activity from that moment on. All hands except Tommy assisted in getting the anchor aboard. Harriet and Jane, without loss of time, jumped into the rowboat and began pulling away. It was hard work to get the houseboat started, but once under way it followed along fairly well.
Miss Elting handled the tiller, while Hazel, Margery and Tommy acted as lookouts to inform the rowers if any motor boats were sighted. The lookouts watched the lake through their glasses. The sun glaring down on the red sides of the "Red Rover" made the boat visible as far as eyes could reach. It was even discovered by one of the Tramp Club boys, but so slowly did it move that he was not aware that it was moving at all. From the other side of the lake the houseboat appeared to be standing still, until finally it disappeared altogether. He wondered a little over this at the time, then forgot all about the circumstance until later.
Miss Elting Handled the Tiller.Miss Elting Handled the Tiller.
Miss Elting Handled the Tiller.Miss Elting Handled the Tiller.
In the meantime Harriet and Crazy Jane were heading toward the Island of Delight, pulling at the oars with backs bent to their task. They were destined to have a most delightful time on this their Island of Delight and to experience some thrills as well, and Harriet's plans were to work out better than she knew.
Now that they were masked by the island, the girls also were shut off from a view of the lake, save for the narrow ribbon of water that lay between them and the nearby shore, so they rowed faster than before.
"Can you steer into this opening?" called Harriet.
"I am afraid I can't," answered Miss Elting. "You will have to put me aboard, Jane, I'll have Hazel help you pull in; then we shall have to push the rest of the way."
Harriet Burrell sprang on board a few minutes later. She set Miss Elting and Margery at work with poles at the stern of the boat pushing, as soon as they entered the shallow water. Tommy had been posted on the upper deck, from which the awning posts had been removed. Tommy's business was to hold her arms out at right angles to her body and by moving them as directed indicate to Harriet which way to steer. It will be remembered that Harriet was unable to see over the deckhouse from where she stood when guiding the craft. She could see only by leaning out on either side.
They entered the narrow channel very slowly. But no sooner had they gotten well in than a cry from Tommy Thompson told them that the little lisping girl was in trouble.
Tommy had been swept from her feet by the foliage. Not only that, but in floundering about she had rolled over the side of the boat. A mighty splash and a second cry gave additional evidence that Tommy was in further difficulties.
"Help me! I'm in the water!" she screamed, coming up sputtering and coughing.
"Stay there and push," answered Harriet, laughing so that she bumped the nose of the houseboat into the bank on the right side of the creek. "You can't get any wetter. The water is shallow. Come. Don't hold up the ship."
Tommy had no intention of pushing. Her sole ambition at this moment was to get aboard.
"You may do your own piloting after thith," she declared, sitting down on the stern of the boat with a suggestion of a sob in her voice.
"There, there, Tommy. You must learn to take the bitter with the sweet. We must do that all through life," comforted Harriet wisely. "You aren't hurt."
"No, but I'm wet. My feelingth are hurt, too."
"Don't think about it any more," advised Harriet. "Go into the cabin and change your wet clothes. Then you'll feel better."
"Will you steer, Miss Elting?" Harriet asked the guardian. "We are slowing down too much. If we stop it will be difficult to get another start."
The boat moved faster when Harriet took hold of the pushing pole. Jane had ceased rowing because she was at the end of her tow line and had proceeded as far into the cave-like opening in the rocks as she could go. She pulled the rowboat to one side and called to the helmswoman of the "Red Rover" not to run her down.
"Snub her nose against the side. We don't want to bump into the rocks," ordered Captain Harriet.
"Thnub whothe nothe?" questioned Tommy apprehensively.
"The boat's, of course, you goose," answered Harriet laughingly. "That's it. Will it go in clear, Jane?"
"Yes, all right."
"Good. I was certain it would."
"How are we going to keep the boat in here? It will drift out with the current, will it not?" asked the guardian.
"We will put out the anchor at the other end, giving it a short rope. That will hold us. The current is not swift."
While she was holding the "Red Rover" in place, Jane and Miss Elting dragged the anchor to the inner end of the opening, put it over and made it fast with a shortened rope.
"There. Now let's sit down and rest our backs," exclaimed Harriet. Her face was red and perspiring. "I'm tired."
"Harriet, you must be tired. You have wonderful endurance," said the guardian.
"Tho am I tired. I'm worn out," declared Tommy.
"Tired? Why, you haven't done a thing, you dear little goose," chuckled Crazy Jane.
"I know that. It maketh me tired to watch you folkth work. Now, what crathy thing are we going to do?"
"After we have rested we are going to explore our Island of Delight. Won't that be splendid?" questioned Harriet, with glowing eyes. "Just imagine that we are on an unknown, mysterious island. Perhaps there are savages, wild beasts and——"
"And thingth," finished Tommy.
"Yes, and things," agreed Harriet.
"Perhaps there is another phase of this game of hide and seek that you have not thought of, Harriet," pondered Miss Elting. "How are we to get fresh supplies?"
"There are several farmhouses within half an hour's row of us. By going to them early in the evening we shall not be discovered."
Miss Elting nodded. Margery wanted to know how long they were going to stay in that hole in the ground.
"Until you girls get tired of it," answered Harriet good-naturedly. "As I understand our arrangement, we have the privilege of expressing our choice in all matters that come up, Miss Elting's decision being final. What a glorious place this is!"
"Aren't we going to explore our Island of Delight now?" demanded Jane.
"It is your discovery—yours and Harriet's," was Miss Elting's smiling reply. "Suit yourselves as to exploring it."
"We have time to look about a little before night," answered Harriet. "It won't be dark for a little while yet."
They were about to start out when the distant chug of a motor boat was heard. "I guess we will not go just yet," she added. "Wait. I'll row down to the mouth and see if it is the Tramp Club's boat."
Harriet paddled part way to the lake edge, then finding the bank accessible, sprang out and crept the rest of the way on shore. She was in time to see a power boat moving slowly past. It was close to the shore of the island. Several young men were aboard. One was standing up, gazing toward the island, one hand shading his eyes. Harriet chuckled when she recognized the standing boy as George Baker. There could be no doubt that the boys were looking for the Meadow-Brook Girls. The watching girl chuckled with delight. Then the thought occurred to her that some way must be found to communicate with the boys soon, so that the latter might know they were safe. Just how that was to be accomplished Harriet did not know. The launch soon passed on out of sight.
As a matter of fact, Captain George Baker and his companions were a little disturbed over not finding the "Red Rover." Sam said he had seen the boat that afternoon, and unless it had picked up a tow the houseboat could not be far away. They moved along the shore, peering into each cove on that side of the lake until twilight fell and it was no longer light enough to see into the shadows.
"It's my opinion that those girls will win the wager unless we do some hustling," declared Larry Goheen, when they had once more returned to their camp on the other side of the lake.
"Harriet Burrell is very clever," answered George. "I wish we had gone ashore over there near where we last saw the 'Red Rover.' I'll tell you what we'll do. We'll run over there to-morrow and make inquiries of the farmers nearby. We ought at least to get some trace of them."
The boat turned homeward after having encircled the island. Harriet, as soon as the motor boat had passed on out of sight, hurried back to her companions.
"Girls! It's the boys," she cried. "They are looking for us. I could see that. They were so close to the island that I could almost have hit them with a stone."
"Provided you could throw straight," interjected Miss Elting.
"Yes. I wouldn't have to be a very good thrower to reach a boat so close as that one was."
"Shall we go exploring now?" asked Margery.
"I don't believe it would be prudent. Those boys are sharp. They may be on the island at this very moment. I don't hear their boat any more," replied Harriet.
"We will postpone exploring until to-morrow," announced Miss Elting. "And now, suppose we get supper? This is a cosy place. I never saw a more delightful nook. To-morrow morning, if the coast be clear, we will look about us. How about the farmhouse?"
"I am going over there as soon as it gets a little darker."
Harriet did not go until after supper, which proved to be one of the most enjoyable meals to which the girls had ever sat down. Their surroundings were so romantic that the situation appealed strongly to each of them. The Meadow-Brook Girls were in high good humor. Later in the evening, Harriet, accompanied by Jane and Hazel, paddled the rowboat out from the island and rowed almost straight across to the shore of the mainland. Hiding their boat in some bushes they made their way to a farmhouse, and there arranged for milk. Harriet had a confidential chat with the woman of the house, who readily agreed to the girl's proposition to assist in fooling the boys. The woman further agreed to provide them with such supplies as they needed. For such as they took with them the girls paid then and there. Harriet chuckled all the way back to the island. She believed that she had planned in such a way as thoroughly to mystify George Baker and his friends, and at the same time convince the latter that the Meadow-Brook Girls were not in trouble.
Reaching the island they found their companions eagerly awaiting them. To Miss Elting, Harriet confided her plan. Then, after a happy evening, the houseboat party went to bed, looking forward with keen expectation to what awaited them on the morrow, when Harriet's new plan was to be tried.