That night there was a shower. The rain, beating down on the foliage and the end of the houseboat that protruded from the cave, served to freshen the air and brought out the fragrance of green leaves and flowers. When the sun came out next morning every leaf and petal was glistening, birds were singing overhead and the girls uttered exclamations of delight as they ran out in their bathing suits and jumped into the water for their morning baths.
For several moments they splashed about in the shallow water, then, scrambling aboard their houseboat, enjoyed brisk rub downs, after which their appetites were sufficiently sharpened to cause them to hurry the breakfast with all possible speed. They ate under the light of the lamp that hung from the cabin ceiling. Had the foliage not been so wet they would have permitted the "Red Rover" to drift out from under the rocks, but it was decided that the trees were too wet for this, so they ate in the darkened cave.
Immediately after breakfast they put on their old khaki skirts, that they had worn part of the time on their long tramp across country the previous season, and started out on their deferred exploring trip about the island. Exclamations of delight were frequent. The island was full of rocky nooks and dells; there were numerous wild flowers, while in the great trees that overhung the shore of the island an occasional squirrel whisked back and forth.
"It really is the Island of Delight!" cried Crazy Jane. "How I wish my dear old dad were here! Wouldn't he want to buy this island? I'm going to ask him to come here some day, but I'm afraid he'll say he hasn't the time."
"This island is too large to explore this morning," declared Miss Elting.
"It may take some days," Harriet nodded, as they strolled about, "but it will be delightful work."
On the outer side they discovered evidences that picnic parties had been there. And then they came upon the remains of a campfire, but it was a small one, as though there had been but a solitary camper, and that some time back.
"I hope no one comes while we're here," murmured Margery.
"How selfish!" laughed Hazel.
By seven o'clock the delighted girls began to retrace their steps toward the houseboat.
"Now, let's go down to the shore and take a look out over the lake," proposed Harriet, and this was done.
There were several boats in sight, but at the distance these looked like mere specks. A large excursion steamer was passing in the middle of the lake. Feeling quite certain that they were in no danger of being discovered the girls found a place in the sunlight and there sat down to bask in the pleasant warmth of the sun.
"Get back, at once!" cried Harriet, suddenly springing to her feet, then crouching. "We don't want to be seen."
The girls retreated up the shore in some confusion, not stopping to ask questions until they were concealed.
"Oh, now I hear it," cried Hazel. "A motor boat coming! Do you think it's the one the boys are using?"
"I don't know," Harriet replied, "but it's heading straight for the island, and we must be ready to seek hiding on the 'Red Rover.'"
Anxious eyes peered through the bushes, watching the approaching boat for some time.
"Itisthe boys!" announced Miss Elting finally.
Tommy leaped up, and started to run.
"Wait!" commanded Harriet. "Let's make sure what they are going to do before we run away. We may have to creep across that open space there. I think they can see it from the lake. If they are coming to land on the island they will have to go farther to the right. That will be our time to get back."
But the Tramp Club had no intention of landing at that moment. They were nearing the island for the purpose of looking it over. When they had come as close as they cared to run they turned the boat sharply and moved along at a slower rate of speed. They were out of sight of the girls a few moments after that.
"Now for the boat. They are going around to the other side of the island," declared Harriet. "I think our plan is going to work."
For some reason George Baker was considerably interested in that island. There were many other islands in the lake, but this one had come to hold a sort of fascination for him.
"I don't believe they are over there," reflected George.
"We should have seen them yesterday if they had been," answered Billy Gordon. "It's a jolly place, though. We'll come over here and camp when we get ready. It is seldom that any one goes there."
"Where's that farmhouse we saw yesterday?" questioned Sam.
"On the other side of the lake, about half way down," answered Gordon. "There is a pier there so we can land."
Of course all of this the Meadow-Brook Girls did not hear. But, having reached the houseboat, they made their way down the inlet, and were near the mouth of it when they sighted the motor boat on that side of the island. The girls saw it head straight for the pier where Harriet had landed the previous evening on her way to the farmhouse for supplies. The boys tied up the boat and two of them got out and went up the slope toward the farmhouse.
The two boys, George and Billy, returned to the motor boat walking rapidly.
"Did you find out anything?" called Sam.
"Yes."
"Anything wrong?" asked Larry.
"I don't know. It's a puzzle," replied Captain Baker. "Two of them were up at that farmhouse last night. The queer thing about it is that the woman up there saw the 'Red Rover' lying down here yesterday. Then the boat was gone when she looked again. I don't understand it."
"Some one gave them a tow. Don't you tumble to that?" asked Sam.
"Where to?"
"I give it up. I don't know."
"If nothing has happened them they can't be far away, or the girls wouldn't have gone up there last night."
"What time were they there, George?"
"Some time after dark. I didn't ask the time. I asked the woman if they were coming again. She said she didn't know. I told her we would come back later in the day, and, if she saw either of the girls in the meantime, to tell them that we wished to know where they are, as we had something to tell them. It was after dark when they were there. I don't know what to make of it."
"Well, they are all right, so what's the use in worrying?" asked Larry.
"Yes, they aren't drowned. I haven't any too much confidence in that old scow. It is likely to spring a leak and go down any old time," declared Billy Gordon. "I wouldn't trust myself in it over night."
"You are not likely to get the chance," jeered Sam. "What are we going to do now?"
"Go on to Wantagh, then to camp. We will come back before supper. While we are out we'll make inquiries. Some one may have seen the boat. It probably is laid up in a cove somewhere along this shore," decided George.
"We should have seen it if it had been," replied Billy.
"How about that island? Is there any place along the shore where they could hide the boat?" questioned Baker.
Billy shook his head.
"You have seen the whole island. We went all the way around it yesterday. It is my opinion that they are going to tie the score."
"I am beginning to think so myself. But we'll beat them yet," chuckled Larry Goheen.
"We will have to wake up in the morning earlier than we usually do," returned George. "You ought to have seen the way they won that walking match. Outwit the Meadow-Brook Girls three times in succession. Well, try it!"
"If they are so smart, what's the use in bothering about them?" answered Larry.
"Because I don't propose to have them get the best of us every time," returned George. "That's why I made this wager."
"They didn't get the best of us the other night, did they?" grinned Billy. "We're one trick ahead." All the boys except George laughed heartily over some little joke of their own.
"Look here, fellows," said Baker. "We think we are mighty smart, but I'm telling you that we may not be as smart as we believe. They may be laughing at us all the time."
The two boys got into the launch and Billy started the motor. The launch backed away, turned slowly about, then followed nearly the same course that it had on the previous day. This time it crept along still closer to the Island of Delight. The girls, who were watching it, crouched low, almost flattening themselves on the ground in their efforts to avoid discovery. The boys, at one time, seemed to be gazing right at them.
Yet even with this keen study of the shores of the island the Tramp Club boys passed by the entrance to the anchorage of the "Red Rover" without having discovered the little inlet.
"I'm going over there to find out what they found out," cried Harriet. "Who is going along? Tommy, I'll take you, Hazel and Margery this time if you wish to go. You haven't been out with me at all."
The four got into the small boat and rowed across the water to the same landing where less than half an hour before the boys' boat had been tied up. What Harriet learned at the farmhouse, filled her with delight.
"The boys know we are all right now. They are coming back again this afternoon. They are going to get another surprise, girls. Oh, we'll win that camera, won't we? Won't Miss Elting be amused when she hears what we have to tell her?" said Harriet.
"I gueth they won't want to thee uth again," suggested Tommy.
"Yes, they will. They have something to tell us," returned Harriet mysteriously.
"What is it?" asked Margery.
"I am not going to say. At least, not until I am sure it is so. I wonder if they will get suspicious of the island and search it for us?"
The Meadow-Brook Girls were on the alert all the rest of the day. They posted a lookout for the boys, in the person of Hazel Holland, who was to be depended upon. They drew the "Red Rover" into the cave as far as it would go, only the tip of the after deck protruding from the mouth of the cave. There was no more exploring that day. They did not dare get too far away from their hidden home, fearing lest the boys might come upon them unawares. Every boat on the lake in the vicinity was regarded with suspicion. But it was not until nearly five o'clock that Hazel came in with the report that the launch was heading across the upper end of the island, evidently making for the dock visited by it earlier in the day.
After reaching the landing, Captain Baker went up to the farmhouse alone. With his companions he had been searching along the lake the greater part of the afternoon for information about the "Red Rover," but without result. It was therefore with some misgivings that he once more knocked at the door of the farmhouse.
"Have you seen anything of the young ladies?" he asked the instant the door was opened in response to his knock.
"Oh! You are the young man who was here this morning? Yes, I've heard from them," replied the woman, with a twinkle in her eyes that Captain Baker failed to observe.
"You have? What have you heard?"
"The young women were here very shortly after you left this morning."
"You don't say so? Thank you ever so much. Did they say where they were stopping?" he questioned eagerly.
The woman shook her head.
"But they must be near here?"
"Maybe they are and maybe they ain't." The farmer's wife did not know exactly where the girls were, so she had told him no untruth.
"Haven't you seen their boat?"
"Not since the other day."
"That is queer. I don't understand it," pondered George. "Did they leave any message for us?"
"Yes," laughed the farmer's wife, keenly enjoying the puzzled look on Baker's face. "The young lady left word that if you wanted to see them you'd have to find them."
"That's the word, is it?" demanded George grimly, pulling his hat down over his eyes. "The challenge is accepted, and we'll find them!"
"Not!" added Larry Goheen skeptically, when he heard of George's confident answer.
"Oh, dear, but I juthtdowonder what the boyth are going to do!" lisped Tommy, as the motor boat started once more on its travels.
"There's nothing very uncertain, in their own minds," laughed Harriet. "Just see how fast they're going. They've decided upon something."
"They're going back to their camp, but I've an idea they're going to come over soon," guessed Hazel, "and make a regular search for us."
"Something of that sort," agreed Miss Elting.
"Well," said Jane sagely, "from their speed and the comfortable way they're all sitting, I'm sure the boys are not doing any guessing about their plans."
"No. They've pathed the guething over to uth," lisped Tommy sagely.
"Anyway," said Jane McCarthy, "if our friends can't find us, then our enemies can't, either."
"I hadn't thought of that," Harriet nodded.
"I wish I knew what the boys' plan is. At any rate we must begin to think of outwitting them a second time."
"How?" asked Hazel eagerly.
"Oh, I have the greatest scheme! That is, if they come back again," added Harriet. "We will just have those boys so mystified that they won't know what they are doing."
"What do you propose to do?" asked Hazel.
"That is a dark secret. We won't even whisper it to the little birds yet, lest they carry it to our friends the tramps. I have an idea that our friends will be back here to-night. Just what they are going to do I don't know, but I think they are going to spy on the farmhouse. I wish they would come over to our Island of Delight. There are a number of things we could do to puzzle them. And then—"
"And then the wise housekeeper forgot all about her supper," interrupted Miss Elting, amid a chorus of laughter and many blushes from Harriet, who, in the excitement of planning to get the better of George Baker and his friends, had forgotten her household duties.
"Very good. I will confess that I have been dilatory. What do you girls wish for supper?"
"The same old thing—the old stand-by, bacon and eggs and coffee, and—"
"I know what I am going to have," interrupted Margery. "I'm going to have some custard. I haven't had any custard since I left home."
"Can you make it?" asked the guardian.
"Of course I can."
"You are quite sure of that?" teased Harriet.
"I guess I know. I've made it ever so many times. You will like it, if you get a chance to eat any of it. I am making this for myself."
"Thelfithh," jeered Tommy. "Make me thome plum pudding and thome angel food while you are about it. I jutht love angel food and plum duff, ath my father callth it."
"Custard is good enough for you, Tommy Thompson," laughed Margery. "May I make the custard, Miss Elting?"
The guardian nodded smilingly.
"If you think you can."
"I'll show you. Where are the milk and the eggs and the other things?"
"The milk is in that pail that hangs over the side at the other end of the boat. The eggs are in the paper box behind the stove. The rest of your materials are in the supply box. As for water, there is a lake full of it, enough to make custard for the whole world," remarked Miss Elting.
"Now you are teasing me—and you, too, Harriet. You will be glad I thought of it, however, after you have tasted the custard."
"After I have tasted it, yes," returned Harriet significantly.
That there was some hidden meaning in Harriet's remark, Margery well knew. That was as near as she got to understanding just then. Later on she understood more fully.
"I am afraid you haven't time to make the custard for supper," added Harriet.
"It will do for dessert later in the evening. We don't have to eat everything all at once, you know." Margery was in a flurry of importance, over the idea of making the custard. Tommy, despite her apparent indifference, was eagerly waiting for the custard. It was one of her favorite dishes.
Buster broke the eggs in an agate dish, then added the milk, a cupful for each person. The eggs, of course, had first been beaten up and the sugar added. Harriet, with her skirt pinned up, was frying bacon and potatoes until the smoke in the cabin was so thick as to drive out those who were not actively engaged in getting the supper. Harriet and Margery stuck to their posts, Tommy Thompson watched the operations from the deck, now and then coughing to remind them that she was there.
"There, I think everything is ready," announced Buster. "How soon are you going to finish with the oil stove?"
"Please do not wait for me. I shall not be done here for some little time. The coffee isn't ground yet. What part of the stove do you require for your custard?"
"The oven, of course. Don't you know how to make custard?"
"Oh, yes." Harriet turned her face from her companion, apparently to avoid the smoke, but in reality that Margery might not observe her laughter. "Help yourself to the oven."
Margery groped about underneath the oil stove, burned her fingers and bumped her forehead against the edge of the stove.
"If you please, don't knock the top of the stove off. We are some distance from another stove," reminded Harriet.
"I—I can't find the oven," wailed Margery.
"Don't you know why?"
"No-o."
"That is strange."
"Where is the oven?"
"There isn't any on this stove. Hadn't you discovered that yet, you silly?"
"No—oven?" repeated Buster.
"No. No oven."
"Then I've mixed my custard for nothing?"
"I am afraid you have unless you can turn the mixture to some other purpose."
Margery stared at Harriet in silence, then carefully setting the dish on the little shelf above the stove she sat down on the floor and burst into tears.
Harriet left her frying pan, and, taking Buster firmly by an arm, lifted the girl to her feet and led her out to the after deck.
"Wha—at are you go—oing to do?"
"Bathe your face for you and set you down on the deck to cool off," replied Harriet.
"You knew all the time that there wasn't any oven," sobbed Buster.
"Yes, of course I did. So should you have known. I let you go on—"
"Because you are mean," interjected the unhappy Margery.
"No. To teach you to use your eyes. You should learn to be observing. Didn't you hear us talking about that oven when Jane brought home the stove?"
"Ye—es. I had forgotten."
"Of course you had. Now get ready for supper. To-morrow I will make an oven of stones on the shore and you shall make your custard and you shall have it all to yourself, if you wish, just to punish us for being so mean to you. Will that satisfy you, Buster?"
"Ye—ye—yes," answered Buster, with three distinct catches in her voice.
"Come, now, dry your eyes, that's a dear," urged Harriet. "Tommy!"
"Yeth?"
"Will you kindly place the chairs. Supper will be served in the cabin as soon as the coffee is ready."
Tommy proceeded noisily about her task of putting the chairs in place at the table. Soon after that Harriet with a dish towel whipped the smoke out of the cabin and then announced that supper was ready. Margery's eyes were red and she had little to say, but her appetite was unaffected by her late bitter disappointment.
"Now tell us of your latest scheme, Harriet," urged the guardian after they had settled down to their supper.
"My scheme? Which scheme?"
There was a laugh at Harriet's expense.
"There, girls! You see. Harriet has so many schemes and plans in her head that she doesn't know which is which. I mean your second scheme for fooling the Tramp Club, Harriet."
"Oh, yes. I know. I am not going to put it into operation until to-morrow. You may not approve of it, but I hope you will."
"I don't think you have reason to complain of my opposing your plans, Harriet. To tell the truth, I enjoy them as much as you. But before we go any further with our discussion, do you not think it would be an excellent idea to hang a blanket over that rear door. The light might attract attention from the lake and bring undesirable persons here."
"Thank you. I never thought of it." Harriet rose at once. Selecting a long blanket, she fastened it over the doorway, after which she drew down the shades. The door at the other end of the boat opened on to a solid wall of rock, so that no light could escape from that end. Harriet was about to resume her seat at the table, when she paused sharply, raising her hand as a signal for silence.
"What is it, dear?" asked Miss Elting in a low voice.
"I heard a shout. There is it again. Did you hear?"
The guardian and the other girls nodded.
"It isn't far from here. May I go down to the end of the creek and find out what it means?"
"Wait a moment." The guardian turned down the light, then stepped out to the after deck, followed by the girls. From the deck they could hear the shouts much more plainly, but the shouters were too far away to make it possible to distinguish what they were saying.
"Yes, you may go, but do nothing imprudent," added Miss Elting.
"I will try not to do so."
"May I go with you, Harriet?" asked Jane.
"Perhaps it would be better for me to go alone." Miss Elting agreed with this, fearing that the girls might begin to laugh or talk and thus attract attention to themselves. Harriet quickly got the rowboat and began pushing her way down through the overhanging foliage that smote her in the face with every move of the oar.
The night was very dark. She had to feel her way along, but even at that the boat frequently bumped into the bank. Reaching the lake, she paused to look and listen. Not more than ten rods above she saw lights on the shore of the island and a light on the water. A motor boat chugged a few times, the plash of an oar followed, then more shouts.
"I simply must find out what is going on there," muttered Harriet. "I wonder if it can be—Yes, I'll row a little further along. No one will see me unless I get within range of the lanterns there."
Taking careful note of the entrance to their secret creek that she might recognize the spot when she returned, Harriet crept to the stern of the rowboat and using one oar as a paddle propelled the boat through the water as quietly as possible.
As she neared the scene of activity the voices of the newcomers grew louder. Harriet finally ceased paddling and permitted her boat to drift, steering well into the shadows, hugging the shore of the island until she could touch it with an oar. Unless she splashed with the oar, she was reasonably certain of being able to avoid discovery. The Meadow-Brook girl was now within a few yards of where the operations were going on. Her eyes were fixed on the outlines of a launch in which two persons appeared to be working, when all at once and with a suddenness that nearly brought a cry to her lips, a canoe shot out of the shadows directly ahead of her and sped noiselessly out into the lake. The girl did not even remember to have seen any one in the canoe so quickly had it appeared and disappeared. She wondered, too, at the skill that enabled one to paddle without noise. A gentle ripple—the wake of the canoe—splashed against the bows of her own boat.
"Surely, I am not dreaming," whispered the girl. "I must have startled the man. Who could it have been, and is it possible that he has been here watching us?" A number of surmises entered the mind of Harriet Burrell. She collected her thoughts quickly and held her boat with the oar, for she was drifting perilously close to the launch. She was now in plain sight of the campers on shore. She could hear every word that was uttered there.
Harriet listened for fully fifteen minutes. All at once, she swung the rowboat about, leaning her body to one side to assist in the turning. The second oar that had been laid across the seats lengthwise of the boat rolled to the other side with a rumble and a clatter that to her strained nerves sounded like thunder.
"Who's there?" called a voice from the launch.
There was no reply. Harriet, in her haste to get away, splashed noisily. She heard a quick exclamation, then the sound of two people jumping into a rowboat. She knew it was the rowboat she had seen lying alongside the launch. She knew, too, that the rowers were pursuing her. But even then Harriet did not lose her presence of mind. Instead of doing so, she dipped her oars and sent the boat shooting ahead, with the water rippling away from the bows, making a noise that she feared her pursuers would hear and thus be able to locate her position accurately. Harriet had not once glanced over her shoulder, but her ears were on the alert and by the sense of sound she was able to gauge the distance between herself and the pursuing boat.
"They're gaining on me!" she muttered. "But I'm going to fool them just the same."
The Meadow-Brook girl did not dare to go on and enter the secret channel for fear of exposing the hiding place of the houseboat. She was watching for some other nook into which to drive her boat. In case her pursuers discovered her she determined to jump out and make her escape as best she could, leaving the boat on the beach. Then a sudden idea occurred to her.
Harriet picked up a tin dipper that lay in the boat and that had been used for bailing. This she hurled as far out in the lake as she could throw it. The dipper fell with a splash that was plainly heard both by herself and those in the pursuing boat.
"Out there he is!" cried a voice in the other boat. She heard the pursuers head out. Harriet took advantage of the opportunity to move her rowboat ahead a few rods. She then turned it sharply to the shore. The girl was fortunate in being able to find cover in the overhanging foliage, behind which she took refuge. The water was quite shallow there. The keel of the rowboat touched bottom. She heard the grating sound as the boat grounded, but knew that she was not so firmly aground that she could not get away.
The men in the rowboat found neither the dipper nor the boat of which they were in pursuit. Instead of rowing on, they craftily turned sharply in toward shore in order to get the benefit of the shadows. One within the shadow could see out fairly well, but to one who was out in the lake, the shores and the water for some rods about were enveloped in blackness.
"Pull out a little, but keep close to the shore," commanded a voice. "That fellow played some sort of trick on us and has gone on. It's curious we didn't hear him. Row fast and I'll keep watch. If he gets out into the lake we've got him."
The rowboat shot past Harriet Burrell's hiding place so close that she might have reached out an oar and touched it. She was tempted to give the person in the stern of the boat a poke with her oar, but wisely refrained from doing anything of the sort. After the boat had passed, Harriet sat perfectly still, arms folded, a quiet smile on her face.
"Harriet Burrell, you are a pretty good scout, after all. You wouldn't have made such a bad Indian. I'll rap on wood."
She drummed on the gunwale of the boat. "I hope they won't go far. The girls will worry if I do not return soon. Still, Miss Elting will know that there is a good reason for my remaining away so long. There they come."
The rowboat was returning. The rowers were moving more slowly now, talking and wondering as to the man who had been spying on them. They passed her talking loudly. One of them was threatening vengeance. The girl waited until they had rowed a safe distance from her, after which she cautiously pushed her boat out and began rowing toward home. Harriet was chuckling under her breath, but her eyes and ears were on the alert. She had not forgotten that canoe. Any person who could paddle like that was well worth looking out for.
Harriet rowed past the entrance to their retreat without having observed it. But it was only a few moments later when she discovered her error. She turned her boat more carefully this time, then rowed it into the secret waterway. So quietly did she enter that her companions did not discover her until the nose of her rowboat bumped the scow.
There was a little scream, quickly suppressed by Miss Elting.
"Is that you, Harriet?" she questioned, with no trace of alarm in her voice.
"Yes."
"You were so quiet about it that you gave me the creeps," declared Margery.
"Did you find them, Harriet?" asked Jane.
"Yes. And they came near to finding me too. They chased me nearly all the way home. I hid in the bushes and waited. They passed me and came on this way, I should judge nearly up to the entrance, after which they turned about and went back. That isn't the only strange experience I have had since I left you." Harriet related the incident of the mysterious canoe.
"What were the men doing?"
"They were pitching camp. We are going to have near neighbors," answered Harriet, unshipping the oar and tying the rowboat to the scow.
"Of course, you do not know who they are?"
"Yes, I do. It is George Baker and his friends."
A chorus of exclamations greeted this announcement.
"They have come over here to find us. I think we will play our second trick on them to-night. It won't do to wait until to-morrow. We will get caught if we do."
"Those boys certainly are persistent. They must suspect that we are in hiding somewhere hereabouts."
"Yes. I wanted them to think so. I did not wish them to believe we had been drowned and have the entire lakeside out looking for us. That wouldn't be fun. It is more fun to tease and tantalize them."
"Maybe they've got an oven tho Buthter can make her cuthtard," suggested Tommy Thompson.
"Please do be quiet, Tommy. We want to hear about the Tramp Club and what we are to do to outwit them," said Miss Elting. "Did they bring their tent with them, Harriet?"
"Yes. At least they have a small tent. I don't believe they have moved their permanent camp, but they are here in force, that is certain. Now, I'll tell you about the surprise I propose to give them."
Harriet explained briefly. At first the girls were not in favor of it, but after she had gone into further details they grew enthusiastic.
"You certainly do love to work, don't you, Harriet Burrell?" said Miss Elting with a laugh. "But it is good for you. I like to see you all active. One is likely to grow lazy on a houseboat."
"Not on thith houtheboat," complained Tommy. "It keepeth me tired out all the time watching other folkth work. My boneth ache all night long, I am tho tired. When I get home I'll thleep for a month to make up for lotht time."
"Had we better start now, Harriet?" asked the guardian.
"Oh, mercy, no; The boys are up yet and perhaps out on the lake. I propose that we go to bed, setting our alarm clock for two o'clock in the morning."
"Help, help!" moaned Margery. "You'll be the death of me."
"Thave me!" murmured Tommy.
Half an hour after Harriet had outlined her scheme to surprise their friends, the girls were in bed. They were tired, as usual, and went promptly to sleep.
In the meantime the Tramp Club boys had been busy making camp. They built up a campfire, and, before going to bed, cooked some fish that had been caught by one of their number that day.
"I don't believe the Meadow-Brook Girls are in these parts at all," declared Larry Goheen.
"It's a lark coming over here for a night's camping out, anyway," answered Billy Gordon, "It is like being real Indians."
"We aren't Indians," answered George, "It is those girls who are the Indians. I'd just like to see any other girls in the state of New Hampshire make the hike they did that last day we were on the trail. They may be twenty miles from here by this time. If we don't find them to-morrow I, for one, shall be in favor of making a trip around the lake in the launch. We can pretend that we had to go on an errand, or for some fishing bait or something of the sort. We mustn't let them know we have been looking for them."
It was after midnight when the boys turned in. They, too, went sound asleep directly they rolled up in their blankets in their little tent. Two hours later while the Tramp Club were oblivious to sound and time, the alarm clock on the "Red Rover" went off with a thrilling whirr. The girls sprang from their cots, Margery and Tommy protesting over being awakened at that unseemly hour, as they characterized it. Harriet lighted the oil stove and put the kettle on. The others went out to the deck to wash their faces. Harriet, having finished her labors for the time being, followed them.
The air was chill at that hour. The girls were shivering, Tommy's teeth, chattered. She stammered as well as lisped when she essayed to speak now.
"One more night like this, and Tommy won't be able to talk at all," chuckled Jane.
"My kingdom for another such a night, then!" returned Margery fervently.
"Buthter ith too fat to feel the cold," observed Tommy Thompson. She loved to tease Margery, and to mention her weight always annoyed Buster. Margery was unable to think of anything sufficiently irritating to fit that particular case, so she tossed her head and remained silent, while Tommy's twinkling eyes were fixed upon her.
By the time they had washed and dressed the tea kettle was singing merrily. It was a welcome sound and made the girls feel almost warm. Miss Elting, being first dressed, made the coffee. Harriet set out some biscuits, together with the milk and sugar.
"Now, I think we are ready," she announced.
After drinking the hot coffee the girls felt themselves equal to almost any task. The fire was put out and the light in the cabin extinguished, then Harriet and Jane stepped noiselessly into the rowboat after fastening the tow line to the scow.
"All aboard," called Harriet softly.
The "Red Rover" moved to the sound of muffled splashes; then a few moments later silence settled over the secret channel.
It was early on the following morning that Captain George Baker opened his eyes sleepily. He yawned, blinked and sat up.
"I guess I'll take an early morning plunge," he decided. "I won't wake up all day if I don't." Donning his bathing suit he stumbled out to the lake and permitted himself to fall in. The captain splashed and paddled about in the cool water for a quarter of an hour. His companions were still sleeping. George did not awaken them, preferring to take a solitary swim and rub down before calling them out.
At last the captain of the Tramp Club emerged dripping from the water and ran quickly for the tent. A few minutes later he appeared dressed for the day. Walking down to the shore of the lake he gazed across the water then uttered a sudden yell and began dancing up and down.
"Come out, fellows! Come out!" he howled, "Look! Look!"
Larry Goheen, Billy Gordon and the others came tumbling out, rubbing their eyes and blinking sleepily.
"What's the row?" cried Billy.
"Mean shame to play pranks on a fellow when he's dead for sleep," growled Sam.
"Now, what did you do it for?" demanded Larry. "Explain, or in the lake you go!"
"I've already been in the lake. I'm dressed for the day. But open your eyes. You are the sleepiest lot of fellows I ever saw. Why, a baby could stalk you and you'd never hear it say 'goo.' Come, don't you sleepy-heads see anything that interests you?"
Instead of looking out over the lake they were looking at George.
"Wait, I'll draw a map of the scene and write a directory to the map. Even then you'd need a private tutor to explain it to you. Look over there? Do you see anything? Wait, I'll get the telescope."
Following the direction indicated by Captain George's upraised arm the boys gazed and as they gazed their eyes grew wide with wonder. Then suddenly an ear-splitting yell rose from the lips of the Tramp Club.
"It's the 'Red Rover'!" shouted Sam.
"We've found them at last, the tramps!" cried Larry Goheen, his shock of fiery red hair fairly standing on end.
"We've found them?" scoffed George. "Guess again, Reddy. You mean they have found themselves for us."
"Well, what do you know about that?" wondered Billy. "Where in the world did they come from?"
"They probably rose from the sea like Neptune," scoffed George.
The "Red Rover" lay idly rising and falling on the slight swell, standing out a glistening flame in the bright morning sunlight. There were no signs of life on board. The boat was anchored some distance from the camp occupied by the boys, but not far out from the shore of the island. Naturally the houseboat was a little distance from the secret channel.
"Come on, fellows, let's go out and see them," urged Larry enthusiastically.
George gave him a withering look.
"The girls are not yet up. Can't you see that? A fine opinion of us they would have, were we to go out there at this hour. Do you know what time it is?"
"I can't see well enough in the morning to tell the time of day," replied Larry, with a wry twist of his mouth.
"Well, it is a quarter after five."
The boys groaned.
"Fine time to get a party of gentlemen out of bed," growled Sam. "What are we going to do about it, anyway?"
"You fellows are going to take a cold plunge, then get into your clothes. We will have breakfast. I will start the fire while you are bathing."
The boys hurried into their bathing suits, and with many a shout and yell, plunged into the lake. They were making all the noise they could, hoping to attract the attention of the girls so as to have the opportunity to get out to the houseboat as early as possible. But eagerly as the lads gazed up the lake, the houseboat showed no activity.
"They must be good sleepers over there," said Larry.
Captain George smiled to himself.
"They are only shamming," he muttered under his breath.
Breakfast was served about an hour later. The fire warmed the boys, and the coffee and food did likewise. After they had finished their breakfast they were in great good humor. At half past eight, there still being no signs of life on board the houseboat, Billy declared that he was going out in the launch to see if he couldn't stir up something. All hands piled into the launch. It was a matter of only a few moments to run to the houseboat. The boys circled the scow slowly, talking loudly. The windows of the house were open, the curtains flapping in the gentle breeze, but the doors at either end were tightly closed.
Having failed to attract any attention from the "Red Rover" the Tramp Boys returned to camp, tied up the motor boat and sat down to watch and wait. Nine o'clock came, then ten, but still no sign of life on board.
Captain George grew a little uneasy. He did not know that the Meadow-Brook Girls had eaten their breakfast more than an hour before that, and that the girls were watching the boys, chuckling over the perplexity of the latter.
Once more the motor boat was taken out. As they neared the houseboat for a second time they saw Harriet Burrell come out to the after deck, and stooping over examine the anchor rope.
"Halloo, there!" shouted George.
Harriet paid no attention to the "halloo." Apparently she did not hear them. George called again, and when Harriet turned and entered the house, without having once glanced in George's direction, he grew red in the face.
"She didn't hear you," chuckled Larry. "You didn't yell loudly enough. Why didn't you let me give them a roar? I'll guarantee to attract the attention of any one within half a mile of me."
"Run alongside, Billy. I'm going to make somebody notice me."
Billy grinned, then steered the launch up close to the "Red Rover." George rapped on the deck of the scow with a boathook. He had rapped several times, and was again getting red in the face when some one appeared. It was Harriet, who finally opened the door and peered out. Her face wore an expression of disapproving inquiry.
"Good morning," called George. The boys took off their hats.
"Why, it's George Baker," cried Harriet as though greatly surprised to see these visitors. "Girls, come out. Here are the boys."
The Meadow-Brook Girls hurried on deck.
"Where have you been?" questioned Miss Elting. "We did not think you would desert us in this fashion. We have been expecting you ever since we last saw you."
George blinked rapidly. The boys glanced at each other and looked perplexed and uneasy. Somehow, they had a feeling that they were being placed in an unenviable light.
"The question is, where have you been?" asked George in as gruff a tone as he could assume.
"Where have we been?" repeated Harriet wonderingly. "Are you joking, Mr. Baker?"
"No, I'm not joking. We have been worried about you. Where have you been?"
"Why, we have been not far from here all the time. And you mean to tell me that you didn't know where we were?"
George shook his head. His companions looked sheepish.
"Did you sail over here so early in the morning to call on us?" questioned Harriet innocently.
"No, we are camping over there."
"Oh! Then you came over to be near us? Isn't that fine?" laughed Crazy Jane.
"We—we thought may—maybe the fishing was better over here," replied George lamely.
"Oh, thave me!" muttered Tommy, then fled into the cabin that they might not observe her laughter.
"May we come aboard?" asked Billy.
"Not yet, boys," returned Miss Elting in reply. "Our house is not set to rights for company. Come over later. We should be pleased to have you."
"Say. It's hot out here. Suppose we tow you in nearer to our camp. There will be more shade there too," suggested Larry.
"Thank you. That will be nice."
"Come over and have luncheon with us to-day noon," urged George.
Miss Elting also accepted this invitation, rather to the surprise of the boys. Billy, without loss of time, fastened a line to the houseboat attaching the other end of the line to a cleat on the after deck of the launch. In the meantime Larry had jumped aboard the "Red Rover" and hauled in the anchor for them. The launch then towed the scow up to the camp of the tramps. Miss Elting motioned for them to draw the boat a little beyond the camp, which was done.
"Cast off," shouted Captain Harriet.
Jane slipped the tow line then let the anchor go over with a splash.
"You girls work just like regular sailors," declared Larry admiringly.
"We will see you at noon," called Miss Elting. "You needn't mind to come out for us. We have our rowboat."
"No. We will come for you with the launch," answered Billy.
As agreed, the boys came out with the launch shortly before twelve o'clock and took the Meadow-Brook party ashore. George, with an apron tied about his neck, was deep in preparations for dinner. Harriet and Jane immediately put on their own aprons, which they had brought along, and went to work, while Hazel and Margery bustled about assisting Larry and Sam in getting the table ready. The boys had arranged rustic seats in place of chairs, and the table, set under the spreading foliage, looked very neat and attractive.