THEIR SUSPICIONS AROUSED
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.
"It _is_ the 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.