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.