Ruth looked at the skiff drawn up on the shore, and then up into the grove of trees.
"I wonder where the girl is who was in that boat?" she said.
"Was it a girl?" asked Helen, with interest.
"Yes. She must have found shelter somewhere from this rain. Come on! We may be able to keep reasonably dry up there in the woods."
The other girls followed Ruth, for she was naturally their leader. The rain continued to beat down upon them; but before they reached the opening in which was situated the Stone Face, Ruth spied an evergreen, the drooping branches of which offered them reasonable shelter.
"Come on into the green tent, girls!" shouted Jennie Stone, plunging into the dimly lighted circle under the tree. "Oh! Goodness! What's that?"
"A dog!"
"A cow! and I'm afraid of co-o-ows!" wailed Sally Blanchard, seizing upon Ruth as the nearest savior.
"Don't be silly, child," vouchsafed Helen, who had followed Jennie. "How would a cow come upon this island—a mile from shore?"
"Or a dog?" laughed Ruth. "What did you see, Jennie Stone?"