“Just the same, a joke can easily become serious when one is deserted on a desert island.”
“But you were looking for adventure,” retorted Ruth.
“Well!”
“Now you have it,” said Ruth, but soberly. “And worrying about it will not help us a particle. Might as well be cheerful.”
“You are as full of old saws as a carpenter’s abandoned tool-chest,” said Helen smartly. “Oh! What is this I hear? The smuggler’s boat again?”
They did hear a motor, but no boat appeared from the other side of the Kingdom of Pipes. The sound drew nearer. The motor-boat was coming down the river, through a passage between the island where the girls were and the American side.
“Come on! I don’t care who it is,” cried Helen, starting to run through the bushes. “We’ll hail them and ask them for rescue.”
But when she came in sight of the craft, to Ruth’s surprise Helen did not at once shout. Ruth only saw the bow of the boat coming down stream herself; but suddenly she marked the small name-board with its gilt lettering:
Lauriette
“Here’s Chess, I do believe!” she cried.