“If he don’t know anything, I can’t do anything. But we might as well get a few more facts. Something might turn up. Ask him whether he saw anybody following him when he went into the campus.”

Orme had been straining his ears in a vain endeavor to catch the words of Asuki. But suddenly his attention was diverted by a sound from the lake. It was the “puh-puh-puh-puh” of a motor-boat, apparently a little distance to the northward. The explosions followed one another in rapid succession.

He turned to the life-saver.

“What boat is that?” he asked.

“I don’t know. Some party from Chicago, probably. She came up an hour or so ago—at least, I suppose she’s the same one.”

The explosions were now so rapid as to make almost one continuous roar.

“She’s a fast one, all right,” commented the life-saver. “Hear her go!”

“Are there many fast boats on the lake?”

“Quite a number. They run out from Chicago harbor now and then.”

Orme was meditating.