"I don't know. But he seemed to be in a tremendous hurry to get out of sight."
"Then he must have seen us."
"If it was Marcy, perhaps the Sprite is somewhere around here," came from Bart, after a pause.
"That is exactly what I was thinking," answered Joe.
"Let us go on the hunt for the sloop," came from Fred. "Perhaps she is hidden up that creek."
CHAPTER XVI.
THE FINDING OF THE SLOOP.
As said before, the trees and bushes lining the creek on both sides were very close together, and the three boys had all they could do to get through to the edge of the water.
"We would have done better had we rowed up the creek in our rowboat," said Joe. "Wait a minute, I am all twisted up in this bramble bush."
"Here is some fine sassafras," came from Bart. "Wait till I get some to chew on." And they all stopped until he had cut some tender shoots for each. Then they walked on until they came out on a bit of a clearing close to the water's edge.