“There seems to be a boat around the other side of that point of land,” said Gladys, shading her eyes with her hand. “See those two columns of smoke going up?”
“It must be standing still,” said the Captain. “The smoke is going up in the same place all the while.”
“It’s two boats,” said Katherine, “or does a boat have two smokestacks?”
“That’s not boat smoke,” said the Captain with a knowing air. “That’s from fires on the shore. They must be on that farther point, just beyond the one we’re looking against.”
“Isn’t that the Point of Pines?” asked Gladys.
“It is!” said Katherine. “And I’ll bet you a cooky it’s the Hounds who have built those fires. They’ve been walking all this while and have reached the Point.”
206“What would they want with two fires, though?” asked Gladys. “And such thick smoke! They can’t possibly be cooking anything over them.”
“I know!” cried the Captain. “They’re signal fires. You know Uncle Teddy showed us how to make them. Two smokes mean ‘We’re lost.’ They don’t know what to make of it because they didn’t find us there and are signalling for us.”
“How perfectly rich!” said Katherine, laughing until her hair tumbled down. “Here we are, cooped up in a lighthouse trying to signal someone to come and get us away, and there they are, wanting us to come and help them. It’s the funniest thing you ever saw!”
And the Hares watched the two smokes ascending into the blue sky and laughed helplessly.