“That log out in the lake,” Stacy informed them. “It’s funny that you folks haven’t noticed that it has been in the same position ever since we got here. There’s something queer about that log, too. I observed it the first time I walked along the shore, but it didn’t make much of an impression on me at the moment, and—”
“I doubt if it would have done so if it had fallen on you,” interposed Emma.
“Thank you. One would hardly notice the log at all unless the lake were quite rough, which would enable you to see the full length of the log when it was in a trough. I examined the log when I was out in the canoe, and there’s something else about it that is queer.”
The Overlanders with one accord started for the shore to look at the log.
“It’s chained down,” shouted Stacy.
“I believe the boy is right,” exclaimed Elfreda Briggs.
“Where’s that dugout?” called Hippy.
“I reckon it has gone around the bend,” answered Emma.
“No. The wind is in the wrong direction,” answered Tom. “I see it! There it is, at the upper end. It has drifted sideways to the beach.”
“I am going to have a look at that log,” cried Hippy, starting at a run for the dugout. Tom and his companions followed.