They poured water on the fire to make sure it was completely extinguished, then gathered up the remnants of the feast, and once more boarded the Osprey. For half a mile they chugged along the shore. Then they came abreast of a little clump of trees that rose some few hundred feet inland, apparently in the very heart of the marsh.
"There's your harbor," said Elsa, pointing to the tree clump.
"But how are we going to get to it?" demanded Alec, searching everywhere for an inlet.
"Wait until the largest two trees come in line," said Elsa. "Then go straight in."
Alec slowed down the Osprey and continued along the shore until the trees indicated were in line. Then he headed directly toward them. In the reeds that lined the shore he noted a tiny opening, like the mouth of the merest tunnel; but it proved to be both wider and deeper than he would have believed. The reeds that choked the little channel bent to right and left as the Osprey slowly forged ahead, then swiftly righted themselves, forming a screen behind the boat. Had there been no mast in the Osprey, she would have been completely concealed before she had gone a hundred feet. The clump of trees stood not more than five hundred feet from the open water of the Bay. The little channel ran almost straight toward it. Alec shut off his engine and pushed the Osprey along with the setting-pole. The little boat slipped through the reeds as quietly as a floating duck. As they came near the trees, Alec saw that there were really two clumps of them standing close together on two tiny islands, with the tiniest little channel between them. Alec pushed the Osprey forward until it came to rest in this little channel, directly between the two islands. So narrow was this passage that he could almost have stepped ashore on either side of this boat.
"Now we are completely hidden," said Elsa. "The reeds hide the hull of the boat and the trees conceal the mast and rigging. A person out on the Bay could search this clump for an hour with the most powerful telescope and I doubt if he would ever discover there is a boat moored here. It's the finest little hiding-place I know of. It has one drawback, though. You can't get in and out when the tide is real low."
Alec gazed about him with delight. The snug little harbor made him think of a pirate's refuge. "It certainly is a bully hiding-place," he said, "though I suppose most of the old-timers hereabout know of it."
"I very much doubt it," said Elsa.
"Then how did you come to know about it?"