"No telling. Paul knows what he is about," replied Jack. "But say, did you know that the wild girl in the canoe is deaf and dumb?"
"No!" exclaimed all the girls in one voice.
"Yes that's what the dark fellow who was trailing her told the judges, and that is why, I guess, she scampered off so. Too bad! She is pretty too."
"And did the man take her prize?" asked Cora.
"Sure thing," replied the brother. "He said he was her guardian."
Cora thought for a moment. "Seems to me," she said finally, "that she turned towards us when we shouted to her."
"Sometimes deaf people know such things by instinct," Jack offered as an explanation. "I thought too, that she gave us a knowing glance."
"Pure conceit," said Ed. "Wallie claimed the glance, but I saw her hair float in my direction."
"She's a star canoeist," declared Jack, "and I should like to be better acquainted with her."
"Can you talk with your fingers?" asked Belle. "I know a little of the sign language, but I would not be too sure that I could carry on a conversation."