The two men went sprawling into the water. Unable to swim, they made animal noises and clutched desperately at the grass for support. But as their feet found solid footing, they started furiously toward Penny. Taking her time, and deliberately seeking deeper water, she waded away.
“That will hold them for a few minutes,” she thought gleefully. “I’ll get out of this jungle now, and swim ashore.”
One more the girl’s hopes were rudely dashed. As she reached the edge of the grass area, she was disconcerted to see another rowboat approaching from the direction of the Harper place. With shadows deepening on the water, she could not at first distinguish the man. Then she recognized Claude Harper.
“He must have come home, and Ma sent him here to help capture me!” she thought. “If I swim out now, I’ll certainly be caught.”
Crouching down so that her nose was just above the water, she waited. Claude Harper rowed on, resting upon his oars when perhaps ten yards away.
“Joe!” he called.
There was an answering shout from the center of the grass patch.
“That gal’s somewhere close by!” Sweeper Joe shouted in warning. “She upset our boat. Stay where you are, and see that she doesn’t slip past you!”
Thus warned, Claude Harper began to survey the grass patch intently. He looked hard at the place where Penny stood. She was certain he had seen her, but after a moment, he turned slightly, and his eyes roved on.
As she hesitated, not knowing what to do, Sweeper Joe and Clark Clayton, who had bailed out their boat, came paddling out to meet Harper. Wet and plastered with mud, they had lost one of the paddles.