witness
that which would add still further to her perplexity.

CHAPTER XX

OUT OF SIGHT OF LAND

"The man wished to know to whom the boat out in the bay belonged,"
Miss Elting was saying to the Chief Guardian. "He did not give his
name, but asked many questions--who the captain is, where we got him
and how, and all about it. The questioner was very mysterious. What do
you suppose he could have been trying to find out?"

"Perhaps he was a police officer looking for a stolen boat. I
understand a great many boats are stolen along this coast. But we do
not have to worry in the present instance. Miss McCarthy's father
would not have given us a man who was not right in every way."

"Oh, no," answered Miss Elting. "He seemed perfectly satisfied with
what I told him, but he did spend quite a time strolling up and down
the beach, out beyond the bar."

Harriet had overheard the conversation between Miss Elting and Mrs.
Livingston. She smiled at the thought of the light she might possibly
shed on the inquiry made by the visitor that afternoon.

The girls were sleepy that night and retired early, all save Harriet
Burrell and Tommy, who asked permission to sit out on the bar in front
of the cabin, which permission Miss Elting readily granted. But Tommy
soon grew weary and stumbled into the cabin, where she floundered
about sleepily until she had awakened everyone of her companions.

Soon after the camp had settled down Harriet was conscious of a
renewal of the previous night's activity on board the sloop, and in
due time the wireless sparks began sputtering from the aerials at the
masthead.

They had hardly begun when they abruptly ceased. Her ears caught the
sound of the anchor chain scraping through the hawse-hole. The anchor
came aboard with a clatter, the mainsail was sent to the peak in short
order, the boom swung over and the big sail caught the faint breeze
that drifted in from the sea. The sloop, to her amazement, moved out
from the bay. No sooner had it cleared the land than a fresh ocean
breeze heeled the boat down, sending it rapidly out to sea, where it
soon disappeared, sailing without any lights whatever, even the riding
light having been taken in before the captain had started out.

"What can it mean?" wondered Harriet Burrell. "I know something
questionable is going on here, but what is it?"

There was no answer to the question. The tide was now booming on the
beach and a fresher breeze was spr