ter at once."

"Be careful! be cautious!" warned the professor. "There's no telling
what kind of a gang we may run into."

"To thunder with thot!" grated Barney Mulloy, quivering with eagerness.
"There's a female in nade av hilp."

"Go ahead!" directed Frank, giving utterance to his old maxim.

The professor was too agitated to handle a paddle, so the task of
propelling the canoe fell to the boys, who sent it skimming over the
water, Frank watching out for snags.

In a moment the water course swept round to the left, and they soon saw
the light of a fire gleaming through the rushes.

The sounds of a conflict continued, telling them that the quarrel was
still on, and aiding them in forming their course.

In a moment they came in full view of the camp-fire, by the light of
which they saw several struggling, swaying figures.

Frank's keen eyes seemed to take in everything at one sweeping glance.

Six men and a girl were revealed by the light of the fire. Five of the
men were engaged in a fierce battle, while the sixth was bound, in a
standing position, to the trunk of a tree.

The girl, with her hands bound behind her back, was standing near the
man who was tied to the tree, and the firelight fell fairly on the faces
of man and girl.

A low exclamation of the utmost astonishment broke from Frank's lips.

"It can't be--it is an impossibility!" he said.

"Pwhat is it, me b'y?" quickly demanded Barney.

"The man--the girl! Look, Barney! do you know them?"

"Oi dunno."

"Well, I know! There is no mistake. That is Captain Justin Bellwood,
whose vessel was lost in the storm off Fardale coast! I am certain of
it!"

"An' th' girrul is----"

"Elsie Bellwood, his daughter!"

"Th' wan you saved from th' foire, Frankie?"

"As sure as fate!"

"It can't be possible!" fluttered Professor Scotch. "Captain Bellwood
has a new vessel, and he would not be here. You must be mistaken,
Frank."

"Not on your life! That is Captain Bellwood and his daughter. There is
no mistake, professor."

"But how----"

"There has been some kind of trouble, and they are captives--that is
plain enough. Those men are sailors--Captain Bellwood's sailors! It's
likely there has been a mutiny. We must save them."

"How can it be done?"

"We must land while those ruffians are fighting. We are well armed. If
we can get ashore, we'll set the captain free, and I fancy we'll be able
to hold our own with those ruffians, desperate wretches