e with the little old lady who had lived alone
so many years. She could hardly take her eyes off the face of Max, she
seemed so greatly interested in the boy; and the three girls also had a
share of her attention. Perhaps after this she might make somewhat of
a change in her mode of living; she had discovered that there were
people worth knowing in this dreary world, after all; and that it was
foolish to hide away from everybody, just because of some bitter stroke
of fortune away back in the past.

Steve was the life of the party. He felt so overjoyed because of the
kind fate that had allowed him to be of considerable use to Bessie
French, so that their old friendship was renewed, this time to remain,
that he seemed to be fairly bubbling over with spirits. He made witty
remarks about most of the food they had, and kept the others laughing
from the beginning of the meal until it reached its conclusion, with
the dishes well cleaned out.

Everybody had an abundance, and the boys seemed never to weary of
declaring how glad they were to have the proper kind of cooks along.
Their own style of camp cookery might do in an emergency, when they
were cast upon their own resources; but it lacked something or other
that a girl somehow seemed to know instinctively how to put in it, and
make all the difference imaginable in the taste.

Steve even volunteered to favor them with a song, and it would have
required very little encouragement to have extended this to a dance, so
light-hearted was he feeling. No one would ever have believed that
this was the same Steve whose face had been long-drawn with anxiety
only a comparatively few hours back, while they were drifting on the
swift current of the flood, with their strange craft in danger of going
to pieces at any moment, and leaving them struggling in the wilderness
of rushing water.

There were some other things that wise Max had secured from the
abandoned cottage of Mrs. Jacobus. These had been left down by the
boat, and when he presently walked over that way, and came back laden
down with blankets there was a loud cheer from the other boys,
accompanied by much hand-clapping from the girls.

"Why, this is just delightful," Mazie told him, after he had first of
all made her choose the best blanket, which she immediately turned over
to the crippled child, taking another for her own individual use; "and
if we'd only known how nice it was all going to come out, you can be
sure