rley-Horse Pond ain't even got teeth to
bite with. No, Ma'am!"

"But what are the 'pipes' he talks about? Why 'King of the Pipes'?"
demanded the insistent Helen.

"Got me. Never heard of 'em," declared Willie. "Now, you ladies all right
here?"

"All right, Willie," said Ruth as the _Gem_ was backed off the island.

"I'll come for you at half past three, eh? That's all right, then," and
the boatman was off.

The three girls, really glad to be away from the crowd and the confusion
of the moving picture camp, settled down to several hours of
companionship. Helen could be silent if she pleased, and with her
knitting and a novel proceeded to curl up under a tamarack tree and bury
herself for the time being.

Helen had not, however, forgotten the "inner woman," as she pronounced
it. When lunch time came she opened the covered basket which she had
brought in addition to the book and the knitting, and produced sandwiches
and cake, besides the wherewithal for the making of a cup of tea over a
can of solidified alcohol. They lunched famously.

It was while they were thus engaged, and chatting, that the staccato
exhaust of a motor-boat drew their attention to the Island of Pipes. From
the other side, a boat was poking around into the passage leading to the
American shore.

"My goodness!" exclaimed Helen, "the King of the Pipes isn't in that
boat, is he?"

"Not at all," Ruth assured her. "I see nobody who looks like him among
those men--"

"All are not men, Miss Ruth," interrupted Wonota, the keen-eyed.

"What do you mean, Wonota?" gasped Helen, whirling around to gaze again
at the passing launch.

But Ruth did not say a word. She had been examining the boat closely. She
saw it was the very speedy boat she and Chess Copley had seen out on the
wider part of the river several weeks before. The launch was not moving
rapidly now, but Ruth was sure that it was a powerful craft.

It was Helen who marked the figure Wonota had spoken of in the boat. It
certainly did not appear to be a man.

"Why Ruth! See! That is a woman!"

"A yellow-faced lady," said Wonota calmly. "I saw her first, Miss Ruth."

All three of the girls on the island stared after the moving motor-boat.
Ruth saw the woman. She was dressed plainly but in modern garments. She
did not seem to be one of the summer visitors to the islands. Indeed, her
clothing--such as could be seen--pointed to city breeding, but nothing
was chosen, it would seem, for wear i