day, what's the difference?
We will hang our hammock in a tree and sleep like the birds of the
air."

With a solemn face, that she tried to make smiling, Eleanor extracted a
pale blue ribbon from her pocket and tied it around Madge's arm.

Lillian, with set lips, performed the same service for Phil, except
that her ribbon was red.

When the two girls had finished their tasks Madge and Phil dropped to
their knees and kissed the hands of their ladies.

"Behold, Miss Jenny Ann, two true knights!" laughed Madge. "Phil and I
are going out in search of assistance for our ladies, who are held
prisoners by the waves on the shores of a desert island. Don't you
mind; we are going to have a perfectly lovely time."

Madge and Phil were enchanted over the prospect of their adventure.
They had had a long talk with Miss Jenny Ann about the two men whom
Phil had seen in the woods. The houseboat party had reached a united
decision. The men must be found. They must be asked to help the girls
and their chaperon to find their way home again; or, at least, to tell
them how they could manage to communicate with their friends.

Madge, Phil and Miss Jenny Ann decided to make the trip together.

Miss Jenny Ann felt as though she would have liked to be twins. One of
her could then have stayed at home with Lillian and Eleanor, to help
them guard their little home; the other could have gone forth on the
expedition through the woods with the two more venturesome girls.

The five young women presumed that the men whom Phil had seen must have
come ashore within a short time, or else that they lived on the other
side of the island. It was possible that there might be a small
settlement of people somewhere near the farther shore. In any case the
houseboat crew must find out. They must try to get away from their
island before winter came.

Madge and Phyllis had a glorious morning in the woods, one that neither
of them would ever forget.

[Illustration: Madge and Phil Set Forth on Their Expedition.]

The girls set out to travel directly south, guided by Phil's small
compass. They turned aside only when the underbrush was too thick to
allow them to pass through it. Madge had stuck her soft felt hat in her
pocket. She had crowned herself with a wreath of red-brown leaves and
sprays of goldenrod. She looked like a figure from the canvas of a
great artist.

Phil, who was darker than Madge, might easily have passed for a gypsy.
She was deeply