another matter for the crew on the man-of-war
to discover the small pleasure craft adrift on the waters.

Jimmy Lawton fired his rifle. The signal of distress rang sharp and
true. The clear air carried the sound magnificently.

At first there was no response from the battleship.

"She has not heard us!" exclaimed impatient Madge in despair.

"Wait!" commanded the young lieutenant.

A splendid boom broke on the air. It was the answering salute from the
war vessel. She had heeded the call of the "Merry Maid."

Jimmy repeated his signal of distress. A few moments after the great
battleship slowed down. A small boat was dropped over her side. A
boat's crew in their blue uniforms rowed swiftly out to the houseboat.

A voice called up: "Who's there, and what can we do for you?"

"Lieutenant James M. Lawton, U.S.N., with six friends, five of them
women," returned Jimmy Lawton. "We have drifted from land in a
houseboat and ask you to take us aboard."

Soon after Miss Jenny Ann and the girls were safe on board a battleship
belonging to the American Navy. The officer in command gave them his
hand of welcome. A group of sailors, their faces beaming with curiosity
and kindness, crowded as near them as discipline would permit.

The man-of-war took on headway again. Her engines thumped. The superb
ship began to move. The houseboat party knew that their peril was over.
Home and friends lay safe ahead of them.

Yet neither Miss Jenny Ann nor one of her four girls looked perfectly
happy.

"Won't you let me show you to your cabins?" one of the officers
suggested.

Reluctantly the five women turned away. But they could not help letting
their glances linger with mournful affection on the departing ghost of
the poor "Merry Maid." The little boat rocked forlornly on the waves,
once more deserted by her friends and owners.

Lieutenant Lawton whispered to Madge and Phyllis: "As soon as we get
into Hampton Roads I promise you to send out a schooner to search these
waters until she finds your houseboat. The 'Merry Maid' will be lonely
without her passengers, I've no doubt. But I do not believe that any
harm will come to her."

The man-of-war was expected to enter the harbor of Hampton Roads some
time during the afternoon. The girls sat on deck with the captain, who
showed them the distant lightship on Cape Charles, and finally the
point of land along the Virginia coast where the first English settlers
landed in America, on Apr