"Those noises were the real beginning of music, Dolly," said Eleanor.
"Did you know that? The very first music that was ever written was an
attempt to imitate those songs of nature."

After the dishes were washed and put away, everyone sat on the beach,
watching the sky darken. First one star and then another came out, and
the scene was one of idyllic beauty. And then, as if to complete it, a
yacht appeared, small, but beautiful and graceful, steaming toward them.
Its sides were lighted, and from its deck came the music of a violin,
beautifully played.

"Oh, how lovely that is!" said Eleanor. "Why, look! I do believe it is
going to anchor!"

And, sure enough, the noise of the anchor chains came over the water.

CHAPTER XIII

THE MYSTERIOUS YACHT

But, beautiful as the yacht undoubtedly was, the sight of it and the
sound of the slipping anchor chains brought a look of perplexity and
even of distress to Eleanor's eyes.

"That's very curious," she said, thoughtfully. "There are no cottages or
bungalows near here. Those people can't be coming here just for a visit,
or they would take another anchorage. And it's a strange thing for them
to choose this cove if they are just cruising along the coast."

"There weren't any yachts here last year when we were camping," said
Margery. "But it is a lovely spot, and it's public land along here,
isn't it?"

"No, not exactly. It won't be used for a long time, I expect, but it has
an owner. An old gentleman in Bay City owns all the shore front along
here for half a mile, and he has been holding on to it with the idea
that it would get more valuable as time went on. Probably it will, too."

"Well, he lets people come here to camp, doesn't he?"

"Oh, yes. He's glad to have people here, I think, because he thinks that
if they see how lovely it is, they will want to buy the land. I suppose
perhaps these people on the yacht have permission from him to come here,
just as we have. But I do wish they had waited until we had gone, or
else that they had come and gone before we got here at all."

"Perhaps they will just stay for the night," said Margery. "I should
think that a small boat like that would be very likely to put in
overnight, and do its sailing in the daytime. Probably the people on
board of her aren't in a hurry, and like to take things easily."

"Well, we won't find out anything about her to-night, I imagine," said
Eleanor. "In the morning we'll probably learn