e said when he was
comfortably settled. "She's a strong swimmer; but a canoe is uncertain
at the best."

"She's in no danger," said Tish. "She has a devoted admirer watching out
for her."

"The deuce she has!" His voice was quite interested. "Why, who on
earth--"

"Your detective," said Aggie softly. "He's quite mad about her. The way
he follows her and the way he looks at her--it's thrilling!"

Mr. McDonald said nothing for quite a while. The canoe party had
evidently eaten everything they could find, and somebody had brought out
a banjo and was playing.

Tish, unable to vent her anger, suddenly turned on Mr. McDonald. "If you
think," she said, "that the grocery list fooled us, it didn't!"

"Grocery list?"

"That's what I said."

"How did you get my grocery list?"

So she told him, and how she had deciphered it, and how the word
"dynamite" had only confirmed her early suspicions.

His only comment was to say, "Good Heavens!" in a smothered voice.

"It was the extractor that made me suspicious," she finished. "What were
you going to extract? Teeth?"

"And so, when my Indian was swimming, you went through his things! It's
the most astounding thing I ever--My dear lady, an extractor is used to
get the hooks out of fish. It was no cipher, I assure you. I needed an
extractor and I ordered it. The cipher you speak of is only a remarkable
coincidence."

"Huh!" said Tish. "And the paper you dropped in the train--was that a
coincidence?"

"That's not my secret," he said, and turned sulky at once.

"Don't tell me," Tish said triumphantly, "that any young man comes here
absolutely alone without a purpose!"

"I had a purpose, all right; but it was not to blow up a railroad
train."

Apparently he thought he had said too much, for he relapsed into silence
after that, with an occasional muttering.

It was eight o'clock when Hutchins's canoe came into sight. She was
paddling easily, but the detective was far behind and moving slowly.

She saw the camp with its uninvited guests, and then she saw us. The
detective, however, showed no curiosity; and we could see that he made
for his landing and stumbled exhaustedly up the bank. Hutchins drew up
beside us. "He'll not try that again, I think," she said in her crisp
voice. "He's out of training. He panted like a motor launch. Who are our
visitors?"

Here her eyes fell on Mr. McDonald and her face set in the dusk.

"You'll have to go back and get some gasoline, H