f came down the bay with a single figure seated in it.

Mollie heard the faint splashing of the oars, but since water sounds
had been familiar to her all her life she did not even turn her head to
see if any one were coming near to the houseboat.

She knew the girls were due from the other direction.

The boat moved slowly in toward the shore. It made almost no sound,
now that it drew nearer the land. With a final dip of the oars and a
strong forward movement the small boat glided well within the shadow of
the stern of the houseboat. There it stopped.

Mollie did not see nor hear it. For some moments the boat rested
quietly in the shallow water, moving only with the faint movement of
the evening tide. The solitary boatman sat without stirring. He
leaned forward, listening intently for any sounds of life aboard the
houseboat. He had espied the deserted figure on the upper deck.

In almost complete silence the man fastened his boat to the houseboat
and in his stocking feet clambered up the side of "The Merry Maid" and
came aboard. He slipped around the deck, crouching on his hands and
knees. He listened at the doors of each room in the cabin. No one was
about except the girl in the steamer chair. The man moved like a cat,
with almost complete noiselessness. He made no effort to onto the
deserted cabin. Nor did he, at first, make any movement that showed
the least interest in Mollie.

At the farther end of the deck, outside the kitchen, the prowler made a
discovery which caused him great satisfaction. He smiled. He picked
it up and shook it furtively. The treasure was a big tin can, nearly
full of kerosene.

Still on his hands and knees, the man tilted the can until the oil ran
in a little stream down the deck and soaked well into the wood. He
then put his hand in his pocket to look for something.

Mollie did not hear him. At least, her ears were not conscious that
they caught a distinct sound. Finally she became conscious of the
presence of some one near her. She got quickly up out of her chair and
leaned over the railing of the top deck.

At this moment the man, with his back toward her, struck a match.
Mollie beheld the crouching figure. She could not tell who the man
was. Was it Bill or her father come to steal her away? The old,
dreadful fear swept over her, with enough of memory to make her realize
what her capture would mean. The girl's first instinct was to hide.
She did not realiz