d a week at home with your parents and relatives; but just
as early in June as possible we are to go aboard our houseboat. That
is our plan, isn't it, Madge?"

Madge nodded. Then, as she heard Phil and Lillian calling her, she
waved a hasty farewell and darted from the room.

Madge had received a letter from the boy cousin who was at school in
Baltimore. He had given her several addresses in Baltimore where there
was just a bare chance that she might find a ready-to-use houseboat.
He assured her, however, that houseboats were usually made to order,
and that she might find some difficulty in securing what she wished,
and must, therefore, not become easily discouraged.

Just before noon the four young women arrived in Baltimore on their
quest for a house-boat. Lillian and Eleanor demanded their luncheon at
once, but Phil and Madge protested against eating luncheon so early.
"You can't be hungry already," argued Madge. "As for me, I shall never
be able to eat until we find our boat."

For two hours the girls tramped about the boat yards in search of their
treasure. They saw canoes and motor boats of every size and kind, and
models of private yachts, but not a trace of a houseboat could they
find. The representatives of the various boat companies whom they
interviewed suggested the building of a houseboat at a cost of anywhere
from six hundred to a thousand dollars.

Lillian and Eleanor were the first to complain of being tired. Then
Phil, who was usually the sweetest-tempered of the four girls, began to
show signs of irritability. Madge, however, undaunted and determined,
would not think of giving up the search.

"Just one more place, girls," she begged; "then we can rest and have
our luncheon somewhere. This is a very large ship-building yard we are
going to. I am sure we can find our boat there."

Half an hour later the four chums turned wearily away from another
fruitless quest. They were now in a part of Baltimore which none of
them had ever seen before. A few blocks farther down the street they
could see the line of the water and the masts of several sailing
vessels that were lying near the shore.

"I tell you, Madge Morton," declared Phyllis Alden firmly, "whether or
not we ever find a houseboat, there is one thing certain: I positively
must have something to eat. I am half starved. What good would
finding the boat do me if I were to die of hunger before I have even
seen it?"

"Please don't