de, so the mill was probably some distance below.

Under the excitement of the moment the boys scarcely felt the weight of
the heavily laden canoes. They carried them, one at a time, up a sloping
bank, and then down through the bushes to the water.

When they embarked, and paddled out through the quiet shallows to the
swift channel in midstream, the wind had nearly subsided and the rain
was falling in a desultory fashion which promised only a brief
continuance. In fact stars were visible here and there through rifts in
the black clouds. The storm seemed to have gone off in another
direction.

A short distance below the dam the water became very sluggish, and the
boys knew that if Nugget was ahead of them they must speedily overtake
him. So they paddled hard, forgetful of weariness and hunger, and at
frequent intervals shouted loudly and called their companion by name.

The lanterns were exposed to view so that Nugget could not fail to see
the light if he was anywhere near.

For half an hour the three heartsick lads paddled on steadily, and in
that time hardly a word was exchanged. They were in no mood for
conversation.

Finally the track of yellow light which shone ahead from Ned's bullseye
revealed a bit of an island in mid-channel--a strip of gravel and reeds,
with a few stunted bushes growing in the center.

Ned drove the Pioneer on the upper point and stepped out. His companions
did the same, and Randy asked wearily: "What are you going to do here?"

"Wait for daylight," said Ned. "It's the only thing we _can_ do. We are
a good mile and a half below the dam, and if the canoe was drifting in
that sluggish water, we passed it long ago. It has probably lodged on
some bar, or along the shore, and will be found in the morning."

"Then you think that Nugget is--is drowned?" asked Clay huskily.

Ned stooped and pulled the canoe up on the bar.

"I don't know," he said in a broken voice. "If Nugget was alive he would
surely have heard our shouts or seen the lights. We won't know anything
positively until morning. It could do no good to paddle up the creek
again in the darkness, so we had better wait here as patiently as we
can."

No objection was made to this plan, and the boys crawled in among the
bushes and sat down with Clay's lantern between them. The passing storm
had not cooled the sultry atmosphere, and no fire or blankets were
needed.

All seemed stupefied by the terrible misfortune that had happened,