e it safe
for the boat to go farther.

"I intend to land here-right by that big tree!" commanded Lettie
Bronson, stamping her foot.

"Well, I dunno," drawled the man; and just then the bow of the boat
swung around, was forced heavily down stream by the current, and slam it
went against a reef!

The man shot off the engine instantly. The bow of the boat was lodged
on the rock, and tip-tilted considerably. The girls screamed, and Lettie
herself was almost thrown into the water, for she was standing.

CHAPTER XVII. MR. PEPPER APPEARS

But Hiram noted again that Lettie Bronson did not display terror. While
her friends were screaming and crying, she sat perfectly quiet, and for
a minute said never a word.

"Can't you back off?" Hi heard her ask the boatman.

"Not without lightening her, Miss. And she may have smashed a plank up
there, too. I dunno."

The Western girl turned immediately to Hiram, who had now come to the
bank's edge. She smiled at him charmingly, and her eyes danced. She
evidently appreciated the fact that the young farmer had her at a
disadvantage--and she had meant to snub him.

"I guess you'll have to help me again, Mr. Strong," she said. "What will
we do? Can you push out a plank to us, or something?"

"I'm afraid not, Miss Bronson," he returned. "I could cut a pole and
reach it to the boat; but you girls couldn't walk ashore on it."

"Oh, dear! have we got to wade?" cried one of Lettie's friends.

"You can't wade. It's too deep between the shore and the boat," Hiram
said, calmly.

"Then--then we'll stay here till the tide rises and dr-dr-drowns us!"
wailed another of the girls, giving way to sobs.

"Don't be a goose, Myra Carroll!" exclaimed Lettie. "If you waited here
for the tide to rise you'd be gray-haired and decrepit. The tide doesn't
rise here. But maybe a spring flood would wash you away."

At that the frightened one sobbed harder than ever. She was one of
those who ever see the dark side of adventure. There was no hope on her
horizon.

"I dunno what you can do for these girls," said the man. "I'd git out
and push off the boat, but I don't dare with them aboard."

But Hiram's mind had not been inactive, if he was standing in seeming
idleness. Sister tugged at his sleeve again and whispered:

"Have they got to stay there and drown, Hi?"

"I guess not," he returned, slowly. "Let's see: this old sycamore
leans right out over them. I can shin up there with the aid of the bi