ow
mere twinkling distant points, far away over the dark void of the waters.

Porter shut off the power. "We must be pretty near her," he said.

They listened intently.

"Perhaps I steered too far south," said Porter at last.

He threw on the power, and sent the boat northward in slow, wide circles.
The distant steamship had made progress toward the northeast--bound,
perhaps, for Muskegon, or some other port on the Michigan shore. She was
a passenger steamer, apparently, for lines of portholes and deck-windows
were marked by dots of light. There was no other sign of human presence
to be seen on the lake, and Orme's glance expectantly wandered to her
lights now and then.

At last, while he was looking at it, after a fruitless search of the
darkness, he was startled by a strange phenomenon. The lights of the
steamer suddenly disappeared. An instant later they shone out again.

With an exclamation, Orme seized the steering-wheel and swung it over to
the right.

"There she is," he cried, and then: "Excuse me for taking the wheel that
way, but I was afraid I'd lose her."

"I don't see her," said Porter.

"No; but something dark cut off the lights of that steamer. Hold her so."
He let go the wheel and peered ahead.

Presently they both saw a spot of blacker blackness in the night. Porter
set the motor at half-speed.

"Have you got a bull's-eye lantern?" asked Orme in an undertone.

"Yes, in that locker."

Orme stooped and lighted the lantern in the shelter of the locker.

"Now run up alongside," he said, "and ask if they need help."

The outline of the disabled boat now grew more distinct. Porter swung
around toward it and called:

"Need help?"

After a moment's wait, a voice replied:

"Yes. You tow me to Chicago. I pay you."

It was a voice which Orme recognized as that of the Japanese who had been
with Maku in the attack at the Pere Marquette.

"Can't do that," answered Porter. "I'll take you in to Evanston."

"No!" The tone was expostulatory. "I go to Chicago. I fix engine pretty
soon."

At this moment Orme raised his lantern and directed its light into the
other boat. It shone into the blinking eyes of the Japanese, standing by
the motor. It shone----

Great Heaven! Was he dreaming? Orme could not believe his eyes. The light
revealed the face of the one person he least expected to see--for, seated
on a cushion at the forward end of the cockpit, was the girl!

CHAPTER VII

A JAPANESE