wish
to see his tent-mate get into trouble. "You had it in for the
lieutenant ever since he first spoke to you."

"I shall report you the first chance I get," growled Lieutenant
Horitz. "I reckon you'll find that General Lawton won't allow any such
disgraceful conduct while he is in command."

"What's the row back there?" came out of the darkness. "Hurry up and
get afloat, or we'll cut the rope and leave you to shift for
yourselves."

"Our officer was just shoved overboard," answered Snapper, the
soldier who had given Larry the unlucky push. "And we've lost our
oar."

"No, I have the oar," put in Larry, making a clutch into the water for
the article just as it was about to float out of reach. He leaped into
the bow once more, and began to work vigorously, and in a few seconds
they were again afloat.

Fortunately for the lieutenant the night was warm, so he suffered no
inconvenience so far as his wet clothing was concerned. But it was no
mean task to clean both himself and his uniform, and what to do for
another hat he did not know. He would have taken Larry's headgear had
that article been anyway suitable, but it was not.

It must be confessed that Larry felt thoroughly ill at ease. That
there was trouble ahead went without saying, and he half wished
himself safe back on the _Olympia_. "He'll make out the worst case he
can against me," he thought. "And his men will back him up in all he
says." Yet he felt that he was guilty of no intentional wrong-doing,
and resolved to stand up for himself to the best of his ability.

The lieutenant had learned one lesson--that he knew no more about
handling the casco than did Larry, if as much, and, consequently, he
offered no more suggestions as to how to run the craft. But he kept
muttering under his breath at the youth, and Larry felt that he was
aching to "get square."

It was early dawn when the casco turned into the lake proper. As the
sun came up it shed its light on one of the prettiest sheets of water
Larry had ever beheld. The lake was as smooth as a millpond, and
surrounded with long stretches of marshland and heavy thickets of
tropical growth. Fish were plentiful, as could be seen by gazing into
the clear depths below, and overhead circled innumerable birds.
Villages dotted the lake shore at various points, but these the
expedition gave a wide berth, setting out directly for Santa Cruz,
still several miles distant, behind the hill previously mentioned.

If it