ood guard beside him drew away. The night air began
to feel decidedly chill and he realized that cotton pajamas aren't the
warmest things to wear for a nocturnal jaunt in late September.
Presently the others returned and they started on again. In a moment the
path began to descend and Roy remembered with a sinking heart that he
had trod that same path earlier in the evening and that at the end of it
lay the river!

By this time his teeth were chattering and he was quite out of sympathy
with the adventure. For a moment he considered escape. But if, as the
leader of the expedition had stated, there were a dozen fellows in the
party, he would be recaptured as sure as fate. Unconsciously he held
back.

"None of that," said the voice threateningly, and he was pulled forward
again. For a few steps he tried digging his heels in the ground, but it
hurt and did no good anyhow. So he went on without further resistance.
In a minute the procession stopped. Then he heard the keel of a boat
grate lightly on the pebbles.

"Step up," was the command. Roy obeyed and felt the planking of the
float under his bare feet. Then,

"Get into the boat," said the voice. Roy did so very cautiously and
found a seat. Oars were dipped into the water and the boat moved softly
away from the landing.

"Can you swim?" asked the voice, and this time Roy was certain that it
was Horace Burlen's. For an instant he wondered what would happen if he
said no. Probably they would devise some punishment quite as
uncomfortable as a ducking in the lake. The latter wasn't very
terrifying, and, at all events, the water couldn't be much colder than
the air was! So,

"Yes," he answered, and heard a chuckle.

"Good, you'll have a chance to prove it!"

For what seemed several minutes the boat was paddled onward. By this
time, thought Roy, they must be a long way from shore, and he suddenly
wondered, with a little sinking at his heart, whether the current was
very strong thereabouts and how, when he was in the water, he was to
tell in which direction the land lay. Then the oars had ceased creaking
in the rowlocks and the boat was rocking very gently in the water.

"Stand up," said the voice. Hands guided him as he obeyed and steadied
him.

"When I count three you will jump into the water and swim for land,"
continued the leader.

"You've got to take this thing off my eyes, though," protested Roy.

"That may not be," answered the voice sternly, and Roy caugh