"They're running away, Sylvia; we've got to head them off." He bent to
his paddle vigorously. "They can't possibly get away."

But it was not in Marian's blood to be thwarted in her pursuit of
adventure. She was past-mistress of the canoeist's difficult art, and
her canoe flew on as though drawn away into the dark on unseen cords.

"You'd better lend a hand," said Dan, and Sylvia turned round and knelt,
paddling Indian fashion. The canoe skimmed the water swiftly. It was in
their thoughts that Marian and Allen must not land at Waupegan, where
their intentions would be advertised to the world. The race must end
before the dock was reached. At the end of a quarter of an hour Dan
called to Sylvia to cease paddling.

"We've passed them; there's no doubt of that," he said, peering into the
dark.

"Maybe they're just out for fun and have turned back," suggested Sylvia.

"I wish I could think so. More likely they're trying to throw us off.
Let's check up for a moment and see if we hear them again."

He kept the canoe moving slowly while they listened for some sign of the
lost quarry. Then suddenly they heard a paddle stroke behind them, and
an instant later a canoe's bow brushed their craft as lightly as a hand
passing across paper. Dan threw himself forward and grasped the sides
firmly; there was a splashing and wobbling as he arrested the flight. A
canoe is at once the most docile and the most intractable of argosies.
Sylvia churned the water with her paddle, seeking to crowd the rocking
canoes closer together, while Marian endeavored to drive them apart.

"Allen!" panted Dan, prone on the bottom of his canoe and gripping the
thwarts of the rebellious craft beside him, "this must end here."

"Let us go!" cried Allen stridently. "This is none of your business. Let
us go, I say."

Finding it impossible to free her canoe, Marian threw down her paddle
angrily. They were all breathless; Dan waited till the canoes rode
together quietly. Sylvia had brought an electric lamp which Dan now
flashed the length of the captive canoe. It searched the anxious, angry
faces of the runaways, and disclosed two suit cases that told their own
story.

"I told you to keep away from here, Allen. You can't do this. It won't
do," said Dan, snapping off the light; "you're going home with us,
Marian."

"I won't go back; you haven't any right to stop me!"

"You haven't any right to run away in this fashion," said Sylvia,
speaking for the