girls had had so much excitement
and exercise of late that they were inclined to take matters quietly for
the time being.

Therefore, there was not a canoe on the lake when a fussy, smoky little
motor boat, late in the afternoon, came into the lake from the
Wintinooski and puffed out into deep water, evidently bound for either
the Island or Green Knoll Camp.

The deep cove, at the head of which the little red and yellow cottage of
the Jarleys was set, was like a big bay in the contour of the lake
shore. It was out here in this deep water that Wyn Mallory and Bess
Lavine had been swamped by the squall. From the docks at the Forge to
the point east of Green Knoll, where the girls' camp was situated, was
all of eight miles. When this little motor boat had sputtered along
until she was about half way between those two points, she suddenly
stopped.

The girls had been lazily on the lookout for Mr. Lavine's appearance and
earlier in the day had kept the camp spyglass busy. Now Frank suddenly
caught it up again and focused it almost at once on the stalled motor
boat.

"Oh! what's that?" was her excited demand. "Girls! there's a boat we
missed before."

"Where?" drawled Grace, lazily.

"It isn't father; is it?" demanded Bess.

"How do I know? It's a power boat----Goodness, what's that?"

She jumped so that Wyn came to her side quickly. "Let me see, Frank,"
she begged.

"There's--there's a fire!" gasped Frankie.

The girls came running at her cry. Even Mrs. Havel left her seat and
stepped out of the shade of the beech tree to scan the water under her
hand.

"I see smoke!" cried Percy.

"Dear me! is the boat really afire?" demanded Mina Everett.

"Of course, it can't be father," declared Bess. "He knows how to take
care of a motor boat."

Through the glass Wyn, who now had it, saw the flames leaping from under
the hood of the boat, while a dense plume of smoke began to reel away on
the breeze that was blowing.

"It is afire!" she gasped "Oh! it _is_! What can we do?"

"We could never reach it in our canoes before the boat burns to the
water's edge," cried Frankie.

They could see two figures on the doomed boat. Through the glass Wyn
could see them so plainly that she knew one to be a waterman, while the
other was much better dressed. Indeed, she feared that she recognized
the figure of this second man.

"Let me have the glass, Wyn," said Bessie, eagerly.

But Wyn, for once, was disobliging. "You can't