ery intended for the
anonymous amateur.

"No," was the latter's reply.

"What is it?"

"Under terms of our wager, I must not reveal his name and he must not
reveal mine."

"Whew!" exclaimed Cub, addressing his two friends, who removed the phones
from their ears, the better to hear him. "Can you beat that?"

"We sure have hit a sensation of some sort," Hal declared.
"What'll we do?"

"I don't know what under the sun to do," Cub replied. "I don't like to
pass him up, for fear he may be telling the truth; and yet, I don't like
to be the victim of a joke."

"I tell you what to do," Bud suggested, without any seriousness of
intent, however. "Make a dash over the lake in your father's motor boat
and rescue this Robinson Crusoe."

"By Jiminie, Bud!" exclaimed Cub enthusiastically! "You've hit the nail
on the head. Our vacation problem is solved. That's what we'll do, all of
us. I don't care whether it's a joke or a tragedy; we'll make a voyage of
discovery over that way and see if we can't find Crusoe's island. What
say you, fellows?"

CHAPTER III

Talking It Over

What could the fellows say?

They couldn't say anything at first, so astonished were they at the
announcement from Cub. Then so great was their eagerness, following the
recovery from their astonishment that about all they could do was to
"fall over each other" in their efforts to express their approval.

At last, however, the "panic of joy" subsided, and they began to sift out
the obstacles that must naturally obtrude themselves in the way of such a
scheme that involved such departure from the ordinary course of events.

"Do you think your father will let us go?" asked Hal somewhat
apprehensively.

"We've taken trips alone before," Cub reminded.

"Yes, but only for short trips along the shore or up the canal," Hal
replied. "Ontario's a rough lake, you know."

"Yes, but safe enough if you're used to it," Bud reasoned, coming to the
aid of his lanky friend. "If necessary, we could follow the bend of the
shore all the way and never get out of sight of land."

"That would make the trip longer and consequently take so much more time
to get there," reasoned Cub.

"Time's precious in a case like this," Hal averred. "Remember that we
must get up there in time to save a fellow with no food on hand from
getting an empty stomach."

"How long would the trip take?" asked Bud.

"Well, let's see," said Cub, picking up a pencil and beginning to