"

"Do you mean the boat?" demanded the other, quickly. "Well, it doesn't
seem to be around, for a fact, Frank; and, sure! it ought to be if
they'd come home."

"Well, let's go inside now," remarked the other. "If they did come
home, and have gone out again, I think they would have left some word
for us."

No sooner had the two boys entered the cabin than they could see that
some one had been there. A home-made chair was lying on its side on
the floor; also some things had been swept from the heavy table which
Frank had repaired so that it stood firmly on its four legs now.

Will looked around, and then turned his eyes on Frank.

"Somebody or some animal has certainly been in here since we left
yesterday, or I miss my guess!" he announced.

"There's no question about that," returned Frank, a puzzled look on
his face. "And as we fastened the door in the only way we have, which
would prevent any but an educated monkey from opening it, I can't
believe any wild beast entered here. Take that from me, Will."

"Then of course it must have been a human being," remarked Will, for
Frank's decisions seemed to leave no other explanation possible.

"I'm wondering why he came in here, and what he did," continued the
other, as he wandered about the place scrutinizing everything.
"There's not a sign of anybody's sleeping in one of our bunks, and so
far as I can make out there's been no cooking going on here since we
had our lunch yesterday, because I remember just how I put everything
away then."

"Frank, it's certainly a deep mystery."

"Oh, well! what's the use of bothering our poor heads over it when
there was no mischief done. Let's get busy with something to eat. I'm
as hollow as a drum right now, and I'm not ashamed to say it, either."

When presently the coffee began to throw out the most tantalizing
odor, and the sizzling bacon added its quota to the aroma, the boys
felt they could hardly wait until things were ready.

Munching some crackers helped them to hold off a bit, and presently,
when things were done, the welcome call to breakfast sounded.

The lake must have been rough and high during the previous night's
gale, for the waves still rolled up on the beach in places, though the
wind had changed.

"Don't you think they must have started from over yonder by now?" Will
was asking as he and Frank began to eat more slowly, having taken the
fierce edge from their appetites.

"Yes, the sea has gone down enough