were entirely surrounded by water.

Peggy pursued her discoveries with zest. Considering its detached and
lonely state, the little island had conformed surprisingly to the ways
of the mainland. Peggy found flowers of the same varieties that she had
picked in the woods back of the knoll a little earlier. A blackberry
vine was heavily hung with fruit, though some of the berries were dry
and withered. Peggy noticed a bird's nest in a more exposed location
than the little builder would have chosen elsewhere, she was sure, and
she thought of the deductions Jerry would have drawn from this fact, and
smiled while she sighed. Poor Jerry! She must take him in hand, and
settle this absurd misunderstanding.

"Aunt Peggy," piped Dorothy, trotting at her heels, "let's not 'splore
any longer. I don't like 'sploring."

"Oh, I don't want to stop till I've seen everything, Dorothy. Be a good
girl and don't fret."

But Dorothy did not feel like being a good girl. One of her rare wilful
moods had taken possession of her. She stood motionless, scowling at
Peggy's unconscious back, and then her little face overcast and
rebellious, she turned and made her way down to the willow and the
waiting canoe. The latter moved gently as the water rippled past. It
seemed to Dorothy to be tugging at its fastenings with an impatience
that matched her own.

"You don't like 'sploring either, do you?" she said, addressing the
canoe in a confidential undertone. "And--and it's very naughty of Aunt
Peggy to want her own way all the time. I guess she'd be s'prised if we
went off and left her."

The canoe repeated its wordless invitation. Dorothy drew closer, cast a
defiant glance behind her, and then set one small foot firmly on the
bottom of the uncertain craft. The responsive lurch was so unexpected
that she went over in a heap, luckily landing in the bottom of the
canoe, instead of in Snake River. She sat up, feeling a little
frightened, and under the necessity of excusing herself.

"There, I didn't disobey Aunt Peggy, 'cept with one foot. I guess that
old canoe pulled me in its own self."

Her complacency vanished with a startling discovery. The canoe had been
carelessly tied and the jar of her tumble had loosened it altogether.
Yielding to the current it began to move down the stream, and Dorothy's
alarm found vent in an ear-splitting shriek.

"Aunt Peggy! Aunt Peggy!"

Peggy came crashing through the bushes, startled by the summons, and yet