h. He stumbled and almost fell into the
seat under the dripping canopy. Captain Jennings propped the leather
cushions under his sagging arms, and as the girls turned away from the
landing they heard the motor of the River Queen chug out.

"No wonder they call that place over there Looney Land," remarked Julia.
"It seems to me we are all meeting more of its loons every day."

"We have come across quite a few," admitted Cleo. "But this old man was
nice; I liked him."

"Why didn't you ask him for a pass to the island then?" remarked Louise.
"That still seems to be forbidden territory."

"Yes, something like 'No Man's Land'. But did any one ever hear of 'No
Scout's Land?' That's the beauty of belonging to a privileged
organization."

"Queer thing how every one warns us to keep away from there," said
Julia. "Every one but Bentley. Wonder what he would say if we asked him
for a pass!"

"That's a brilliant idea, Julie," declared Margaret. "The very thing to
do is to ask Ben."

"I knew that boy's name ought to be something with Ben in it," remarked
Grace. "I seemed to outline it in his face when he reminded me of my own
wild, but adorable little brother Ben. Of course, we never see our own
boys down here except at meals, or we might get them to help us."

"We don't even get ours at meals," said Helen. "Mother says we might
better all be in a hotel or boarding house, for all the home life we get
out of our cottage."

"Let's stop at our place and finish up our scout meeting," suggested
Cleo. "The storm sort of broke up our session."

So Leonore accommodatingly let them down in front of the Log Cabin, and
on the spacious rustic porch there the interrupted meeting was again
convened.

"Grace, if you are going to act as secretary, I think you should keep
records. When our summer is over we shall enjoy looking back at them."

"All right," agreed Grace, preparing pencil and pad for notes.

"We must remember," cautioned Margaret, "that we are pledged to protect
ourselves as well as others. Now, how do we know it is safe to go to
that island? Suppose there is some disease there?"

"We must find out more definitely about that, of course," spoke up Mary,
who was now a professed Tenderfoot. "It would be rash to run into some
dreadful sickness."

"Also, we must question our motives and make sure we are not doing this
out of rank curiosity," declared Louise sagely. "That would be silly,
even if pardonable, and I don't thin