t another dance with her to-night," he thought
crossly, and this was exactly the case, for Nyoda presently
suggested lemonade and the dancing stopped.

It was nearly nine o'clock by this time, but the boys pleaded so
hard for a ride on the lake in the canoes that Nyoda yielded and
granted fifteen minutes extra. Ed Roberts took immediate
possession of Gladys and led her into his canoe before she had
time to say a word. He pushed off before there was time to put
any one else in with them, for some of the canoes had to carry
four. As they paddled through the moonlit water the girls sang
"Across the Silver'd Lake" and by and by the boys added a few
bass and tenor notes to it. Fairly in tune now they sang song
after song in time to the dipping of their paddles.

"How much better any song sounds with a bass to it!" said Nyoda
to the Counsellor in the canoe with her, which remark, though
merely an effort to start a conversation on Nyoda's part, caused
the Counsellor to flush to the roots of his hair and get
completely out of stroke.

Sahwah, up at the head of the procession with Ned Roberts, was in
her element. He was a fine paddler and his stroke matched hers
exactly. They were in her own little canoe, the _Keewaydin_, and
as it was so much lighter than the others they were continually
getting ahead. She taught him the "silent" paddle of the
Indians, which they used to hide their approach, twisting the
paddle around under the surface to avoid the sound of dipping.
She told him about the rifle which Gladys's father had sent her,
and he promised to teach her to shoot it when the boys made the
all-day visit which Nyoda had suggested.

Ed Roberts managed to keep himself and Gladys at the tail of the
procession. He was continually stopping to let the canoe drift
and gradually widening the distance between them and the others.
When they rounded one of the little islands he stopped so long
that the first canoes got out of sight around the bend, leaving
them hidden behind the island. Gladys would have paddled on, but
he begged her to stop and talk awhile. "Let's land on the island
and sit on the rocks in the moonlight," he proposed. Gladys
refused.

"Nyoda wouldn't like it," she said, "and it's past our bed time
already. The other canoes have started for home."

"O bother bed time!" said Ed petulantly. "Who could bear to go
to bed on a night like this? Besides, you can tell Miss Kent
that I broke my paddle and we