r magnifying glass, Tom; what's that, a village,
up there?"

"A house."

"Some house, too," said Roy, looking at the diminutive structure near
the shore. "Put your hand down the chimney and open the front door,
hey?"

But as they ran in nearer the shore other houses showed themselves
around the edge of the hill and here, too, was a little wharf with
several people upon it and near it, on the shore, a surging crowd on the
edge of which stood several wagons.

"Guess they must be having a mass meeting about putting a new spring on
the post-office door," said Roy. "Somebody ought to lay a paperweight on
that village a windy day like this. It might blow away. Close your
throttle a little, Tom and put your timer back; we'll run in and see
what's up."

"You don't suppose all that fuss can have anything to do with Pee-wee,
do you?" Tom asked.

"No, it looks more as if a German submarine had landed there. There
wouldn't be so much of a rumpus if they'd got the kid."

But in another moment Roy's skeptical mood had changed as he saw a tall,
slender fellow in brown standing at the end of the wharf with arms
outspread.

"What's he doing--posing for the movies?"

"He's semaphoring," Tom answered.

"I'll be jiggered if he isn't!" said Roy, all interest at once.
"C--O--M--E---- I--(he makes his I too much like his C)--N. _What do you
know about that!_ Come in!"

The stranger held what seemed to be a large white placard in either hand
in place of a flag and his motions were not as clear-cut as they should
have been, but to Roy, with whom, as he had often said, the semaphore
code was like "pumpkin pie," the message was plain.

As they ran alongside the wharf the khaki-clad signaler greeted them
with the scout salute.

"Pretty brisk out on the water this morning?" he said. "We got your
message--we were out canoeing last night; you use the International
code, don't you?"

"Have you got him?" Roy asked anxiously.

"Oh, yes, he's here; pulled in somewhere around midnight, I guess. He
stayed all night with one of our troop; he's up there now getting his
breakfast. Great kid, isn't he?" he laughed. "He was telling us about
rice cakes. We're kind of out of date up here, you know. I was a little
balled up on your spacing," he added as they went up the wharf. "I
haven't got the International down very good. Yes, we were drifting
around, a couple of us, telling Ford jokes, when you sprung it on us."

"Have you got the signal