ice but you shan't win again. Hereafter
we'll be on the alert."

"You'll have to keep a watch on us night and day then," chuckled Jane.

"This pleasant spirit of rivalry makes matters interesting," interjected
Miss Elting. "You have been very kind to us and helped to make our
vacation enjoyable. We enjoy harmless fun as well as yourselves. I might
add that we haven't fully exhausted our resources, either. And we wish
to thank you for warning us of your intentions."

The boys blushed sheepishly.

"Sam, you'd better keep still," suggested George.

"That's what I say," nodded Larry.

"Yeth, he talkth too much," agreed Tommy wisely. "But you ought to have
been with uth. We've had an awful time, too."

"How so?" questioned Billy politely.

"I fell in the water and Buthter made cuthtard and had no oven to bake
it in, and then--"

"Who is talking now?" demanded Margery.

Tommy subsided at once.

"The question is, are you going to run away from us again?" demanded
George.

"We never have. Remember, we followed you over here," suggested Jane.
"We shall be near here for some time in all probability. We have plenty
of time. After we get tired of this spot we probably shall move to some
other anchorage, but we'll be here for a few days yet."

"Keep your eyes open, or you will miss us again and your last chance
will be gone," warned Harriet.

"We shall keep our eyes open," answered George with an emphatic nod.

The luncheon having been finished, Billy suggested that they spend the
afternoon in exploring the island. This suited Harriet. She wanted to
see how familiar the boys were with their island. So all started out,
leaving the dishes to be washed later. The girls shook their heads
disapprovingly.

"Oh, we have a patent dish washing machine," announced Larry. "You see,
we dump the whole lot of dishes into the lake after having smeared them
with sand. We leave the dishes there and the waves wash them. All we
have to do is to take them out and lay them in the sun an hour or so
afterwards. As soon as the dishes dry off they are ready for another
meal to be served on them."

"Ithn't that jutht like a man?" demanded Tommy.

"This is Willow Island," Billy informed them after they had mounted a
ridge that commanded a view of about a quarter of the island.

"It used to be," answered Harriet. "We have rechristened it."

"What have you named it?" said Billy, regarding her inquiringly.

"We have named it the 'Islan