dark."

Hazel manipulated the rowboat until they were in the deep shadows of the
rocks, after which they climbed aboard the "Red Rover." Harriet
explained her plans to her companions and directed them to keep as quiet
as possible in case any of the searchers should come that way. The girls
had pulled the houseboat into the secret retreat on the previous night.
They had kept a watchful eye on the boys all the morning, to see what
they were planning to do, and Jane had given the lads the creeps by
uttering wild, weird cries in the depths of the forest.

Harriet and Jane cooked themselves something to eat. They had been out
for a long time and were hungry. Their companions and guardian were
sitting about chatting with them. Miss Elting was of the opinion that
they were much better off in their hiding place than at an anchorage out
in the lake, always provided that their enemy did not find them out.
Harriet agreed with her, but thought they would be in a serious
situation if their unknown enemy were to find them. He had shown
evidences of keenness that made the finding of the "Red Rover" appear to
be a simple task for him. That he would annoy them further, the girls
were positive; that he already had located them was more than possible.

Splash!

Their conversation was suddenly checked. A stone had dropped but a few
feet from the rear end of the "Red Rover," falling into the creek.
Harriet laid a finger on her lips. Tommy had started to speak, but
checked herself in time. Harriet and Jane crept to the door of the
houseboat and peered out. As they did so a second splash startled them.
This time they saw the stone. It was a good-sized rock. It fell some
feet below the rear end of the "Red Rover." Some one was sounding the
thick growth there. Who it was, they discovered a moment later.

"There's water down there, but it's shallow. I can tell by the splash,"
announced a voice above them.

"It's George," whispered Jane.

"I'll take a look along the shore on my way back. There may be an inlet
that we haven't seen," continued George Baker, talking to himself.

Jane gripped an arm of her companion.

"If he does, we shall be discovered," she whispered.

"Never mind. We will have scared them off long before then. He will
strike the trail I left for them, before long, if he keeps straight on.
That will mean that he will go right on and that he will call to the
others to join him when it begins to get dark. You know the is