l gambler from Kentucky soon discovered them, and he
induced Dan Baxter to lay with him,--after learning that Lew Flapp had
no money to place on a game. Baxter and the gambler played that night
and also the next morning, and as a result Baxter lost about every
dollar he had with him.

"You cheated me," he cried passionately, when his last dollar was gone.
"You cheated me, and I'll have the police arrest you!"

This accusation brought on a bitter quarrel, and fearful that they
might be killed by the gambler and his many friends who frequented the
resort, Dan Baxter and Lew Flapp fled for their lives. They were
followed by two thugs, and to escape molestation took refuge in a
stable on the outskirts of Skemport and only a short distance from
where the _Dora_ lay.

"How much money did you lose, Baxter?" asked Flapp, after they had made
certain that they were safe for the time being.

"Two hundred and sixty-five dollars--every dollar I had with me," was
the gloomy response.

"Is it possible!" gasped Lew Flapp. He wondered what they were going to
do without money.

"What have you got left of the money I loaned you?" went on Baxter.

"Just two dollars and twenty cents."

"Humph! That's a long way from being a fortune," grumbled the
discomfited leader of the evil-doers.

"You are right. I think you were foolish to gamble."

"Oh, don't preach!"

"I'm not preaching. What shall we do next?"

"I don't know. If I was near some big city I might draw some money from
a bank."

"You might go to Louisville."

"No, I'd be sure to have trouble if I went to that place--I had trouble
there before."

They looked around them, and were surprised to see the houseboat in
plain view. This interested them, and they watched the _Dora_ with
curiosity.

"If we had a houseboat we could travel in fine style," was Lew Flapp's
comment.

"Just the thing, Flapp!" cried Dan Baxter.

"Perhaps; but you can't buy a houseboat for two dollars and twenty
cents, nor charter one either."

"We won't buy one or charter one," was Dan Baxter's crafty answer.

"Eh?"

"We'll borrow that one. She's a fairy and will just suit us, Flapp."

"I don't quite understand. You're not fool enough to think the Rovers
will let you have their houseboat."

"Of course not. But if I take possession while they are away--"

"How do you know they will be away--I mean all of them at one time?"

"I'll fix it so they are. We must watch our chance. I can send t