lush appeared in the
western sky. Instead of a line of sea and sky, some distance ahead of
the houseboat, just under the horizon, a faint, dark streak showed
itself.

"Madge, what is that over there?" Phil asked sharply, pointing ahead.

Madge shook her head. "I am not sure," she answered.

Another fifteen minutes passed. The "Merry Maid" kept a straight
course.

Phil clutched Madge by the sleeve. "If I am not mistaken, there is land
over there. Our houseboat is being carried straight toward it."

The girls called down their discovery to Miss Jenny Ann, but the
watchers below had also been conscious of a change in the horizon.

Miss Jenny Ann feared that she had seen a mirage, she had gazed so long
at the water.

"I know it is land, Miss Jenny Ann," Phyllis insisted, with the
assurance that made her such a comfort to her friends in times of
difficulty.

But would the houseboat ever drift near enough to shore to allow them
to be seen from the land? Very slowly the "Merry Maid" now glided on.
She was in quieter water. There was little wind, but a surer force drew
her toward the land. The tide was running in. After a time the
houseboat party realized this. There was nothing to do but to wait and
see how far in their boat would drift. After a time they could see the
outline of a sandy shore, with thick woods behind it. But there was no
house, no human being in sight.

At twilight the "Merry Maid" was not more than a mile from land, and
still creeping toward it.

Madge's fighting blood returned to her. The troubles of the past had
vanished. What, after all, was the idle insult of a cruel girl? She
must now do what she could to save her friends and herself. Madge felt
she had not been as courageous as the others during the day's trial.
She had thought too much of her own grievances.

"Miss Jenny Ann," she announced determinedly, "I can't bear this
slowness and uncertainty any longer. It looks as though the 'Merry
Maid' were going near enough to the shore for us to be able to attract
some one's attention in a little while; but if night comes before we
reach the shore, it will be much more difficult. The beach does not
look as though there were many people about."

"What would you have us do?" asked the chaperon.

"There is our very long clothes line on board," suggested Madge. The
girls gazed at her in astonishment. What had their clothes line to do
with the situation? "I want you to knot it around my waist,"