rished coffee pot and
provisions for breakfast in the morning.

In the meantime their chaperon and the other two girls had made a
glorious fire. By ten o'clock the entire party was sound asleep.

Miss Jenny Ann had not meant to sleep. She had intended to watch the
fire all night. But such an overpowering drowsiness crept over her that
she rose and piled all the wood they had left with them on the fire at
once. Then she, too, gave herself up to slumber.

Madge awoke first in the morning. She leaned over to see if her cousin,
Nellie, were all right. Nellie's brown eyes smiled back at her. The two
girls rose softly and ran lightly back into the forest for more wood
for their fire, of which a few faint embers were still burning.

The forest was very dense. There were no paths through it from the side
at which the girls penetrated. There were oak, walnut and beech trees
growing in primeval beauty. Great clusters of wild grape vines, loaded
with ripe fruit, climbed the trunks of the trees and swung from their
branches. The bittersweet black haws were ripe. They were easy to
gather from the low limbs of the small trees.

Madge and Eleanor found quantities of twigs and small logs. When they
had piled up the wood near their sleeping friends they went back to the
forest and returned with plenty of grape leaves for plates, and as much
of the wild fruit as they could carry.

It added greatly to their breakfast, and immediately after the
houseboat party started on an exploring expedition. They must surely
find some one to help them. At first the little clan of girls kept near
to the beach, expecting to find a fisherman's cottage or a boat. They
were afraid to go too far back in the woods on account of the danger of
losing their way. They had had no fresh water since the day before,
except the small amount that Madge and Phil brought from the houseboat
for use in their coffee. All were growing very thirsty, and apparently
there was no one to aid them on the beach.

Miss Jenny Ann began to think that they had landed on an island. It was
altogether uninhabited and so could not be any part of a main shore.

Madge led the way when they entered the woods. She traveled slowly
ahead, forcing her path through the tangled underbrush. They must
surely find a house on the other side of the woodland. Now they
listened eagerly for the sound of a stream of running water.

They had walked until afternoon before they came to a clearing in t