tanned by her outdoor life, and her lips were stained
with the nuts and berries that she had eaten in their journey through
the woods.

Madge had not spoken of the scene with Flora Harris in Mrs. Curtis's
dining room since she had landed on the island. Phyllis sometimes
wondered if the cruel impression had faded from her friend's mind, but
she never mentioned the subject to Madge.

That morning, after the two friends had chatted of many things, all at
once Madge grew strangely silent.

"Phil!" she queried abruptly, "do you remember what Flora Harris said
to me the night before our shipwreck?"

"Why, of course," answered Phil in surprise, "I could not forget. But I
hope you have not been letting your mind dwell on such foolishness."

"I have never stopped thinking of it a minute, day or night," returned
Madge quietly. "I don't mean that I have just thought about the insult
to my father. Flora Harris told me that after my father was dismissed
from the Navy in disgrace he went somewhere. She did not speak as
though he had died. Do you know, Phil"--Madge spoke in low, hushed
tones, though there was no one in the woods to hear her--"I have always
thought of my father as dead. I know that Aunt Sue has always led me,
perhaps unconsciously, to think so. But now I can not recall that she
has ever really told me that he was dead. Phil, dear, do you think it
possible that my father is alive?"

Phil was silent. What could she say? If she should agree, saying that
Madge's father might be alive, it was to confess that Captain Morton
had really suffered disgrace. Else why would he have disappeared and
deserted his baby daughter?

"I don't know," was all she managed to falter.

Madge walked on quietly, with her proud little head held high. "If my
father is alive, Phil, I don't care where he is, I shall find him, even
if I have to look the wide world over. I know that he is innocent, but
I can't tell you how I came by the knowledge. It is my secret."

Phil reached for her friend's hand, giving it a warm, firm pressure,
then they walked on in silence.

All morning they had been tramping through woodlands. At noon they came
to the edge of one wood. A clearing stretched ahead of them.

On the edge of this clearing they sat down to their luncheon. While the
two chums were eating they heard the strangest and most peculiar noise
either of them had ever listened to in their lives. It was the tramping
and rushing of many feet, like