ted you?"

"Oh, he is all right," replied Tom. "He is a queer fellow, though; never
has much to say. He has asked me to let him have an hour or so to
himself every day that we are on shore. Of course, it is only fair for
him to have the time, but why does he wish to go off by himself?"

"I don't know." Madge shook her head disapprovingly. Then she adroitly
changed the subject, but she could not help hoping that David would not
incur the displeasure of the boys by his mysterious ways. It looked as
though the boy she had determined to trust was to prove very
troublesome.

CHAPTER VI

WANDERLUST

"Miss Jenny Ann, I don't think I can endure her," declared Madge
mournfully.

It was late afternoon. The houseboat was gliding serenely along the
river bank. Several yards ahead of her puffed the motor launch. Harry
Sears and George Robinson were in the kitchen of the houseboat, helping
Lillian and Eleanor wash the dinner dishes. Phil sat comfortably in the
motor launch, having her usual argument with Jack Bolling. Tom Curtis
was steering his launch, with a cloud over his usually bright face.
David Brewster was looking after the engine. He was silent and sullen.
But unless he was at work this was his ordinary expression.

"You can see for yourself, Miss Jenny Ann," continued Madge, her lips
trembling with vexation, "that nothing I can do pleases Miss Betsey. I
am just as polite to her as I know how to be, but she just hates me.
According to what she says, everything that goes wrong is my fault. I
have a great mind to leave the houseboat and let you and the other girls
take the trip. It isn't much fun for the rest of the party to have Miss
Betsey and me quarrel all the time. It is unpleasant for everyone, isn't
it?"

Miss Jenny Ann did not answer. Madge caught hold of her impulsively.

"Do scold or preach, whichever you like, Jenny Ann," she pleaded, "but
please answer me. It is not polite to be so silent."

"What is it now?" Miss Jenny Ann inquired teasingly.

The little captain's face sobered. "It isn't a little thing this time,
like my putting the sheet on Miss Betsey's bed wrong side up. It's very
important. Miss Betsey says," whispered Madge in Miss Jenny Ann's ear,
although they were standing some distance away from any one else, "that
nearly every day for the past week some of her money has disappeared out
of her wretched old money bag. Not very much at a time. First she
noticed that three dollars had g