rate boss to relent, and give him a chance to "spell" with Mark.

Heedless of sighs and half-heard groans alike, Lil Artha just sat there
and took his ease, while the slave worked and worked as though he were
chained to the galley's oar.

No one ever knew whether it were actually an accident or a deep-laid
scheme on the part of the weary Landy to end this period of torture.
There may be some things even worse than a mere ducking--at least a
stout boy like Landy Smith might think so.

At any rate, none of the scouts happened to be looking very closely at
the time, and consequently they could not say one way or the other.
All they knew was that without any warning Landy was seen to be dragged
out of the stern of the skiff, struggle to clasp his writhing legs
about the pushpole that stood at an oblique angle, caught firmly in the
tenacious mud, and then releasing his hold, flop with a great splash
into the dark-colored water of Sassafras Swamp!

CHAPTER X

THE SUSPICIOUS ACTIONS OF LANDY

To this very day, it has never been positively known among the scouts
of the Wolf Patrol whether Landy met with an unexpected accident, or
allowed himself to be deliberately dragged out of the boat, seized with
a sudden overwhelming desire to end his spell of drudgery.

The splash was simply terrific, and Landy vanished completely beneath
the surface of the swamp water, which chanced to be fairly deep at that
place, as of necessity Landy himself must have known.

"Oh! he's overboard!" exclaimed Toby, in the other boat, perhaps louder
than his orders from the scout master permitted.

"What a nuisance!" grunted Lil Artha, trying to appear unconcerned,
though it might have been noticed that he tried the best he could to
stop the movement of the skiff by thrusting both hands in the water,
and paddling.

Mark did better than that, for he snatched up a thwart that he knew was
loose, and started to use it vigorously so as to check the progress of
the floating boat.

Meanwhile, of course, Landy came to the surface like a bobbing cork
that had been pulled down by the bite of a fish. He was floundering
around like a whale, spouting volumes of water that he must have
swallowed in his dive, and apparently doing his level best to stay on
top.

"Hey! ain't you goin' to help a feller?" they managed to make out from
his almost incoherent splutter.

The other boat had by now pushed up close alongside, and Elmer, leaning
over the si