sterically. "It's my brother Will!"

Betty and Mollie started back, and nearly let the limp body slip off the
raft.

"What--what!" cried Betty, for the figure of the youth bore no
resemblance to Will; nor did the features. But the eyes of a sister were
not to be deceived.

"It is Will!" she cried. "I have been hoping and praying all the while
that it might be he--and it is. It's Will!"

She would have gotten down to the raft had not Amy restrained her.

"I believe it is Will," said Mollie, taking a closer look. "We have
found him."

"Then let's get him aboard at once, and help him," said practical Betty.
"Amy, start that coffee. Grace, you help us! And Harry, too!"

Thus the Little Captain issued her orders.

How they got Will Ford aboard the boat the girls could not tell
afterward. But they did, with The Loon's aid, and soon he was being
given hot coffee. Slowly his senses came back, and when some warm broth
had been slowly fed to him he opened his eyes, looked wonderingly about
him, and asked hoarsely:

"Is it real--or am I dreaming again?"

"It's real, Will dear," said Grace, putting her arms about him, as he
lay in one of the bunks. "Oh, to think that we have found you again!
Where have you been, and what happened to you?"

"Where haven't I been?" he asked, smiling a little. "And what hasn't
happened to me?"

"But you're all right now," said Grace, comfortingly.

"But what in the world are you girls doing down here?" Will asked,
wonderingly. "It's like a dream. How did you come here?"

"To rescue you," replied Mollie, with a laugh.

"Really?"

"Well, almost really."

Will grew better every minute and wanted to tell his story, but the
girls insisted on waiting, except for the most important details, until
he had reached the orange grove. To satisfy him, however, they told how
they came to be in Florida.

As for The Loon, no sooner had he a sight of Will's face than he danced
about like a child, and cried:

"That's him! That's the one! He's the one I went to get help for!"

"That's right, my boy," said Will, weakly.

"I--I lost the money and note," faltered poor Harry. "But I thought you
had fooled me."

"But, after all, he was the means of saving Tom, and, in a way, you,
also," said Grace.

"Who's Tom?" asked Will.

And they told him.

That there was surprise at Orangeade when the outdoor girls arrived with
Will Ford can easily be imagined. The first thing done was to send a
telegra