ed
as usual with the lunch, and she and Hiram cut fishing rods and planned
to have a real picnic.

Trout and mullet were jumping in the pools under the bank; and they
caught several before stopping to eat their own meal. The freshly caught
fish were a fine addition to the repast.

They went back to fishing after a while and caught enough for supper at
the farmhouse. Just as they were reeling up their lines the silence of
the place was disturbed by a strange sound.

"There's a motorcycle coming!" cried Sister, jumping up and looking all
around.

There was a bend in the river below this bottom, and another above; so
they could not see far in either direction unless they climbed to the
high ground. For a minute Hiram could not tell in which direction the
sound was coming; but he knew the steady put-put-put must be the exhaust
of a motor-boat.

It soon poked its nose around the lower turn. It was a good-sized boat
and instantly Hiram recognized at least one person aboard.

Miss Lettie Bronson, in a very pretty boating costume, was in the bow.
There were half a dozen other girls with her--well dressed girls, who
were evidently her friends from the St. Beris school at Scoville.

"Oh, oh! what a pretty spot!" cried Lettie, on the instant. "We'll go
ashore here and have our luncheon, girls."

She did not see Hiram and Sister for a moment; but the latter tugged at
Hiram's sleeve.

"I've seen that girl before," she whispered. "She came in the carriage
with the man who spoke to you--you remember? She asked me if I had
always lived in the country, and how I tore my frock."

"Isn't she pretty?" returned Hiram.

"Awfully. But I'm not sure that I like her yet."

Suddenly Lettie saw Hiram and the girl beside him. She started, flushed
a little, and then gave Hiram a cool little nod and turned her gaze from
him. Her manner showed that he was not "down in her good books," and the
young fellow flushed in turn.

"I don't know as we'd better try to make the bank here, Miss," said the
man who was directing the motor-boat. "The current's mighty sharp."

"I want to land here," said Lettie, decidedly. "It's the prettiest spot
we've seen--isn't it, girls?"

Her friends agreed. Hiram, casting a quick eye over the ruffled surface
of the river, saw that the man was right. How well the stream below was
fitted for motor-boating he did not know; but he was pretty sure that
there were too many ledges just under the surface here to mak