.

"I guess so. Light a match, somebody."

Several matches were lit and then an old oil lantern which chanced
to be on board. The bob cat was indeed dead and near it lay the dog,
with a deep scratch in its foreshoulder.

"Noble Dandy, you did what you could," said Harold Bird, affectionately.

Very gingerly Tom and Dick picked up the carcass of the bob cat and
threw it overboard. By this time the launch had drifted a good fifty
feet from shore, and there they anchored.

"Keep that lantern lit," said Fred. "I can't stand the darkness after
such doings!"

"If those thieves are around they must have heard the shots," said
Sam. "So a light won't make much difference."

"I am going to examine the gas lamp," said the young Southerner, and
did so. A bit of dirt had gotten into the feed pipe of the lamp, and
when this was cleaned out with a thin wire the light worked as well
as ever.

It was some time after the excitement before any of the crowd could
get to sleep again. Then Hans got a nightmare and yelled "Bop cats!
fire! murder!" and other things as loudly as he could, and that put
further rest out of the question, and all waited anxiously for the
coming of morning.

CHAPTER VII

THE HOUSEBOAT IN THE BUSHES

With the coming of morning the mist cleared away as if by magic, and
soon the warm sunshine put all on board of the gasoline launch in
better spirits.

"How is the dog?" questioned Dick, of the owner of the canine.

"He has been pretty well mauled up, but I think he'll come around
with proper attention," answered the young Southerner. "He is a
valuable animal--valuable to me because he was a pet of my father--and
I'd hate to lose him."

All were hungry and ate their morning lunch with considerable
satisfaction, washing it down with some coffee made on a small oil
stove that had been brought along.

"Well, I don't see anything of the houseboat," announced Dick, as he
stood on a seat and took a long and careful look around. "Not a craft
or a building of any kind in sight."

"Some negroes used to live on the north shore of the lake," said
Harold Bird, "but the floods last year made them vacate in a hurry."

It was decided to move around the shore of the lake slowly, scanning
every cove and inlet with care. That the houseboat was hidden somewhere
on that expanse of water none of the party had any doubt.

"You could take quite a trip in this launch," said Sam to Harold
Bird, as they moved along. "