in the evening while he talked with his aunt he had
remarked upon the great distinctness with which the _putt-putt_ of a
motorboat somewhere on the lake had carried. Now when a whip-poor-will
flew to a nearby tree its rapid-fire call flung wide insistently:
_Whip_'rweel, _whip_'rweel, _whip_'rweel, _whip_'rweel, _whip_'rweel,
_whip_'rweel. . . .

"Go to it, old boy;" murmured Phil with some amusement, his thoughts
recalled at last to his surroundings.

As if insulted, the bird ceased abruptly and flew away. A dead stick
snapped at the edge of the clearing. It sounded like the report of a
small pistol and as Kendrick smiled at the start the sound gave him he
was sub-consciously aware that the bellowings of the frogs had stopped.
His glance in the direction of the sound was purely automatic, but his
attention was rivetted instantly by a movement among the trees at a
point where they thinned out against a silvering background of the lake.

There was no mistake about it. The slinking figure of a man was
visible against the water.

CHAPTER XI

GROWING ANXIETY

For some moments Kendrick watched him as he moved cautiously from one
vantage point to another, not a little surprised to discover that the
intruder was spying upon the cottage. Some belated camper, probably.

But there was no harm in making sure. Phil crept noiselessly off the
balcony and slipped quietly downstairs and out the back way. It was
his idea to come upon the man from behind and demand what he wanted;
but a careless step revealed his approach and sent the fellow running
at top speed through the bush to the edge of the lake, where he jumped
into a small launch which he must have paddled inshore very quietly.
No such caution marked his actions now, however. He started his engine
and went _putt-putting_ madly out across the lake.

Thoroughly aroused, Kendrick ran to the little landing where the launch
rented for the season was moored. He leaped for the engine, a moment
later had swung clear and was off in full chase.

As he nursed the engine to top speed it soon became apparent that his
was much the superior boat. Added to this he had the advantage of a
complete knowledge of the inlets and topography of Sparrow Lake. He
knew for instance, that the long neck of heavily wooded peninsula which
jutted out for some distance in the immediate vicinity was bisected by
a narrow channel of deep black water where a motor boat could negotiate
a