"Nothing much gets away from you, old man," laughed Paul. "Are your
ladies comfortable?" he asked, as he joined Russ in the bow of the boat,
the other three being in the broad stern.

"Very comfortable," answered Alice. "Only I wish we had brought a
mosquito netting along. The little pests are after me with a vengeance."

"I can build a smudge on shore, and that may keep them off," offered
Russ. "In fact, a smudge is about the only kind of a fire I could make,
as everything is so damp."

This proved to be the case. But a heavy smoke was soon floating over the
boat, and this did seem to keep away the pests.

"What had we better do?" asked Russ of Paul, as they piled more damp fuel
on the smudge-fire.

"Well, we'll have to stand watch and watch, of course. And we will have
the gun ready. It's all loaded. No telling what might happen. A bobcat
might take a notion to come aboard, or an alligator might nose us out.
We'll have to be on the watch."

Little or nothing could be told about the surrounding country in the
darkness, even illuminated as it was by the moon. The river stretched
away in either direction, and both banks were heavily wooded.

"Br-r-r! but it's creepy here!" sighed Ruth, as the two young men got
into the boat again.

"Is that a light--a lantern--off there?" asked Alice, suddenly, as she
sat up and pointed.

For a moment they all hoped that it was, and they raised their voices in
shouts:

"Here we are!"

"Look for our lantern!"

Then as the other light moved about erratically Russ said:

"It's only _ignis-fatuus_--will-o'-the-wisp. It's a sort of
phosphorescent glow that appears at night over swamps. I've seen it in
rotting stumps on hot nights."

"Too bad to disappoint you," said Mrs. Maguire. "Now, girls, get
comfortable, and we'll be all right in the morning. Try to sleep."

Ruth and Alice declared it was out of the question, and for a long time
they remained wide awake. Mrs. Maguire, who had traveled with many road
companies, and had often slept under adverse circumstances, did manage to
doze off. Russ had first watch, and Paul was tired enough to fall into a
slumber.

Finally Ruth and Alice also slumbered, leaning against each other, with
Mrs. Maguire as partial support. Russ found his head nodding as the long
night wore on.

"Come, this won't do!" he told himself, sitting up with a jerk. But
nature was insistent, and he became sleepy again. He was suddenly
awakened by what s