boys--and have another race with them--a regular race."

"We might win then," agreed the young lawyer, "but I doubt it. Theirs is
a racer all right, and ours is built more for pleasure. It's a safer
boat too, the _Spider_ is. Once or twice they came near having a spill
in wind that didn't faze us a bit. I'm glad we didn't have any accidents
like the last time we met Alice."

"That's right," said Betty, recalling the two upsets.

"Let them wait," remarked Will mysteriously. "I'll soon have a boat that
will beat anything on the river."

"Oh, is papa going to let you get an ice boat?" cried Grace. "I don't
care! I don't think it's fair! You get anything you want. You had a new
horse and----"

"And wasn't it on your account that dad let you girls come to this
camp?" demanded Will. "Talk about me getting all the favors----"

"Children! Children!" admonished Betty with a smile.

"And besides, this has nothing to do with dad," went on Will. "This is
something I'm getting up on my own account."

"Oh, tell us!" begged Mollie.

"Nope. It's a secret. You'll see it as soon as it comes."

"Give you a chocolate if you tell," bribed Grace.

"Nope."

"Two."

"Nope!"

"Oh, let him alone," advised Betty. "What are we going to do next?"

"Oh, just sail on--sail on," answered Allen with a laugh. "We won't try
any more races though."

They proceeded up the river another mile or so, and had a distant
glimpse of their rivals scudding about. Then something else claimed
their attention. This was a sight of some men fishing through the ice
for pickerel, and the girls at once evinced an appetite for fresh fish.

"Why, we can do that ourselves," declared Will. "We'll try it when we
get back."

"Oh, see if you can't get them to sell you some," begged Grace. "They
will be fine for supper."

The men were very willing to dispose of some of their catch. They were
lumbermen from a distant camp, which fact becoming known, Grace insisted
on her brother inquiring if they knew anything of Paddy Malone.

"I used to know him," said one burly fisherman, "but he hasn't been
around for a year or so."

"Guess he don't dast come," put in another.

"Why?" asked Will curiously.

"He got into trouble, I hear, and the authorities want him."

"Nothing of the sort," the first man declared. "Paddy is as straight as
a fish pole. More likely it's the other way round and he's staying away
so as not to make trouble for some one else."

"Mayb