of the adventurous women
nor the launch was visible from the row boat, though the engine's rapid
pulsations indicated the line of Carey's pursuit. To shout to the daring
women that help was at hand would only alarm them, and Archie crouched
in the bow, peering ahead for the silhouette of the Governor as his
canoe rose on the waves.

The launch executed a wide half-circle, stopped and retraced its course.
Leary, refusing to relinquish the oars, swore between strokes, the
object of his maledictions being the invisible Carey, whom he consigned
to the bottom of the lake in phrases that struck Archie as singularly
felicitous. In spite of their steady advance and the frequent turns and
twists of the launch, the canoe and row boat seemed to approach no
nearer to the enemy. There was no doubt but that Carey knew a craft of
some kind had put off from the camp and he was determined to intercept
it; but he was still unconscious of the presence in the bay of the three
men from Huddleston.

The Governor called to Archie to stop following and move in the
direction of the town, independently of his own movements, thus
broadening the surface they were covering with a view to succoring the
canoe. As though with malevolent delight in the fear he was causing,
Carey rapidly changed the course of the launch, urging it backward and
forward with a resulting wild agitation of the waters. In one of these
evolutions it passed within oar's length of the row boat.

"Keep on swearing!" cried Archie. "He's not a man; he's the devil!"

The launch passed again, like a dark bird skimming the water, and he
took off his shoes and threw aside his coat.

"If that blackguard keeps this up we may have to swim for it! Give me
the oars; I want to warm up!"

They were changing positions when the launch, executing another of its
erratic evolutions, again swept by. A second later they were startled by
a crash followed by screams and cries for help. Leary whistled shrilly
to attract the Governor's attention and bent to the oars.

Carey shut off his power the moment he struck the canoe, whether in
sudden alarm at the success of his design or in the hope of picking up
the victims of his animosity was a question Archie left for a more
tranquil hour's speculation. A shout from the Governor announced that he
was hurrying toward the scene of the collision.

The launch, running full speed, had struck hard and it was sheer good
luck that the camp canoe had not b