and when she had regained her senses she, like
the others, was grateful. Jack himself was tired and pretty well
exhausted by his exertions, but he cared little for that, since he had
been successful. A few minutes' rest, and he was all right.

"Our launch--it's burned up, I guess!" cried the girl who had been so
sensible and plucky, the one who had let Pete Stubbs tow her ashore
without making a single movement to hamper him in any way. "Look, the
fire seems to be out, but I don't believe there's much left of the poor
little boat."

The driving rain and the lake water had, indeed, put the fire out, and
the blackened hull of the launch, which had drifted slightly toward the
shore, was floating quietly now.

"I'll swim out and see what sort of shape she's in," said Jack.
"Perhaps she's worth saving yet. The engine may be all right, with a
little repair work, and I think I can tow her in without much trouble.
She's drifted pretty close in already."

He plunged in at once, without heeding the protests from the rescued
ones, who said he had already done more than enough for them. A minute
of fast swimming took him out to the launch, and he climbed aboard,
cautiously, to see what damage had been done. The boat smelled most
unpleasantly of the fire, and he found that the engine would need a
good deal of attention before it would be of service again. But the
forward part of the boat had suffered comparatively slight damage, as
Jack saw with pleasure. Then, suddenly, as he looked around him, he
saw something that made him jump.

"It can't be!" he exclaimed to himself.

But a few moments of examination convinced him that he had made no
mistake. He searched the boat then from stem to stern, and, when he
had satisfied himself, he dropped overboard again, after making a rope
he had carried with him from the shore fast to the launch, and towed
her leisurely in, until her keel grated on the beach, and the men who
had been on board pulled her up beyond high water mark.

As soon as he could then Jack drew Pete Stubbs aside.

"Say, Pete," he said, in a low tone, and tremendously excited, "here's
a queer business! That launch is the one that was used to carry me off
last night. I'm absolutely certain! I stayed on board long enough to
make sure. Do you suppose these people can be mixed up with that
scoundrel? It's the same boat--and if you'll notice, when you get a
chance, she's been patched up in front, right where