t that I'd like to--but I guess she could lick me at that, if she
was put to it. Is that the one you dragged ashore, Jack?"

"That's the one!" said Jack. "It's a wonder she didn't drown the two
of us. But she certainly seems to have recovered pretty completely."

"It's bad business," said Dick, frowning. "Those fellows will get away
now. The only hold we had on them was that they didn't have any
clothes. Now they'll make tracks, and all ye can do is to tell Captain
Haskin what they looked like and what they did. I think we look pretty
foolish, myself."

Just then the girl, who had won Jack's admiration by her courage when
she was in real danger and by her reproof of the others when they had
shown their ingratitude, stepped into the firelight, fully dressed.
She did not look at all as if she belonged with the others. She was
more refined, gentler, and sweeter in every way. Dick Crawford stared
at her in astonishment. Jack had told him about her, but, since seeing
the others, he had thought that Jack had made a mistake in praising her.

"I beg your pardon," he said, speaking to her as she stopped and looked
about her, evidently puzzled by the absence of her companions. "But
I'm afraid we'll have to ask you to tell us what you can of the people
you were with. You are not related to them, are you?"

"No," she said. "No, indeed! I came with them because they promised
to show me how to reach a certain person for whom my father has been
searching for a long time. Then, of course, there was the fire on the
launch. But even before that they had kept putting me off, and I
didn't like the way they were acting at all. Where are they now?"

"I wish I knew!" said Dick. "However, we can talk more about them
later. I think that now the best thing we can do is to get you back to
the city. Your father will meet you there, I suppose, won't he?"

"Yes," she said. "My father is not at all well, and he is quite an old
man. We are staying at the Hotel Lincoln. I came with them alone,
though father didn't want me to, because they were so very positive
that our chase was nearly over."

"I think it's my duty to tell you," said Dick, "that these people who
were with you seem to be a very bad lot. They made an attempt to
kidnap this boy, who helped to save the lives of your whole party, and
we have every reason to suppose that they are associated with a gang of
thieves who have a grudge against him. I think you had