d of the fugitives. Ruth had been but a few
yards out of the way in her calculations. She and Helen came out upon
the beach almost at the spot where the fishing punt lay.

The boat appeared to be sound, and the pole lying in it was a straight,
peeled ash sapling, not too heavy for either of the girls to handle.

"Jump in, Helen!" commanded Ruth. "Take the pole and push off. I'll push
here at the bow."

"But you'll get all wet!" quavered her chum.

"As though _that_ mattered," returned the other, with a chuckle, as she
leaned against the bow of the punt and braced her feet for the grand
effort. "Now!"

Helen had scrambled in and seized the pole. She thrust it against the
shore, her own weight bearing down the stern, which was in the water,
and thus raising the bow a trifle.

"All-to-geth-er!" gasped Ruth, as though they were at "tug-of-war" in
the Briarwood gymnasium.

The boat moved. Ruth's feet slipped and she scrambled to get a fresh
brace for them.

"Now, again!" she cried.

At that moment a great hound came rushing out of the wood upon their
trail, raised his red eyes, saw them, and uttered a mournful bay.

"We're caught!" wailed Helen.

"We're nothing of the kind!" returned her friend. "Push again, Helen!"

One more effort and Ruth was ankle deep in the water. The boat floated
free!

But before the brave girl could scramble aboard, the hound leaped for
her. Helen screamed. That shriek was enough, without the baying of the
hound, to bring their enemies to the water's edge.

Ruth Fielding was terrified--of course! But she gave a final push to the
boat as the hound grabbed her. Fortunately the beast seized only her
skirt. Perhaps he had been taught not to actually worry his prey.

However, the girl was dragged to her knees, and she could not escape.
The punt shot out into the lake, and Ruth shouted to her chum:

"Keep on! keep on! Never mind me! Find Tom and bring help----Oh!"

The weight of the big dog had cast her into the shallow water. She
immediately scrambled to her feet again. The hound held onto the skirt.
The material was too strong to easily tear, and she could not get away.

There was a crashing in the brush and out upon the edge of the lake came
half a dozen of the Gypsy men and one of the women. She was the one who
had befooled Ruth and Helen into entering the green van the night
before. When she saw Ruth's plight, standing in the water with the hound
holding her, she laughed as thou