there's another boat coming in.
I wonder if Mr. Jamieson can be here already?"

In a moment his voice proved that it _was_ possible, and a few
minutes later, while the girls were helping Captain Salters to unload
the stores he had brought with him, Eleanor was greeting her attorney
from Bay City.

CHAPTER II

A NEW ALLY

"I guess you haven't met Billy Trenwith properly yet, Eleanor," said
Charlie Jamieson, smiling.

"Maybe not," said Eleanor, returning the smile, "but I regard him as a
friend already, Charlie. He was splendid this morning. If he hadn't
understood so quickly, and acted at once, the way he did, I don't know
what would have happened."

"I'm afraid I didn't really understand at all, Miss Mercer," said
Trenwith, a good looking young fellow, with light brown hair and grey
blue eyes, that, although mild and pleasant enough now, had been as cold
as steel when Bessie had seen him on the yacht. "But I could understand
readily enough that you were in trouble, and I knew that Charlie's
cousin wouldn't appeal to me unless there was a good reason. So I didn't
feel that I was taking many chances in doing what you wished."

"I'm afraid you took more chances than you know about, Billy," said
Charlie, gravely. "You're in politics, aren't you? And you have
ambitions for more of a job than you've got now?"

"Oh, yes, I'm in politics, after a fashion," admitted Trenwith. "But I
guess I could manage to keep alive if I never got another political
office. I had a bit of a practice before I became district attorney, and
I think I could build it up again."

"Well, I hope this isn't going to make any difference, Billy. But it's
only fair for you to know the sort of game you're running into. I don't
want to feel that you're going ahead to help us without understanding
the situation just as it is."

"You talk as if this might be a pretty complicated bit of business,
Charlie. Suppose you loosen up and tell me about it. Then I may be able
to figure better on how I can help you."

"That's just what I'm going to do, old man. I want you to meet two of
cousin's protegees here--Bessie King and Zara, the mysterious. If we
knew more about Zara and her affairs this wouldn't be such a Chinese
puzzle. But here goes! Ask me all the questions you like. And you
girls--if I go wrong, stop me.

"In the first place, Miss Mercer here took a party of her Camp Fire
Girls, these same ones that you can see there so busy about gett