tty, excitedly, "come on,
Bertha."

The two girls rushed along the narrow rough beach, wildly waving their
handkerchiefs at the occupants of the boat.

"It's Mr. Hepworth," cried Patty, though the knowledge seemed to come to
her intuitively, even before she recognised the man who held the stroke
oar.

"And Winthrop is rowing, too," said Bertha, recognising her brother, "and
I think that's Kenneth Harper, steering."

By this time the boat was near enough to prove that these surmises were
correct.

Relieved of her anxiety, mischievous Patty, in the reaction of the
moment, assumed a saucy and indifferent air, and as the boat crunched its
keel along the pebbly beach she called out, gaily, "How do you do, are
you coming to call on us? We're camping here for the summer."

"You little rascals!" cried Winthrop Warner. "What do you mean by running
away in this fashion, and upsetting the whole bazaar, and driving all
your friends crazy with anxiety about you?"

"Our boat drifted away," said Bertha, "and we couldn't catch it, and we
thought we'd have to stay here all night."

"I didn't think we would," said Patty. "I felt sure somebody would come
after us."

"I don't know why you thought so," said Winthrop, "for nobody knew where
you were."

"I know that," said Patty, smiling, "and yet I can't tell you why, but I
just felt sure that somebody would come in a boat, and carry us safely
home."

"Whom did you expect?" asked Kenneth, "me?"

Patty looked at Kenneth, and then at Mr. Hepworth, and then dropping her
eyes demurely, she said:

"I didn't know _who_ would come, only I just knew _somebody_ would."

"Well, somebody did," said Kenneth, as he stowed the great bunches of
goldenrod in the bow of the boat.

"Yes, somebody did," said Patty, softly, flashing a tiny smile at Mr.
Hepworth, who said nothing, but he smiled a little, too, as he bent to
his oars.

CHAPTER XXII

THE BAZAAR OF ALL NATIONS

"How did you know where we were?" said Bertha to her brother.

"We didn't know," said Winthrop, "but after we had hunted everywhere, and
put a squad of policemen on your track, and got out the fire department,
and sent for an ambulance, Hepworth, here, did a little detective work on
his own account."

"What did you do?" asked Patty.

"Why, nothing much," said Mr. Hepworth, "I just tried to account for the
various boats, and when I found one was missing, I thought you must have
gone on the water somewhere.