in.

"Did I hear you girls say you were going out?" she inquired.

"Just for a little trip on the water," replied Cora, signing to her
chums to keep silent. "It is so lovely with the moon, and we won't go
far."

It was not a great way to Denny's cabin.

"Well, don't be gone too long," cautioned the widow. "You must
remember that I am, in a way, responsible for you girls."

"Oh, we'll be careful," Cora promised. "We'd take Freda with us, but
perhaps she had better stay with you."

"Yes, I think so. Besides, she is so nervous after what nearly
happened last night, that I'd rather she wouldn't go out. Oh, if only
things were settled! If only we were sure we could get that property
back, and not have to worry about it being taken away from us!"

"Have they been annoying you of late?" asked Cora, thinking perhaps
there had been some developments of which she was unaware.

"No, nothing special, since that horrid woman. But it is a constant
worry to me."

"It must be," returned Cora, sympathetically. "Well, we will hope for
the best."

Cora did not say so--even to her chums, but she had great hopes that
something might develop from the events of this night. If the
unscrupulous men could only be caught in some wrong-doing a hold might
be obtained over them that would enable them to be defeated in court.
Thus their claim to the property--which claim Cora felt sure was a
false one--might be disproved.

That there were papers in existence which would show the widow and her
daughter to be the rightful owners Cora did not doubt. Freda's
grandfather, from all accounts, was a careful business man, if
eccentric in some ways. He would not have come into possession of
property without having the papers to prove his claim. And he was not
a man to put them in some safe deposit vault and leave no memorandum
as to finding the key.

Perhaps they were concealed in some nook or cranny in the widow's
home. Cora made up her mind to have a search made after this night was
over.

Then, too, Denny might be able to come upon them. Eccentric in some
ways, as Freda's grandfather had been, he might have hidden the papers
in Denny's cabin.

That was a new thought. Perhaps the scheming men knew this, and that
is why they wanted to attack the old fisherman.

"We simply must go to his cabin," decided Cora, "and find out what has
happened. I can't wait any longer."

Wraps were quickly donned, and down to the dock went the girls. The
_C