visited the boat while we
were asleep. Light the lamp, Jane, and we'll see if all our belongings
are safe."

Jane and Hazel made a rapid search about the boat while Harriet and
Miss Elting were dressing. Meanwhile Tommy and Margery sat on the edges
of their cots and conducted a spirited argument as to whether Tommy
really had seen a "fathe" at the window.

"All ready," called Harriet as she ran to where the rowboat was
fastened. Then she gave a little cry of alarm that brought Miss Elting
and the others to her side on the run.

"What is it, Harriet?" cried the guardian.

Harriet stood looking out over the water, a piece of rope in her hand.
"Some one has stolen our rowboat," she gasped. "See, the rope has been
cut."

"Then the Tramp Club must have come over here again in the night and
stolen it," decided Miss Elting. "Still that would hardly account for
the face Tommy saw at the window, and she is positive that she really
saw some one. I am inclined to think, however, that she had the
nightmare, and simply dreamed about that frightful face."

"I can't see that there is anything particularly clever or original
about stealing a rowboat in the dead of night," said Harriet slowly,
"and I don't believe that the boys would think so either. There is
something peculiar about this affair and I believe that the Tramp Club
have had nothing to do with this latest puzzle."

"That ith what I think," agreed Tommy. "It wathn't thothe boyth that
thcared me tho."

"Nothing has been stolen from the boat," declared Hazel, "so it looks as
though our midnight prowler vanished when he heard Tommy's first
scream."

"I'm going to mount guard for the rest of the night," announced Jane.
"It's half past two now, and by five o'clock it will be light. The rest
of you can go back to bed, and if any one else comes sneaking around
this boat, he'll have to come forward and state his business to Jane
McCarthy."

CHAPTER XVII

A STRANGE DISAPPEARANCE

It seemed to the tired girls as though they had hardly closed their eyes
when they heard Jane call out: "Seven o'clock. All hands on deck."

"I'm tho thleepy," murmured Tommy as she struggled into her clothes.

"I'm pretty near dead," growled Hazel. "I think I'll never get rested."

"Do let's hurry and have breakfast," pleaded Margery, "I'm so hungry."

"Chronic thtate," murmured Tommy.

"I don't have nightmares and wake every one up in the middle of the
night," retorted Marger