y, "even if I do get hungry sometimes."

"My nightmare wath utheful, Buthter," returned Tommy calmly. "It helped
uth to dithcover that our boat wath gone. But your appetite ithn't the
leatht bit utheful, not even to yourthelf."

"I'll never speak to you again, Tommy Thompson," declared Buster
wrathfully.

"That maketh me feel very thad, Buthter," replied Tommy sarcastically.

Breakfast was prepared and eaten in record time that morning. Then the
dishes were speedily washed and put away. The Tramp Club's camp showed
no activity until after eight o'clock, when the smoke from their cook
fire was observed curling up through the foliage on the shore of the
Island of Delight. A long-drawn "Hoo-oo-oo" from the camp told the girls
that they had been observed by some of the boys.

Before nine o'clock the launch put out and sailed rapidly over to the
"Red Rover."

"We didn't come to call. We just ran over to see what time you wished to
go for a sail?" asked Billy Gordon.

"Come right on board, boys. We finished our work shortly after daylight
this morning. You see we are early risers," replied Miss Elting.

The lads needed no urging. They hopped to the after deck of the
houseboat. But no sooner had they come aboard than they perceived that
something was amiss. George glanced at Harriet inquiringly.

"What's the matter with you girls, this morning?" he asked lamely.

"We had considerable excitement here last night. We were visited by
pirates," said the guardian.

The boys flushed guiltily.

"But that is not all," added Jane McCarthy. "We were visited later in
the night by a real thief."

"Wha--at!" gasped George, somehow feeling that they were involved.

"We will tell you all about it. Come upstairs, where we can sit down in
comfort and talk. Perhaps we may ask you to assist us in finding the
thief," said Miss Elting.

The boys followed the girls to the upper deck, and after they had seated
themselves Miss Elting related what had happened. "Now, boys," she
concluded, "have you the remotest idea as to who could have taken the
boat?"

For a moment George stared at the guardian in silence, then he said
gravely, "Perhaps you think, Miss Elting, that one of us sneaked over
here last night. I'll admit that we did play pirates, and got the worst
of it, but none of our fellows left camp after we got back from that
pirate trip. There is something strange about this, and it looks to me
as though you had a really maliciou