up here with a message from your brother, and claimed the
boat, I had to let you have it. If Charlie had paid any money, I would
have refunded it to him; but as he hadn't paid a cent there was nothing
to do but to turn the boat over to you."

"And you left us in ignorance of all this, when the knowledge of it
might have saved us much trouble, let alone the danger we ran and the
final loss of the boat?" Miss Elting asked accusingly.

"Well, you see, it was hard to explain," replied Dee Dickinson
reluctantly. "At any rate, at the time I thought it would be hard to
explain, so I let it go without telling you. I tried to make it all
clear to Charlie that, having paid no money, he had no claim on the
boat, but you can't explain a thing like that to an Indian. So Charlie
wouldn't listen to anything I could say. The half-breed isn't right in
his head, anyway, I'm inclined to think."

"So, without warning, you left us at the mercy of a possibly insane
Indian?" Miss Elting persisted. "Mr. Dickinson, you have acted in a very
cowardly fashion toward women who had been sent here believing that they
were to be in a measure under your protection. You should be compelled
to suffer for it. I shall write to my brother at once and tell him just
what sort of man you are."

Dickinson cringed at Miss Elting's severe words and fairly slunk from
the guardian's presence at the close of the interview.

The village constable and one of his men returned to the camp with Miss
Elting and the boys to take charge of the Indian. He was locked up for a
few days by the authorities at Wantagh, then subjected to a rigid
examination by a medical board, and being pronounced insane, was sent
away to one of the state institutions for the demented.

The Meadow-Brook Girls and Miss Elting said good-bye to the Tramp Club
that evening and spent the night at the village hotel.

"We've had a fine time at any rate," said Jane McCarthy as they
discussed all over again the exciting happenings of the day before, at
breakfast the next morning. "Where are we going next? Vacation isn't
half over yet."

"Why we're going home, aren't we?" asked Harriet, turning to Miss
Elting.

"Not so you could notice it!" exclaimed Jane slangily. "That is not if
Miss Elting will listen to my plan. Promise me you'll do as I ask, Miss
Elting."

"I never make rash promises," laughed Miss Elting. "Tell us what you
wish to do and then we'll see about it."

"I want to take you all