away all by
himself in his boat, and the boys ran penitently over to him while the
girls danced after them joyfully.

"Oh, what a splendid boat!"

"Isn't she a beauty!"

"What good times you must have in her."

It was really an unusually handsome craft, and it was little wonder that
Paul regarded it with pride. He invited the girls on board, and they went
into raptures enough over it to satisfy even him.

It was a good fifty feet in length and had a cabin in which one could
stand up if one were not very tall. There were bunks running along both
sides of the cabin that looked like leather-cushioned divans in the
daytime and could be turned into the most comfortable of beds at night.

There was a galley "for'ard," too, where the boys cooked their rather
sketchy meals, and into this the girls poked eagerly curious heads.

"Oh, it's all just the completest thing I've ever seen!" cried Billie,
clapping her hands in delight while Paul looked at her happily. "Those
cunning curtains at the window and--everything!"

"My mother did that," Paul admitted sheepishly, as he followed the girls
out on the deck. "And I didn't like to take them down."

"Well, I should say you wouldn't take them down!" said Connie
indignantly. "The idea! Don't you dream of it! Why, they are just what
make the cabin!"

"But isn't this some deck! Did your mother do this too, Paul?" asked
Laura, her eyes traveling admiringly from the pretty wicker lounging
chairs to the gayly striped awning and brilliant deck rail that shown
like gold in the dazzling sun. "Why, Paul, I never knew a motor boat
could be so pretty and comfy."

"Say, but you ought to see her go!" put in Chet eagerly. "She's as fast a
little boat as she is pretty. Oh, she's great!"

"Yes, it almost makes me wish I had done some studying at school," said
Ferd Stowing, rubbing his head ruefully. "Maybe if I had my dad would
have given me an aeroplane or something."

After they had fastened the boat securely to the dock so that there was
no danger of its floating off they turned reluctantly away from the dock
and started off toward the Danvers' cottage.

Then the girls tried to tell the boys all that had happened since they
had last met and the boys tried to do the same, the result being hopeless
confusion and perfect happiness.

"Say, make believe that beach doesn't look good!" exclaimed Teddy to
Billie, for they had fallen a little behind the rest. "And the good old
ocean--say,