"Fellows, come out here!" he shouted. "Hurry up!"

"What's the matter?" asked George Baker, hurrying out of the tent, the other members of the Tramp Club at his heels.

"Look!" gasped Billy, pointing toward the "Red Rover." "What do you make of that?"

"Why--why--" stammered George Baker. Then he uttered a sudden cry of alarm. "By George, she's on fire. That scamp has sneaked in and set fire to the boat under our very noses. I'm positive that he did it. Pile into the launch with all the pails you can find and let's get out there. That villain must have swum over, climbed aboard, and set fire to the side of the boat away from the sh.o.r.e. That's why we didn't notice the smoke when she first began to burn."

By the time they were on their way toward the doomed houseboat the fire had made tremendous headway. Being an old boat, the "Red Rover" burned like kindling. It seemed to be fairly wrapped in flames.

"It's no use," groaned George. "She'll be gone inside of the next five minutes. We can't save the boat or anything on board. I'm thankful the girls were all on sh.o.r.e. That villain must have watched them go, and then swam out here. If he'd paddled out in his canoe this morning we'd have seen him. Don't go too near her, fellows. She's likely to collapse any minute."

"Look out! She's going!" exclaimed Larry Goheen. A moment later the whole top of the unwieldy boat fell in, while the flames attacked the hull with renewed fury.

When the Meadow-Brook Girls returned to the sh.o.r.e of the lake, that afternoon, well laden with the fruits of their shopping, they were met by the members of the Tramp Club, who looked unduly solemn. One glance at their grave faces and Harriet cried out apprehensively, "What on earth has happened to you, boys?"

"We're all right," stammered George, "but the 'Red Rover'--well, it is--"

The Meadow-Brook Girls all looked involuntarily in the direction of where the "Red Rover" had lain that morning.

"Why--why--where is our boat?" faltered Miss Elting.

Then George poured forth the story of the morning's disaster, while the girls listened in consternation to the recital of the way in which the houseboat had been set fire to and sunk.

"Of course that half-breed did it," concluded George, "and now that we've told you all about it, we are going to start out after him. I'll wager he's somewhere around this lake yet."

"I shall go back to the village at once and put the matter in the hands of the constable," declared Miss Elting. "I shall also see Dee d.i.c.kinson. I hold him indirectly responsible for all the disagreeable things that have happened to us, and for this, too."

"Wait until to-night before you do anything about it," begged George.

"Give the Tramp Club a chance to distinguish themselves. If we don't get our man by six o'clock to-night, then put the matter in the hands of the authorities. In the meantime, won't you accept our hospitality for the day? We offer you the use of our camp while we go out on a man hunt."

After some further conversation Miss Elting reluctantly agreed to the boys' plan, and after considerable mourning over the lost "Red Rover,"

the girls settled themselves in the camp of the tramps to await the return of the boys.

"It looks as though we would have to go back to Meadow-Brook a little sooner than we expected, girls," declared Miss Elting.

"I'd rather go home than thtay around where there are crathy Indianth,"

retorted Tommy. "Thuppothe we had been on that boat when it thank."

"We wouldn't have been so foolish as to stay on it if it had been sinking," laughed Harriet. "Besides all of us can swim. Our enemy took good care to set fire to the boat when we weren't on it."

"I wonder what his object is in persecuting us so," mused Hazel. "None of us have ever harmed him."

"Ask Dee d.i.c.kinson," advised Jane dryly.

"We certainly shall do so, this very night," returned Miss Elting, with compressed lips.

Meanwhile the Tramp Club had pursued what bade fair to be a fruitless quest. Search as they might they could find no trace of their quarry.

Late in the afternoon the launch reached the entrance to the hidden creek where the "Red Rover" had recently lain snug and secure.

"This is certainly an ideal hiding place," declared George, as he scanned the bank on both sides. "I don't wonder--"

He was interrupted by an excited shout from Larry, who had also been keeping a sharp lookout. "There he goes!" he yelled.

A long dark green canoe had shot out from under an overhanging ledge of rock. The sole occupant was paddling with swift, noiseless strokes toward the mouth of the creek, intent on reaching the lake and making his escape.

"It's the half-breed!" yelled Larry excitedly.

"He's been hiding up here waiting for night to come. He thought that we didn't know about this place. Now that we've hunted him down, he's trying to make a quick get-away. Once out of the creek he can give us the slip. Fellows, we've got to get him!"

Billy, who was at the wheel, began backing the launch toward the mouth of the creek. Not for an instant did the boys lose sight of their man, and the moment the boat reached open water it was sent ahead at full speed. Soon they began to gain on the fugitive, who was paddling with a speed little short of marvelous.

"Hold on there!" shouted George. "We've got you anyway. You might as well surrender!"

The man in the canoe refused to halt at command, but continued to paddle desperately, until Billy deliberately ran him down. An instant later George was holding on to their captive with an iron grip.

"Shut down. I've got him!" he yelled. Billy obeyed, and the half-breed was hauled into the launch, kicking and struggling furiously.

"Get a rope," commanded George. "There's a coil of it in the bow of the launch."

Five minutes later the Indian was lying in the bottom of the boat tied beyond all possibility of escape, and the boys were triumphantly heading for camp.

"We've got the Indian!" yelled Larry to the little group on sh.o.r.e as the launch neared the landing in front of the Tramp Club's camp.

"We've been watching for you," called Harriet. "We saw you when you were away up the lake. Have you really got him?"

"Indeed we have, and tied so that he'd have hard work getting away,"

laughed Gordon.

"What shall we do with him?" asked Larry as they bore the Indian ash.o.r.e in triumph.

"Stand him up against that tree for the present," ordered George, then grimly wound coil after coil of rope around the half-breed, securing him with many a hard knot. At last George stood back to survey his work with admiration.

"I'd like to see even an Indian get out of that harness," Baker remarked complacently.

Harriet and Jane walked over to the tree and looked searchingly at the captive. Both recognized him as the man they had seen while the "Red Rover" lay hidden in the creek.

"Larry and I are going up to the village at once to notify the authorities," announced George. "We want to get rid of this fellow as soon as possible."

"And I am going with you," announced Miss Elting firmly, "to hunt up Mr.

Dee d.i.c.kinson. He knows all about this man and the time has arrived for him to tell me the truth."

d.i.c.kinson at first refused flatly to give Miss Elting any satisfaction concerning the Indian.

"Then I shall have you arrested as a suspicious character, also,"

declared Miss Elting sternly. "Unless you give me a full explanation of this whole affair I shall have you taken in custody by the authorities.