Then the boys came.  The half-breed stood scowling after them as they hurried away.  At this juncture the “caw” of a crow was heard again.  He started slightly, bent his head and listened, but there was no repetition of the signal, for which Crazy Jane McCarthy was devoutly thankful.  It was plain that he knew it was not a crow, that he understood it to be a signal of some sort.

The half-breed suddenly turned, starting toward the shore of the lake at a brisk pace, worming his way through the bushes with almost no disturbance at all, even at the swift pace he was keeping up.

Jane had lost her fear now.  The boys had gone on out of sight and sound and the intruder was hurrying toward the lake.  The girl, however, did not dare to run.  She feared to meet the Indian, so she crept along cautiously.  It was but a short distance to the shore of the lake.  She reached there after having followed the Indian’s trail.  Jane was just in time to see the fellow launching a canoe.  It was a dark green boat, showing long and hard usage.

The fellow leaped in and sent the boat well out into the lake with a single stroke of the paddle, after which he glided up the lake, keeping close in shore under the partial protection of the foliage.  Fortunately Jane had thrown herself down again immediately on seeing him, else he might have caught sight of her.  That he was a man experienced in the woods, as well as on the water, was plain to be seen.  She watched him out of sight, then hurried back to the spot where she had met with disaster and gave the crow signal.  It was not much of a success.  She repeated it and did better.  Jane called several times.  Then she jumped clear off the ground at the sound of a voice behind her.

“Jane McCarthy!  What are you doing here?”

“Harriet!”

“Yes, it’s I. But what on earth have you been doing?”

“Di—­did you see the man?” gasped Jane.

“Wait a moment.  I don’t understand you.  What is it about a man?”

“I—­I was in the tree there when the boys came back.  I heard them coming and climbed the tree to hide.”

“I was doing the same thing.”

“I—­I fell out of the tree—­”

“Gracious!  They didn’t discover you, did they?  I heard them shouting and running, and wondered what they had discovered.”

“No.  I dived into those bushes and lay down.  Just then a man appeared.  He looked to me like an Indian.  He is a dangerous man, Harriet.  When the boys came up and found him standing here you ought to have seen the expressions on their faces.  Oh, it was funny.”

“Which way did he go?” questioned Harriet eagerly.  She was not laughing now.  Another idea had occurred to her.

“Down to the lake.  I followed him and saw him get into his canoe and paddle away.”

“A canoe, did you say?”

“Yes.  It was an old thing, but, my goodness, how it could go!  And the man paddled without making a sound.  I never saw any one handle a canoe like that.”