Tommy uttered a scream.  Margery followed suit and their cries had been heard by the returning ghost party.  The man did not tarry to see who had screamed.  He sprang into the creek, where, pushing his canoe ahead of him, he ran down the stream.  He had then leaped in and had given the paddle the first swift sweep when discovered by Harriet and her party.

Miss Elting was really alarmed when she heard their story.  She decided to sit up all night and watch.  Jane and Harriet kept watch with her.  They did not retire until daylight, after which they got a few hours of sleep.  Then came a late breakfast and the preparations for departure.  They were going back to the other side of the lake, where they intended to tie up at their old anchorage near the main camp of the Tramp Club.

After dragging the houseboat out and finding a suitable anchorage, Harriet rowed over to the mainland.  Running up to the farmhouse she telephoned to the nearest town for a launch to come down and give them a tow.  Billy Gordon and his motor boat were not on hand for the purpose this morning.

When about eleven o’clock a launch came down the coast in search of them the wind had risen and the lake was rough.  It was an old boat and did not look as though it could stand much weather.  The man running the boat said there was rather a stiff sea on the other side of the island, but he thought he could make it.  Miss Elting said she would give him five dollars if he would take them across.  He made fast to the “Red Rover” and started.

Once they had rounded the island they did not think the waves would be very high.  Being protected by a point of land they did not get the full force of the wind.  Nor did they realize what a chance they had taken until they had gotten well out into the lake.  There the gale struck them with full force.  Harriet grew really alarmed.  She feared the “Red Rover” was not strong enough to stand up under it.  Margery was seasick and the others also felt the effects of the gale.

The “Red Rover” was now pitching more violently than ever.  Jane was gazing at the launch wide-eyed, expecting every moment to see it take a dive, not to come up again.  Everything movable in the “Red Rover’s” cabin was being hurled about.  The oil stove long since had tipped over, glass was being smashed, dishes broken, pieces of each of these were rattling over the floor.  Miss Elting decided that they would be better off outside.

Harriet protested against their going on the upper deck, saying that they might be blown off into the lake.  Jane was protecting herself by clinging to a rope.  The awning suddenly ballooned and went up into the air, taking some of the awning posts with it.  Miss Elting had no further desire to go up on deck after that.  With her charges she kept close to the deck house, where they shielded themselves from the wind as much as possible.

“He’s turning round,” shouted Jane, with hands to lips.