"I'll pay you when we get to land," said Jack to the boatman, "I
have no money in my bathing suit."
"Well, see that you do," said the man in a rough voice. "I'm not
goin' to leave my work to tow a couple of sports just for the fun of
it."
"Oh you'll get paid all right," Jack assured him, "and so will the
fellow who stole our boat--when we catch him."
"I'll chip in for that," said Walter. "Never saw such a trick.
Hello Bess, also howdy Belle. My, isn't it fine to be rescued from
a desert island by three pretty girls?"
"Wallie! Wallie. There's a stranger aboard," warned Cora.
"Oh yes, this is Ben--Ben--"
"Just Ben," interrupted the man at the wheel, with a chuckle.
"But he has been so kind," added Cora. "Only for him we should
never have found out where you were."
"If you hadn't taken us off that old sieve," put in Ed, "I think we
would soon have had to swim back to the island. We never could have
made the shore in that thing, neither could we swim that distance."
"S'long Jim!" called Ben, as the old rowboat was sent off in the
darkness.
"See, he isn't balin' her now," he told the boys.
"How's that?" all asked in chorus.
"Oh, that's a great boat--leaks to order," replied Ben, as he turned
over the fly wheel and Cora's craft shot swiftly away from the
island.
The boys were too busy talking to the girls, and the latter were too
busy asking questions, to go further into the matter of the leaking
boat, but Cora did not fail to notice that the craft must have
"leaked to order.
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