Taking heart, the two ladies went in its
direction, and, guided by Muggins, who came back to lead them, they
descended to a little bay with a sandy beach, where, in the skiff, sat
the woman they sought. She was neatly dressed, and wore a large straw
hat. When they greeted her, she showed no astonishment, but invited them
to enter the skiff and see the pretty place she had back there. Miss Du
Plessis hardly cared to accept the invitation, but the curiosity of the
older lady was aroused and she pressed her companion to comply. Bringing
the bow of the skiff into the shore, Matilda told them to enter the boat
and walk back to the stern. When they had taken their seats, the stern
was depressed, and the bow floated clear of the sand. Then, with every
motion of an accomplished oarswoman, she rowed the skiff along the
shore, altogether out of sight of the other picnickers in scow and on
pier. After a few strokes, she told her companions to lower their heads,
and, ducking her own, shot the boat through what had seemed a solid bank
of foliage, but which was a naturally concealed channel, out into one of
the loveliest little lakes eye ever rested upon.
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