Part 7 (1/2)

”Hush, Mother! It is frozen over, you know He can come to no harm, I'm sure”

”Oh, Will, hurry! Do! Find my little baby!” cried the frantic mother

Will dashed on, followed by the others They kept their electric torches aglow, and could easily trace the line of tiny footsteps, since no other persons had passed down this way over the Billette property to the frozen Argono

A sound near the boathouse attracted Will, and he turned in that direction, seeing instinctively that the steps led there Then he saw a flash of light in the structure where, in addition to some craft owned by Mollie, was stored Betty's motor boat, the _Gem_

”Are you in there, Paul?” cried Will

They all waited anxiously for the answer

”Ess,” was the childish answer ”What oo want? I goin' way off in boat

I goin' be Robbyson Tuso”

”Oh, Paul!” reproached his mother But her voice showed relief

They pushed open the side door of the boat house, which had been left unlocked that day--inadvertently, it see soravely seated in the boat, which he had et into by means of a chair He had a lantern with him, taken, it developed, from where Isaac, the furnace man, had left it for athat he was Robinson Crusoe, starting off on a voyage

”Oh, Paul, how could you frighten ht him up ”You should be punished!”

”Pichure in o in boat

Betty no care--does oo?”

”No, dear, not about hty!” said Mollie, severely, ”and sister doesn't love you any hty Paul!”

The sensitive lip of the toddler began pursing outward, quivering His eyes filled with tears Then catching sight of Grace, ith the others, forh the gathering mist of tears and asked:

”Oo dot any tandy?”

And he laughed with the And no one re--that ti ain

Then Will went back with A Betty and Grace, who lived near each other The girls proain next day, but this was hardly necessary, since scarcely a day passed that they were not together--”inseparables,” they had been dubbed

Of course for the next few days little was talked of except the prospect of going to the winter camp From the parents of the three, tentative per s are none too strong,” Mr Ford had said to his wife, ”and the winter in the pine woods will do her good”