The Meadow-Brook Girls Afloat Part 11

"It broke, all right. Will you show me where you made it fast last night?"

Harriet led the way to the forward deck of the "Red Rover," pointing to a hard wood cleat.

"I made a loop in the rope and slipped it over the cleat, drawing it tight. I do not see how it would be possible for the loop to slip off, nor, in fact, for the rope to break."

"Hm-m-m-m!" pondered George, feeling the cleat with critical fingers.

"Smooth. No chance for it to have worn through. There is something to be explained in this affair, Miss Burrell."

Harriet gazed searchingly at him, but said nothing.

"I wish you would have a look at the rope. It's there on the sh.o.r.e.

Then, after you have examined it, tell me what you think about the matter, but tell me just whatever you wish to. I'm not going to question you about something you don't wish me to know."

"What do you mean, Captain?"

"Have you any enemies up here?"

"I do not know of any. I have a rival here, though."

"Eh? Who?"

"You," answered Harriet, with a smile.

"Oh!" Captain Baker flushed, then he laughed heartily. "That was last summer. You beat us fairly. Of course we wanted to win the race home, and so did you, but you won it fairly and squarely, and that's all there was about it. We got you into trouble by stealing the melons and giving them to you, but honestly, we didn't mean to have the farmer hold you responsible."

"We owe you something for telling George's fortune," laughed Sam.

"Then pay your debts," retorted Harriet.

"Don't you do anything of the sort, boys," warned Jane. "You know what will happen to you, if you do."

"What will happen?" demanded Baker, turning to Crazy Jane.

"Oh, that would be telling. We should be even with you before we had finished, you know. Girls are always more resourceful than boys."

"I don't agree with you," retorted George Baker.

"Do you wish us to prove it to you?" asked Harriet laughingly.

"I'll give you a chance to fail," returned George. "As long as we're going to spend our vacations on this lake we'll give you girls a chance to prove your superiority as strategists. I'll wager you a No. 2 Brownie Camera, to be the joint property of whichever side wins it, that the Tramp Club can completely outwit the Meadow-Brook Girls three times inside of three weeks. What do you say?"

"Shall we accept the challenge, Miss Elting?" asked Harriet. "What do you say, girls?"

"Done!" chorused the girls and their guardian.

"Very well," smiled Harriet. "The contest begins now, and of course all unfair tricks are to be barred out by both sides."

"Of course," agreed George. "But come along and have a look at the rope."

Harriet stepped briskly ash.o.r.e, followed by Jane and the two boys. She went directly to where the rope and the anchor lay. Picking up the former she ran it through her hands until she came to the loop that had been drawn about the cleat on the deck when the boat had been anch.o.r.ed on the previous afternoon. The Meadow-Brook Girl held the loop on the palm of her left hand, gazing at the rope reflectively. She frowned slightly as she looked at it.

"Well, what do you find?" questioned the captain briskly.

Harriet glanced up at him quickly.

"I understand," she said.

"What is it, Harriet, dear?" asked Miss Elting.

"Oh, what a mess!" muttered Jane, who had been looking over Harriet's shoulder. "Here's more trouble for the Meadow-Brook Girls, and trouble for somebody besides them, too."

"You can see for yourself," replied Harriet, handing the end of the rope to the guardian.

"The loop has been cut!" exclaimed Miss Elting.

Harriet nodded.

"It has, indeed," agreed Jane.

Miss Elting and Harriet Burrell exchanged significant glances. George Baker observed the looks. He nodded to Billy. Larry Goheen winked wisely.

"There is something behind this business then, Miss Elting?" asked the captain.

"I don't mind admitting that there is, Mr. Baker," answered the guardian. "What do you say, girls, shall we tell the boys?" she inquired, turning to her wards.

"If you think best," agreed Harriet.

"Surely. Tell them. Maybe they'll be able to catch the rascal," urged Jane McCarthy.

"This is not the first time we have been troubled by some person who wishes to annoy us," Miss Elting informed the Tramp Club. "Before we began to live on the boat, and while we were getting it ready for occupancy, some person did the same thing. That is, he cut the rope and cast the boat adrift. It was anch.o.r.ed at Johnson's dock. Perhaps you do not know where that is."

"I know," spoke up Billy. "It's about two miles above here. That's where we landed to-day, George."

Captain Baker nodded.

"How do you know they cast the 'Red Rover' adrift?" he asked.

"The rope had been cut," replied Harriet Burrell. "It was just as Miss Elting has told you. The anchor rope had been cut cleanly with a sharp knife. This time the loop, instead of the rope, has been cut."

"I thought you said you had no enemies," observed Sam Crocker.

"Nor have we, as far as we know," answered the guardian.

"I don't know what you would call the person who did this, then. This is all the more reason why you should anchor near our camp."

"Oh, no. We are perfectly able to take care of ourselves," smiled Miss Elting. "Experiences such as these aid in making us self-reliant."

"Have you a revolver on board?" questioned Gordon.