“There's a motorcycle coming!” cried Sister, jumping up and looking all around. There was a bend in the river below this bottom, and another above; so they could not see far in either direction unless they climbed to the high ground. For a minute Hiram could not tell in which direction the sound was coming; but he knew the steady put-put-put must be the exhaust of a motor-boat. It soon poked its nose around the lower turn. It was a good-sized boat and instantly Hiram recognized at least one person aboard. Miss Lettie Bronson, in a very pretty boating costume, was in the bow. There were half a dozen other girls with her--well dressed girls, who were evidently her friends from the St. Beris school at Scoville. “Oh, oh! what a pretty spot!” cried Lettie, on the instant. “We'll go ashore here and have our luncheon, girls.” She did not see Hiram and Sister for a moment; but the latter tugged at Hiram's sleeve. “I've seen that girl before,” she whispered. “She came in the carriage with the man who spoke to you--you remember? She asked me if I had always lived in the country, and how I tore my frock.” “Isn't she pretty?” returned Hiram. “Awfully. But I'm not sure that I like her yet.” Suddenly Lettie saw Hiram and the girl beside him. She started, flushed a little, and then gave Hiram a cool little nod and turned her gaze from him. Her manner showed that he was not “down in her good books,” and the young fellow flushed in turn. “I don't know as we'd better try to make the bank here, Miss,” said the man who was directing the motor-boat. “The current's mighty sharp.” “I want to land here,” said Lettie, decidedly. “It's the prettiest spot we've seen--isn't it, girls?” Her friends agreed. Hiram, casting a quick eye over the ruffled surface of the river, saw that the man was right. How well the stream below was fitted for motor-boating he did not know; but he was pretty sure that there were too many ledges just under the surface here to make it safe for the boat to go farther. “I intend to land here-right by that big tree!” commanded Lettie Bronson, stamping her foot. “Well, I dunno,” drawled the man; and just then the bow of the boat swung around, was forced heavily down stream by the current, and slam it went against a reef! The man shot off the engine instantly. The bow of the boat was lodged on the rock, and tip-tilted considerably. The girls screamed, and Lettie herself was almost thrown into the water, for she was standing. CHAPTER XVII. MR. PEPPER APPEARS But Hiram noted again that Lettie Bronson did not display terror. While her friends were screaming and crying, she sat perfectly quiet, and for a minute said never a word. “Can't you back off?” Hi heard her ask the boatman. “Not without lightening her, Miss. And she may have smashed a plank up there, too. I dunno.”