"Golly, the water's black. Look! Did you see that fish jump? Look around, the camp-fire looks good from here. Believe me, the autumn is the time to camp. We're in luck. I love, I love, I love my lessons, but oh you little island!" "Ditto." "We're set till Columbus Day." "You mean Election Day. Gee, your oar touched bottom, here we are. I'll row back." They pulled the boat up and started for the shack. Fido reached it first and called excitedly, "It's open! The car's gone!" "Stop your fooling," called Nick. "I'm not fooling, come and look for yourself, hurry up, the car's gone." They stood in the big open doorway in gaping amazement. They walked in, too dumfounded to speak, and when they did speak their voices sounded strange to each other within the dark, empty confines of those old dried board walls. "Somebody must have broken in through the small door," said Fido. "It's closed and locked," said his companion. "How about the fastening on the big one?" "It's all O.K.; nobody's been breaking in, that's sure." "You don't mean to tell me S.N. would lock the small door and then come away leaving the big one open, do you?" Nick asked incredulously. "Well, what then?" his comrade retorted with greater incredulity. "If both doors were closed and fastenings are all right now, could anybody get the car out? They left the big door open--that's what they did." "They never did that," said Nick; "look here, here's a fresh finger print on the door--you can smell the oil on it. Here, wait till I light another match. S.N. did what he always does, he opened the hood and turned on the oil pet-cock and fussed around and then pulled the door shut. Someone must have been inside this place before they got back." Fido Norton was by this time on his knees outside the larger door. "Here are footprints," said he; "two, three,--here's another one. Give me another match." "Those were made by our own fellows," said Nick, inspecting the ground, half interested. "Can't you see they were made by scout shoes? Do you think a boy scout stole the car? Here are some others, too, S.N.'s, and Safety First's, I suppose." "Why should they step outside the big door?" Norton asked. "These are fresh footprints, all of them. After they got through, they'd go out through the small door wouldn't they? This print, and this one, and this one," he said, holding a match, "were made by scout shoes--_to-night_, not an hour ago." "All the fellows except us two are in camp," said Nick. "All right," Fido Norton shot back, "they might all be at the North Pole, but these prints were made by scout shoes _to-night_. That's what I'm telling you." "All right," said Nick with a tolerant sneer in his voice, "the car was stolen by a boy scout, probably a tenderfoot. Maybe it was stolen by a girl scout--" "No, they're scout shoe prints," said Norton, ignoring his friend's sarcasm, "and they're not an hour old, not a half hour, that's what I think."