‘No, leave it there,’ said Tim. ‘If we drift into shallower water it will catch and hold us. Gosh, Pud, we can’t be more than eighty feet from that shore there. Think of the water being as deep as it is! Must go down mighty sudden, eh?’ ‘Yes, it must slope right off. Say, you’d get awfully fooled if you went in bathing over there and started to wade out, wouldn’t you?’ Tim agreed, with a shudder, that you would! ‘Gee, I wish it would stop raining――or something!’ continued Pud, staring disconsolately about him into the gathering twilight. ‘It’s going to get dark awfully early to-night, Tim. Maybe we’d better be thinking about something to eat pretty soon. We can have some canned beans――’ ‘Cold?’ asked Tim without enthusiasm. ‘Well, we can’t make a fire on board, can we? I say, though, where’s that stove of dad’s?’ ‘In the bag there, but you have to have alcohol for it, don’t you? And we haven’t got any, have we?’ ‘That’s so. I meant to get some, but forgot it. Well, we’ll just have to eat cold food for once. Unless’――he winked at Tim then――‘we let Harmon go ashore and cook something.’ ‘No, sir, Mister Pud, I ain’ goin’ to!’ wailed Harmon. ‘Mister Pud, please, sir, don’ you-all make me!’ ‘He’s just fooling,’ said Tim hastily. ‘I guess cold beans will be good enough. I’m not much hungry, anyway.’ ‘You will be before you go to bed,’ said Pud. ‘Harmon, you see what we’ve got to eat there. My goodness, I wish we could just have some hot tea! I’m wet right through.’ ‘It’s getting cooler, too,’ murmured Tim. ‘I’ll bet it’ll be awfully cold on this lake before morning, Pud. I wish――’ ‘I hears a boat!’ said Harmon in a hoarse whisper. ‘Yander, Mister Pud, up-lake! You lis’en an’――’ ‘Well, shut up so I can listen then. That’s right! I can hear the oars!’ ‘You reckon they’s bogey-mens?’ asked Harmon. ‘I hear voices,’ said Tim. ‘Shall we shout?’ ‘I guess we’d better wait,’ said Pud doubtfully. ‘They’re coming this way.’ The sound of oars was plainly heard now, and once or twice a voice came to them, but after listening for several minutes it was apparent that the boat was not coming toward them, but was crossing the lake, probably diagonally, a half-mile or so away, heading, it seemed, for the cypress shore. Once Pud thought he caught a momentary glimpse of the boat in the gray void, but he could not be certain. ‘We’d better shout, I guess,’ he said, and did so. For a space there was no response, although he shouted ‘Hallo!’ several times. Finally, though, a hail came back to them. ‘What you want?’ called an impatient voice. ‘Help,’ replied Pud promptly. ‘Our engine’s broken down and we want to get out of here!’ Another silence, as though the occupants of the boat were of two minds as to rendering the requested assistance. Then at last the voice spoke again, and the words sounded heavy with suspicion. ‘Who are you? What you doin’ up here?’