"What's the reason we can't stay here a while, then, and wait till the sea isn't quite so rough?" asked Mack, who evidently did not like the looks of the water between the point and the island, smooth as it was compared with the open lake. "How long do you suppose it will be before the men you heard in the road will be down this way?" demanded Angy, with his chronic sneer. "They may not be here at all. They will take it for granted that we don't go out on the lake in this weather; and it is a sensible view to take of it," added Mack. "But they were coming this way when you heard them; and you forget the plan I laid down to you yesterday afternoon," continued the chief, in a more persuasive tone. "We don't want any one to know that the party who did this job belong to the schooner. That would spoil all our plans, and expose us; and this is the last of the jobs we had on our hands." "All right, Angy," replied Mack, who seemed to be convinced by the argument. "But if we all get drowned in this scrape, we shall not make much headway in the fun you have laid out for us." [Illustration: "I TOLD YOU TO GO ON BOARD THE SCHOONER," ADDED ANGY.--PAGE 108.] "The sea isn't very rough off here; and as the wind has hauled more to the westward, we shall go before it, and keep out of the trough of it," Angy explained: and he seemed to be the authority in all nautical matters. "Just as you say, Angy. If the boat upsets, as it did before, we shall be just as comfortable in the water; and the wind will take us just where we want to go." The experience of the party in the water seemed to increase rather than diminish their confidence, for they had learned that the disaster of swamping the boat was not necessarily fatal. Near the shore the water was quite smooth, and the leader shoved the tender off. The two rowers gave way, and the boat moved away from the point. In a few moments it was in a rough sea; but the chief kept the craft exactly before it without regard to his destination, and it went along very well. It was not smooth sailing, and the boat jumped like a galloping horse. But the rowers were used to pulling in a heavy sea, though they had never been in one like that of the lake. Dory was sitting with his back to the course of the boat, and he watched the shore with the most intense interest. He was sure his uncle would send a party to find him; though the pursuers might follow the road for many miles, if they did not resort to the Indian craft which had been of so much assistance to him. Before the boat had made a fourth part of the distance it had to accomplish, it began to rain. It came down in torrents, though it could not make the party any wetter than they were already. It had rained all the first part of the night, and now it seemed like a smart shower which would soon be over. "This is just the thing we want," said Angy, in cheerful tones, and in much better humor than he had been at any time before.