In days gone by Percy had been very insipid, his mind entirely on his clothes; now he had become a sport, and the report was that he caroused around not a little. Betty turned to the youth with a decided little shake of her head, though her eyes were smiling. "I think we shall have to go right back," she said. "It looks as though it were going to rain. Thank you just as much," and she began to ease her motor boat gently away from the other craft. "Oh, I say," Percy cried, disappointedly and a little angrily, for out of the corner of his eye he could see that his friend was laughing at him, "we would only keep you for a moment or two. You needn't be afraid of us. We won't bite, you know." "We don't know you well enough to be sure even of that," said Mollie, coming suddenly and flippantly into the conversation. But Percy took not the slightest notice of her and, as Betty was slowly but surely widening the distance between the _Gem_ and his boat, he leaned forward eagerly. "Betty, let me see you some time. How about to-morrow night?" And because Betty was always kind to every one and was sorry for Mollie's flippant speech, she said, quite unexpectedly, even to herself, "All right." Then she turned the _Gem_ around and started for home, conscious that her chums were gazing at her in speechless amazement. "Betty!" cried Grace, horrified. "You are never going to let Percy Falconer come to see you, are you?" But Betty turned on her irritably. She was tired and nervous and angry at herself for having anything to do with that conceited dude, Percy Falconer. "You heard me say he could come, didn't you?" she said in response to Grace's incredulous question, Amy's wide-eyed stare, and Mollie's grin. "And if you are going to ask me why I said so," she added desperately, "I'm not going to tell you. And if anybody speaks to me before I get back to the dock, I'll--wreck 'em, that's all." The girls exchanged glances and wisely decided to change the subject, for the present at least. For the time they had plenty to do anyway, just watching out that somebody else did not run into them! By the time they reached comparatively clear water they were all tired and they were glad for once when the _Gem_ scraped against the home dock and the "cruise" was over. "Well," said Mollie as they climbed on to the dock, "we surely did have some excitement, but we didn't get what we started out for after all." "What's that?" asked Grace, as she tied the ribbon round her candy box and adjusted her hat at a more becoming angle. "Ice-cream and a drink of ice water," said Mollie ruefully. "I've just remembered that I am dying of thirst." "Come on around to my house," Betty invited. Her wrist was lame from gripping the wheel so hard and she felt it gingerly. "Mother said she would make a big pitcher of lemonade for us and leave it in the refrigerator."