“The kind of a knot I made doesn’t come loose,” declared Tom, and his chums knew he was seaman enough to make this a certainty. “Then someone has taken her!” declared Bert. “Someone has stolen your boat, Tom. We’re stranded!” CHAPTER XVII AN ANXIOUS SEARCH For several seconds the chums stared at each other in silence. Then Tom burst out with: “Well, wouldn’t that rattle your teeth!” “I should say yes,” chimed in Bert. “There’s no doubt but that she’s gone,” said Jack, slowly. “You don’t need a map to make that plain,” explained Tom, with a sickly grin. “But what makes you think someone took her?” asked Dick, who, perhaps, did not arrive at conclusions as quickly as did the others. “I can’t account for it in any other way,” went on Tom. “The engine couldn’t start itself, that’s sure. I have known it to start on compression, when it was feeling real good, and had had a fine night’s sleep, but those times were few and far between. Besides it would take someone to throw the switch even then. And I know she didn’t drift away, for I had a new bowline on her, and I took particular pains with the knot I tied.” “Then she’s been taken away,” decided Jack. “And the next question is; who took her?” put in Bert. “And the following one is; what are we going to do?” added Dick. “Two pretty hard propositions,” commented Tom grimly. “I fancy we can answer the first question easily enough.” “How?” asked Jack quickly. “Whom do you think took your boat?” “Who else but Sam Heller and Nick Johnson?” retorted Tom quickly. “They’re prowling around this neighborhood with Mr. Skeel, and, though we haven’t seem ’em lately I’ve no doubt that they are around here. Very likely they came past here and, seeing my boat, knew her at once. They hopped into her, and made off.” “I believe you’re right,” agreed Jack. “The sneaks! I wish I could get hold of ’em now! I’d settle with ’em, game leg or not. I wonder which way they went?” “Down the river, and out into the lake, naturally,” declared Bert. “They didn’t pass us as we were legging it away from old Wallace.” “Yes, I guess that’s right,” assented Tom. “Which brings us to the second question,” remarked Dick. “What’s that?” asked Jack. “What are we going to do? How are we going to get back to camp?” “And it’s a mighty serious question,” said Tom grimly. “It will soon be dark, and if we don’t get back--well--” He shrugged his shoulders, and they all knew what he meant. They would have to spend the night in the woods, supperless. Not a very pleasant prospect, to say the least. “Well, let’s have a hunt for the boat,” proposed Jack after a pause. “Maybe we can get a sight of those fellows if they’re in her, and if we do--” “Well, what?” asked Tom significantly. “We’ll swim out and take her away from ’em.” Tom shook his head. “Not much chance of that,” he said. “The _Tag_ would walk right away from the best swimmer among us.”