“Oh, maybe we’ll find her,” said Jack, more cheerfully.
“Say, I’ve just thought of something!” exclaimed Bert.
“What is it?” his chums asked him in a chorus.
“It’s this! That old hermit must have some sort of a boat. He never could get on the other side of the lake, where we are camped, and over here again as quickly as he does without crossing in a boat. I believe he must have some sort of a craft hidden in the river near the mill.”
Silence followed Bert’s advancement of his theory, and then Tom exclaimed:
“By Jove! old man, I believe you’re right. Why didn’t we think of that before? Of course he has a boat! He never could get around the way he does if he didn’t have. And it’s up to us to find it. Come on back. We’ll walk along the river bank until we get to the mill. Then we’ll look for the boat.”
Buoyed up by new hope, they started back, and, proceeding cautiously, they soon were below, and opposite, the ancient mill.
“It’ll be on this side,” decided Tom, “and probably hidden under some bushes. Look carefully, and don’t make much noise. We don’t want old Wallace to chase us again.”
The river was far enough below the old mill so that ordinary sounds made at the stream could not be heard at the structure. But still the boys were cautious. They kept a sharp lookout, too, for any sign of the old hermit.
Up and down the bank they went, peering under bushes, and in little coves formed by water eddies. Suddenly Jack cried out:
“Here it is, fellows! An old tub, but it’s got oars, and we can row to camp in it.”
They ran to where he stood beside an old skiff. It looked to be leaky and unsafe, but it was a boat, and they would have almost welcomed a wash-tub in their plight.
“Quick!” exclaimed Tom. “I think I hear someone coming. Get in and shove off.”
They lost no time in embarking, and, when they were afloat on the river, they found that the craft was better than she looked.
“I guess we can get to camp in this,” said Tom with a sigh of relief. “And, on our way, we may see the _Tag_.”
“If we’re not caught before we get into the lake,” spoke Jack grimly.
Apprehensively they looked in the direction of the old mill. All they heard was the rustle of the wind in the trees. The place seemed silent and deserted.