Of course, Laura was an exception to the others. Jess and Bobby were to a degree disturbed over the mystery of the young man who had visited the camp on two occasions, and about their unexpected discovery of Professor Dimp's presence on Acorn Island.

But it was Mother Wit who had thought out the true significance of these mysterious happenings. She had reason to believe that the "Mr. Norman" whom Lizzie Bean had talked about—and the man who had frightened the same Lizzie and robbed the camp of food—and the Norman Halliday who was wanted by the sheriff for the robbery of the Merchants and Miners Bank of Albany, was one and the same person.

Not alone that, but he was camping on this island, without a permit from the Rocky River Lumber Company; and his companion was their own respected, if not well-liked, Professor Dimp.

Certainly the old professor could have had nothing to do with the robbery of the bank; nor could he have reaped any benefit by such crime. Laura was sure that the old professor was perfectly honest and respectable.

He was surely not camping against his will, with the strange young man who had saved Short and Long from the farmer's savage dog. Professor Dimp must have some deep interest in him.

Laura, too, could not believe the young man with the gun to be a criminal of the character the newspapers had given the thief and forger who had betrayed his employers in the bank.

"That young man has a good face. If Lizzie's story is true, too, he has a good heart. And he was quick to act to-day when he saved Billy Long; he took a chance for a stranger, when it was unwise for him to show himself.

"There is a mystery about him. The professor would not be with the young man if he were bad—oh! I am sure of that," concluded Laura.

This discussion Laura carried on in her mind. She did not take even Jess into her inmost confidence, and Chet—of course—went back to the mainland with the rest of the boys, when bedtime came.

Poor old Professor Dimp! He had ever been the butt for his careless pupils' pranks. His eccentricities, his absent-mindedness, and his devotion to what Bobby called "the dead parts of speech" had made him an object of the pupils' dislike and a subject for their wit.

Of course, they knew he was wonderfully well educated—that the depths of Latin and Greek were easily plumbed by his thought. But respect for a teacher's attainments does not always breed love for the teacher—nor an appreciation of the said teacher's softer qualities, either.

Laura had come to the conclusion that there must be a side to "Old Dimple's" character that few of his pupils had surmised.

There was a bond between Professor Dimp and that mysterious young man from Albany that Laura Belding did not understand. Yet she sought her cot that night with a belief that the old gentleman was good and kind, and that the accusation against his young companion must be very, very wrong!

Could she have climbed a tree like Short and Long, Laura would have gone to the top of one of the big oaks near the camp, the next morning at daybreak. From that height she knew she could see most of the open patches on the island, clear to the western end.

She was very curious as to whether Professor Dimp was still camping in the little glade where she and her comrades had met him. And had the young man returned from the north side of the lake where she had seen him the day before?

Laura was an early riser, as ever, that morning. She was tempted, before the camp was generally astir, to run out to the end of the island and see if the Professor's camp were still established there.

But Professor Dimp had been so sharp with her and the other girls, that Laura half feared to meet him. He was certainly a stern old gentleman, and she remembered now that, from the time the girls of Central High had decided to come here to Acorn Island to camp, Professor Dimp had been quite put out about it.

"Why!" thought Laura, "he was planning to come here himself at that time. He must have already arranged to meet the young man here. And he considers us interlopers. It's very, very strange!"

Nor did Laura wish to discuss the affair with Jess or Bobby Hargrew. She was afraid to tell anybody what she surmised about Professor Dimp's companion.

It was after breakfast—which Liz served with all the spirit and cheerfulness, so Bobby said, of an Egyptian mummy with the mumps!—that they first spied the big barge coming from the north shore of the lake.

The slow-moving craft was under sail and there were several men aboard of her, as well as a pack of dogs which now and then gave tongue. Immediately the Barnacle went raving mad. The sigh and sound of so many canines heading toward the island that had been his own domain for a week, quite drove the Barnacle out of such few senses as he possessed.

He barked at the barge from the heights where the camp stood; then he raced down to the shore and emitted a salvo of barks from the landing on that side of the island. Then he raced back again, and so returned to the shore—alternating in his rushes in the craziest possible way.

Meanwhile the barge drew nearer and nearer. The general question at the girls' camp was: "Why were the men and dogs coming to Acorn Island?"

"They can't land here without a permit," Bobby declared. "The Rocky River Lumber Company has posted the island."

"And what sort of game can they hunt with hounds this time of year?" demanded Jess.

"Those are bloodhounds," said her mother, calmly. "English bloodhounds."

"Goodness!" squealed Bobby, suddenly. "Bloodhounds? Don't you all feel just like Eliza crossing the ice, girls?"

"Not much!" cried Dora, laughing. "On a hot day like this?"

The cicadas were filing their saws in the tops of the trees and the promise of one of the hottest days of the season danced in the shimmer of haze over the water.

"Do you really suppose they are coming here with those dogs?" repeated Nell.

"They have no business to land," said Bobby, again serious.

"I know who they are!" Jess cried, suddenly.

"Who?" asked her mother.

"Chet said something about a sheriff coming to the boys' camp over yonder. And he had a pack of bloodhounds with him."

"But why should an officer of the law come here?" queried Mrs. Morse.

Laura, and Jess, and Bobby looked at each other. Of course, Mother Wit had understood the approach of the barge from the first; but she had said nothing. Now Jess and Bobby burst out with:

"Oh! he must be after that young man."

"What young man?" was the chorus of the other campers.

"The young man who is with Professor Dimp," said the thoughtless Bobby. "Isn't that it, Laura?"

Laura groaned. The cat was out of the bag now, and she foresaw much trouble in the camp on Acorn Island.



CHAPTER XXII

WHERE PROFESSOR DIMP COMES IN BIG

"What under the sun are you talking about, Bobby?" demanded Lil Pendleton; and Nell cried:

"Professor Dimp! What do you know about the professor?"

"Is he here?" demanded Dora.

"Not Old Dimple?" chimed in her twin.

"You surprise me, Clara," said Mrs. Morse. "Are you referring to your Latin teacher? and is he anywhere near here?"

"Oh, gracious! I'm always putting my foot into it whenever I open my mouth," groaned Bobby.

"A highly impossible athletic feat, I am sure, Bobby," said Jess, unable to keep from laughing, although she knew Bobby deserved chiding.

"I want to know what this means," exclaimed Lil again. "Who is this sheriff after? And why is Old Dimple mixed up in it?"

"It's the fellow who came and robbed our larder!" shrieked Nell, guessing the enigma at last.

"I am afraid that is who the sheriff is looking for," admitted Laura, gravely.

"And why here?" cried Lil. "Didn't that fellow take the food and get away from the island?"

"We did not find him—that's sure!" said Dora Lockwood.

"Barnacle found his camp, and we saw Professor Dimp there," explained Laura seeing that a clean breast of it was the better way.

"Who's 'we?'" demanded Lil.

"Jess and Bobby and I. We spoke to the old professor, and he was real cross to us. He would not tell us anything about the young man."

"Then Liz did see that Mr. Norman the night we were robbed?" said Nell.

"Yes. I expect so."

"'Mr. Norman?'" Nell repeated, reflectively. "And the fellow who robbed that bank in Albany is Norman Halliday? The very same!"

"And you knew this all along, Laura Belding?" cried Lil. "You mean thing!"

"Oh, quit, Lil," advised Bobby, gruffly. "Why should Laura stir up a row and scare you all? I never till this very moment guessed who the fellow might be, myself. Of course the sheriff is looking for him!"

"And on this island!" murmured Lil. "A criminal!"

"We don't know how much of a criminal he is," said Laura, stoutly. "He was the fellow that saved Short and Long from that dog yesterday, I verily believe," and she wagged her head. "He didn't look very desperate, I can tell you!"

"My goodness! that's so," said Bobby, eagerly. "Let's keep the sheriff off."

"How are you going to do it?" asked Jess. "Go down there and stone him when the barge comes near?" and she chuckled.

"He hasn't any permit. This is private land——"

"But can't he search the island for a lawbreaker?" asked Dorothy.

"I don't know that he has a right to, without a warrant."

"But if we try to stop him," said Laura, slowly, "won't he suspect that we don't want him to search the island?"

"Say!" exclaimed Lil, angrily. "What do we care?"

"We don't want him to find that poor fellow," said Bobby.

"Why not?" repeated Lil, sharply.

"After he saved Short and Long's life?"

"Humph! should we pass a vote of thanks to him for that?" demanded Lil, with, sarcasm.

"Not for that, perhaps," Laura said, gently. "But think of the old professor."

"Old Dimple!"

"The old Prof?"

"What about him?"

The chorus rose loud and general. Laura flushed, but held her ground.

"Our loyalty to Central High ought to be enough to prompt us to help one of our teachers. In some way the old professor is connected with this young man who is in danger of arrest. I don't mean that we should actually thwart the officer of the law. But I, for one, certainly will not help the officer."

"You are right, Mother Wit!" cried Bobby. "I'll go a step farther. I'll try to keep that man from landing here with his dogs."

"I know nothing about the right or wrong of the case," said Mrs. Morse; "but I am afraid of those awful beasts. There are five of them!"

"And Barnacle will only get into a fight with them if they land," declared Jess, rather amused. "Let's go down to the lake in a body and refuse to allow the dogs to come ashore."

Liz Bean had listened from the cook-tent, but said nothing. Her plain face was as expressionless as ever.

Now, when Mrs. Morse and the girls of Central High started down the slope on the northern side of the knoll, Liz slipped into the woods to the west, and quickly disappeared in the thick underbrush.

The big mainsail of the barge had been dropped and the men with the sheriff were paddling the craft in to the shore. Now and then a hound would lift its head and utter a mournful bay. Then Barnacle would strive to bark his own head off!

Laura recognized one of the paddlers with a start of surprise. It was the vicious farmer who had set his dog on Short and Long, on Bang-up Creek!

If she had had any doubts about the right and wrong of an attempt to thwart the sheriff before, Laura had none now. Perhaps her course was indefensible; but intuitively she believed that farmer to be a bad man. And she was sure that he was the one who had set the sheriff on this trail.

He had doubtless followed the young man with the gun and seen him join Professor Dimp. The two had paddled for Acorn Island. The farmer had communicated with the sheriff.

Right then, so hotly burned Laura's righteous indignation, that she would have done her very best to keep the officer of the law from landing those bloodhounds, and chasing the mysterious "Mr. Norman" out of his hiding place.

But it was Bobby who put the ball into play first.

"Say, Mister! don't you bring those dogs ashore here!" she called to the sheriff.

He was a big, red-faced, beefy-looking man, with a bristling mustache and little, piglike eyes.

"I wanter know!" he said, huskily. "Who do you think you are giving orders to, young lady?"

"You are a sheriff, aren't you?"

"Yes I be," said the man.

"And you are searching all the woods around about for a convict?"

"Not perzactly. But he's likely ter be a convic' arter I git him," and he chuckled, hoarsely.

"Well, this island is posted. We have a permit to camp here, but I don't believe you have any warrant for landing at all," said Bobby, sharply. "And my father, who is one of the directors of the Rocky River Lumber Company, certainly does not want a pack of hounds like those, running the game on this island—out of season, too."

"This ain't that kind o' game, young lady," said the sheriff, slowly. Then he stopped. A figure had suddenly appeared from the wood. It was a shabby but commanding figure, and the girls themselves shrank together and waited for the old Latin professor to speak.

"Miss Hargrew is quite right," said Professor Dimp, in his iciest tone. "Those hounds must not land here."

"I say, now!" growled the sheriff.

"This is private property," continued Professor Dimp, coldly, "as Miss Hargrew tells you. You can see the signs. You will trespass here if you are determined. But I warn you that if you bring those dogs ashore you will be prosecuted."

"I'm a-goin' to search this islan'," growled Sheriff Larkin, uglily.

"You may. You have no warrant to do so, but you may. But you must not bring ashore those dogs. And," added the professor, turning and bowing with old-fashioned courtesy to Mrs. Morse, "you must keep away from the camp where this lady and her young charges are ensconced."

He turned on his heel in conclusion, and walked into the woods again.

"Three rousing cheers!" whispered Bobby under her breath. "What's the matter with Old Dimple? He's all right!"



CHAPTER XXIII

LIZ ON THE DEFENSIVE

The professor had spoken with such authority that Sheriff Larkin hesitated in his intention of landing the bloodhounds. Besides, having learned that one of these girls was a daughter of a member of the powerful lumber company, he feared to make a misstep.

The Rocky River Lumber Company could make or break a sheriff easily enough. The political power of the men owning the corporation in Monadnock County was supreme.

"Well, I tell ye what it is, ladies," he said, pulling off his broad brimmed hat to wipe a perspiring, red brow. "I gotter do my duty——"

"With the prospect of five hundred dollars ahead of you!" interposed Bobby, pertly.

"That ain't neither here nor there," declared the man. "I got to search the island."

"You know best what you must do, sir," said Mrs. Morse, coldly. "But I beg of you to leave your dogs on the boat. I am afraid of the brutes."

"And don't come to our camp, I pray, looking for any criminal," said Laura, speaking for the first time.

"Why! I guess not, Ma'am!" cried the sheriff. "Come on, boys. Leave them dawgs tied yere. And we'll go over the island. It's purty open timber this end, so he ain't likely to be near here."

They had moored the barge. Barnacle had barked himself hoarse. When the sheriff and four of his companions leaped ashore, he put his tail between his legs and scuttled up the hillside again.

At the top he suddenly began to bark once more. He did not face down hill, but seemed distraught about something, or somebody, in the camp.

"Hey!" exclaimed the ugly farmer whom Laura had taken a dislike to the previous day. "That dawg sees something."

"He is crazy," spoke up Laura, quickly. "He is like enough barking at our maid."

"Sure!" rejoined Bobby. "Liz is up there."

"Come on!" exclaimed the sheriff to his men, and started westward, in the direction Professor Dimp had taken.

"Whom do you suppose the Barnacle is really barking at?" whispered Jess to Laura Belding. "He'd never make all that 'catouse' over Liz. In fact, he wouldn't bark at her at all."

"Hush!" warned Laura, as the party started up the slope toward the camp.

Jess looked at her curiously. Barnacle was still barking with desperate determination. Liz appeared before the Central High girls climbed to the top of the hillock, and catching the dog by the collar, dragged him over to the corner of the log cabin and snapped on his chain.

"There!" Laura heard her say. "Ye kin bark your head off—but ye can't run."

The girl went back to her cook-tent and began clearing up the breakfast things again. Laura noted that she seemed to have done nothing while they were down on the shore.

But that was not surprising; perhaps she had crept near to overhear the talk with the sheriff. Now Liz said nothing to any of them, and went grimly on with her work.

"It's my turn to help you get dinner, Lizzie," Laura said, quietly. "What are we going to have? Shall I begin by peeling the potatoes?"

"No. Don't want yer," said Liz, shortly.

"Why! of course you want some help——"

"Don't neither!" snapped the maid-of-all-work.

"Why, Lizzie!" said Laura, in surprise—at least, in apparent surprise! "You surely don't want to do all the work yourself?"

"I'd ruther," responded the girl, ungraciously. "You gals are in my way in the tent."

Now this, of course, was ridiculous. It could mean but one thing: Liz was anxious to be alone in the cook-tent. And why?

Laura, however, merely said:

"Oh! very well. If you prefer not to be helped, Lizzie, that is all right."

And she walked away; but she did not lose sight of the cook-tent. There was somebody there beside the maid-of-all-work, and Laura was sure she knew who.

Lil was inclined to feel abused. She thought that she should have been taken into the secret at the first.

"But see how you would have kicked," said the slangy Bobby. "Why! you'd have wanted to go back home by the first boat."

"I don't think we ought to have stayed here with that man on the island," grumbled Lil.

"With the old professor tagging after him?" chuckled Jess. "My goodness! can there be anything more respectable than Old Dimple?"

"If he is, why is he mixed up with this bank thief?" asked Lil, bluntly.

"I don't believe the young man is any such thing," announced Laura, hearing this. "He doesn't look bad. And surely we can trust to the professor's judgment."

"And we ought to help Professor Dimp," said Nell. "Poor old man! I am sorry for him."

"Say! Old Dimple's a good sort," declared Bobby, enthusiastically. "And he certainly stood up to that red-faced sheriff this morning—Oh, gee!" finished the tomboy, with a gasp. "Here he is now."

"Here's who?" squealed Lil, whirling around.

"Professor Dimp?" demanded Nell.

But it was the sheriff.

"'Scuse me, young ladies," he wheezed. "But I feel it my duty to s'arch this yere camp. If you ain't a-hidin' of that thar feller, ye won't mind my pokin' around a bit, will yer?"

Laura did not say a word. She stood up and looked over at Liz Bean. For a moment the maid-of-all-work seemed petrified.

Then she dove for the growling Barnacle. She untied the rope with which he was fastened.

"Hello!" exclaimed the puffing sheriff. "What's that for?"

Liz held the Barnacle with difficulty; the dog bared his teeth at the sheriff and uttered a series of most blood-curdling growls.

"You come botherin' around here," said Liz, desperately, "an' I'll let him fly at ye!"



CHAPTER XXIV

THE BARNACLE TREES SOMETHING AT LAST

Both the girls of Central High, and their brothers and boy friends, in the camp across the lake, had believed the Barnacle to be "all bluff." He was a fine dog for barking, as Short and Long had said, but he acted as though he thought his teeth had been given him for chewing his food, and for nothing else.

The savage way in which he bayed the sheriff, however, and tried to get at him as Liz held him in leash, was really surprising. It was no wonder that Sheriff Larkin started back and cried out in alarm.

"Don't you dare set that dawg on me, young woman!" he cried. "I'll have the law on yer, if yer do."

"He'll chaw yer up if I let him go," threatened Liz. "Git out o' here!"

"Why, Lizzie!" gasped Mrs. Morse, coming to the door of the cabin, and speaking to the girl in a most amazed tone. "What does this mean?"

"He's a body snatcher! he's a man hunter! he's ev'rything mean an' filthy!" exclaimed the girl, her face red and her eyes blazing. Her appearance was really most astonishing. Laura would never have believed that "Lonesome Liz" could display so much emotion.

"Let him bother this camp if he dares!" went on Liz. "He was told by that old gentleman to keep away from here, wasn't he? Then let him run, for I ain't a-goin' to hold this dawg in much longer!"

It seemed that her threat would hold true. At every leap Barnacle made, he seemed about to tear the rope from her grasp.

"Missis!" yelled the sheriff to Mrs. Morse. "You'd better call that gal off——"

"She ain't got nothin' to do with it," declared Liz. "I ain't workin' for her no more. I ain't workin' for nobody. I've struck, I have! You can't hold nobody responserble but me an' Barnacle."

"The gal's crazy!" squalled the sheriff, going rapidly backward, for the dog and Liz were advancing.

"Well, you won't shet me up in no 'sylum," declared Liz, grimly. "But ye may send me ter the penitentiary."

"Did you ever hear the like?" gasped Lil, clinging to Nellie and Jess. "That girl's mad."

"She is brave," muttered Jess. "But—but I wonder what she's up to?"

Laura did not question the maid-of-all-work. She thought she already knew. There was method in Lizzie's madness, that was sure!

She was driving the bullying sheriff away from the cook-tent—away from the camp, indeed. He was going sideways like a crab, and Barnacle was growling and almost choking himself as he tugged at his collar.

"Git out! Scat!" exclaimed Liz. "I'm a-goin' to let this dawg go!"

"Don'cher dare!" shouted Sheriff Larkin.

But the girl deliberately stooped over Barnacle, and began to unfasten the rope. At that the officer of the law turned and lumbered down the hill.

Where his companions were the girls did not know. And the barge with the bloodhounds had been poled off shore a few rods. The keeper was sitting on it and calmly smoking his pipe.

Sheriff Larkin was some rods from the shore. With a sudden roar Barnacle slipped his leash and tore down the slope. The dog had run a lot of game on Acorn Island since being landed here; but never a quarry like this.

The big man gave one glance behind and then lost all hope of reaching the boat. There was a low-branching tree before him: He leaped for the nearest branch and swung his booted legs for a moment while he tried to hitch up on the limb.

The Barnacle jumped for him. The dog fastened to his heel, and for the first time the girls saw that the mongrel-cur really had a terrific grip.

Sheriff Larkin scrambled up into the tree; but for half a minute Barnacle swung from him, clear of the ground. When he dropped to the ground the heel of the sheriff's boot came with the dog's jaws!

Barnacle crouched down and began to masticate the heel. But the glare that he turned upward at the man, from his red-rimmed eyes, proclaimed the fact that he would "just as lives" chew on the sheriff's anatomy.

The camp on the top of the knoll had been left in confusion. The girls were talking rather wildly—some praising Liz and others deploring the happening.

Mrs. Morse commanded silence. She walked over to where the maid-of-all-work stood before the cook-tent.

"What does this mean, Lizzie Bean?" she demanded.

"I tell you I ain't workin' for you no more," cried Liz, wildly. "I've give up me job."

"But you had no right to do what you have done."

"I don't care, I'd done more. I'd gone at that sheriff with my finger-nails if he'd come nearer. Don't I hate him—just?"

"Why—why, Lizzie!" gasped the gentle Mrs. Morse.

Here Laura interfered. "I believe I know what is the matter with Lizzie, Mrs. Morse," she said.

"Well!" snapped Lil, in the background. "Let's hear it. The girl's crazy. My mother would never have paid for such a creature to come here with us if she'd known."

"Your ma needn't give me a cent, Miss," returned Liz, sullenly.

"What is the matter with her, Laura?" asked Mrs. Morse again.

"She has somebody hidden in that tent," said Mother Wit, calmly. "Isn't that the truth, Lizzie? Isn't Mr. Halliday in there—Mr. Norman Halliday?"

"The bank robber!" shrieked Lil.

"Oh, oh!" gasped Nellie.

"Hurray for Liz!" exclaimed Bobby, but in a low tone.

"It cannot be?" queried Mrs. Morse.

"Yes he is. I got him here while youse folks was down talkin' to that red-faced sheriff. He was good to me when I lived at that boardin' house, in Albany, he was! I wouldn't give him up to that sheriff."

Mrs. Morse looked at Laura very gravely. "You have known about this for some time, Laura? You knew that the young man was on the island?"

"With Professor Dimp—yes," said Mother Wit, bravely.

"Professor Dimp has his own actions to answer for," said Jess' mother, gravely. "But I am quite sure your mother would not approve of your trying to help such a character as this young man seems to be."

"Wait a minute, Mrs. Morse," cried Laura. "Here come Chet and the boys."

"The boys!" chorused the other girls.

"What has your brother to do with this affair?" asked Mrs. Morse, wonderingly.

"I saw Chet wig-wagging a little while ago, and I answered and read his message. He is bringing over a gentleman from Albany—a lawyer—to see Professor Dimp and the young man who has been in hiding so long. I think something important is going to happen," said Laura, complacently. "Do let the Barnacle keep the sheriff up in that tree for a little while longer."



CHAPTER XXV

"QUITE ALL RIGHT"

One amazing thing was happening after another. The girls of Central High could scarcely keep up with the several happenings. On top of Laura's statement the platform before the cook-tent heaved mightily, and a man's head and shoulders appeared.

Lil shrieked again. Even Mrs. Morse stepped back in surprise. The young man continued to push his way out, and finally climbed to his feet.

It was the same young man who had appeared on the bank of Bang-up Creek and saved Short and Long from the farmer's dog. His very good looking hunting suit was now sadly torn and wrinkled. He was without a hat. There was a scratch upon his face that had drawn blood, and he was altogether rather messy looking.

He bowed gravely to Mrs. Morse. "I see," he said, "that this young lady," and he looked at Laura, "knows who I am. And further introduction would be unnecessary."

"Ye—yes?" said Mrs. Morse, rather doubtfully.

"I pray that you will not blame Lizzie Bean. She would sacrifice herself for my safety; but I could hardly allow her to do that, don't you know? I had an idea that that sheriff would really not come to this camp, and I could get away again after dark."

Lil had given over any intention of screaming again. She was examining the scratched face of the strange young man with growing approval.

"Isn't he romantic looking?" she whispered to Nellie.

"Poor fellow," sighed the doctor's daughter. "He doesn't look wicked, does he?"

"He's a regular heart-breaker when he's dolled up, I bet," giggled Bobby.

"It's too bad!" murmured the Lockwood twins, in unison.

Thus did the appearance of the young man, Mr. Norman Halliday, tell upon the covey of frightened girls. Mrs. Morse herself began to recover from her disturbance of mind. This was no criminal character, for sure!

Suddenly the sheriff in the tree set up a bellow: "That's the feller I want! That's him! Don't you let him escape——"

"Why don't you come down and take him?" demanded Bobby, wickedly.

But immediately the Barnacle began leaping under the tree and barking and Sheriff Larkin climbed higher.

"You see, the police want me," explained the young man, simply.

"We—we should judge so," gasped Mrs. Morse.

"But I really don't want to be arrested. Especially by this sheriff. I do not want the bank I work for to be put to the expense of paying him a reward for my apprehension."

This sounded rather odd—from a criminal!

"You see," went on the young man, with a more cheerful smile, "I am going to return to Albany when my attorney lets me know that I may safely do so. Had I remained when I was first charged with the crime of forging names to coupons and bonds, and selling the same for my own benefit, I could not have disproved the accusation."

"It had been arranged to make me a 'scapegoat'—to railroad me to jail, in fact. But I have one good friend, at least—my uncle, Professor Dimp. You all doubtless know him, and know what a really fine old fellow he is," said the young man, heartily.

"He is paying my lawyer's expenses, and he insisted, too, upon coming up here into the Big Woods and staying with me. That's why I was really obliged to rob your larder one night. I dared not appear at any store to buy food, and I could not let the dear old man go hungry. I hope the money I left was sufficient to pay for the food?"

"Certainly—certainly," murmured Mrs. Morse, while the girls listened in wide-eyed amazement.

"The Professor is just a brick," continued Mr. Norman Halliday, "as of course you all know——"

"You bet we do!" burst out Bobby, her face aflame. "Three cheers for Old D——That is, for Professor Asa Dimp!"

"Thank you, Miss Hargrew," said the dry voice of the absent-minded old professor. "I did not know I was so well appreciated by the girls of Central High."

But Laura showed her appreciation in an entirely unlooked for way. As the professor walked into the open from the woods, she darted for him, seized him tightly in her arms, and planted a kiss first on one, and then on his other unshaven cheek.

"Bless my soul! bless my soul!" gasped Professor Dimp, who had probably not been kissed before in years.

"You're a perfect old dear!" declared Laura, in a low voice. "And I am never going to be afraid of you again. Your nephew showed that he had a tender heart when he was kind to Lizzie Bean; and I believe he gets it honestly—from you! Dear Professor Dimp!"

"Ha!" said the old gentleman, drily, yet flushing a little, too, "I can see very clearly that I shall hereafter have very mediocre recitations from the girls of Central High. They will no longer fear me."

At that moment the motorboat that had been skimming across from the main land, pushed her nose against the shore of the island. One of the first persons to land was a gentleman with a green bag in his hand who hurried up the hill to greet the professor and his nephew, the much disheveled Mr. Halliday.

"The best of news Mr. Halliday—and you, my dear Professor Dimp," this gentleman said. "The evidence is concluded. The guilty director has been arrested and the reward for your capture, Mr. Halliday, has been withdrawn. I have come to take you back to Albany where your name will be completely cleared of the false accusation."

"Hurrah!" shouted Bobby again, and waving her hand at the dog and the sheriff on the other side of the hill. "Come away, Barnacle; you may let the sheriff down out of the tree."

Dear me! It took nearly all day to explain affairs, after all. The sheriff, and his bloodhounds, and his posse departed unnoticed by the rejoicing party in the camp of the Central High girls.

The girls and boys made a hero out of Professor Dimp. And he was not a bad sort after all—as they found out upon closer acquaintance.

"We shall not let Professor Dimp hide his light under a bushel," cried Laura Belding, otherwise Mother Wit. "Whenever there is anything else exciting going on for the girls of Central High, he shall be in it."

All the males of the party later piled into the Bonnie Lass to return to the boys' camp. There the lawyer had left a team with which he was going to take Norman Halliday out of the Big Woods to the railway station.

But the professor promised to remain at least another week, as the guest of the boys. That week was the very jolliest week of all the vacation at Lake Dunkirk, both for the boys, and for the Girls of Central High.

THE END



THE JANICE DAY SERIES

By HELEN BEECHER LONG

12 mo, cloth, illustrated, and colored jacket

A series of books for girls which have been uniformly successful. Janice Day is a character that will live long in juvenile fiction. Every volume is full of inspiration. There is an abundance of humor, quaint situations, and worth-while effort, and likewise plenty of plot and mystery.

An ideal series for girls from nine to sixteen.

JANICE DAY, THE YOUNG HOMEMAKER

JANICE DAY AT POKETOWN

THE TESTING OF JANICE DAY

HOW JANICE DAY WON

THE MISSION OF JANICE DAY



THE NAN SHERWOOD SERIES

By Annie Roe Carr

12 mo, cloth, illustrated, and colored jacket

In Annie Roe Carr we have found a young woman of wide experience among girls—in schoolroom, in camp and while traveling. She knows girls of to-day thoroughly—their likes and dislikes—and knows that they demand almost as much action as do the boys. And she knows humor—good, clean fun and plenty of it.

NAN SHERWOOD AT PINE CAMP or The Old Lumberman's Secret

NAN SHERWOOD AT LAKEVIEW HALL or The Mystery of the Haunted Boathouse

NAN SHERWOOD'S WINTER HOLIDAYS or Rescuing the Runaways

NAN SHERWOOD AT ROSE RANCH or The Old Mexican's Treasure

NAN SHERWOOD AT PALM BEACH or Strange Adventures Among the Orange Groves

THE END