"Slow up a little, Betty. Now ahead to starboard! Reverse! I have it!"

Thus cried Mollie, who stood at the bow of the Gem with a boathook in her grasp, while the motor craft approached the rude raft on which lay the body of an unconscious youth. Mollie had caught the hook in the edge of the boards and the motor boat was now beside it.

"What—what are we going to do with him?" asked Amy.

"Get him aboard, of course," said Betty, shortly. She was busy making fast a line to a projection on the raft. The Gem was now drifting with the craft containing the young man.

"We never can!" cried Grace. "Oh, perhaps he\'s——"

She did not say what she thought.

"We\'ve just got to get him up here, and take him to a doctor," declared Betty, fiercely. "He looks half-starved."

There was a moment of hesitation among the girls—a natural hesitation—and then Betty and[197] Mollie with an understanding look at each other climbed from the boat to the raft. It was big and strong enough to support much more weight; for, though it was rudely made, it was substantial, being composed of tree trunks, and boards, bound together with withes, forest vines, and bits of rope.

"He—he\'s breathing—anyhow," said Mollie, softly.

"Yes, we—we must lift him up," spoke Betty. "Come on."

They exposed the pale and drawn face of the youth on the raft. At the sight of it Grace, who with Amy was leaning breathlessly over the side of the boat, uttered a cry.

"It\'s Will!" she screamed, half-hysterically. "It\'s my brother Will!"

Betty and Mollie started back, and nearly let the limp body slip off the raft.

"What—what!" cried Betty, for the figure of the youth bore no resemblance to Will; nor did the features. But the eyes of a sister were not to be deceived.

"It is Will!" she cried. "I have been hoping and praying all the while that it might be he—and it is. It\'s Will!"

She would have gotten down to the raft had not Amy restrained her.[198]

"I believe it is Will," said Mollie, taking a closer look. "We have found him."

"Then let\'s get him aboard at once, and help him," said practical Betty. "Amy, start that coffee. Grace, you help us! And Harry, too!"

Thus the Little Captain issued her orders.

How they got Will Ford aboard the boat the girls could not tell afterward. But they did, with The Loon\'s aid, and soon he was being given hot coffee. Slowly his senses came back, and when some warm broth had been slowly fed to him he opened his eyes, looked wonderingly about him, and asked hoarsely:

"Is it real—or am I dreaming again?"

"It\'s real, Will dear," said Grace, putting her arms about him, as he lay in one of the bunks. "Oh, to think that we have found you again! Where have you been, and what happened to you?"

"Where haven\'t I been?" he asked, smiling a little. "And what hasn\'t happened to me?"

"But you\'re all right now," said Grace, comfortingly.

"But what in the world are you girls doing down here?" Will asked, wonderingly. "It\'s like a dream. How did you come here?"

"To rescue you," replied Mollie, with a laugh.

"Really?"[199]

"Well, almost really."

Will grew better every minute and wanted to tell his story, but the girls insisted on waiting, except for the most important details, until he had reached the orange grove. To satisfy him, however, they told how they came to be in Florida.

As for The Loon, no sooner had he a sight of Will\'s face than he danced about like a child, and cried:

"That\'s him! That\'s the one! He\'s the one I went to get help for!"

"That\'s right, my boy," said Will, weakly.

"I—I lost the money and note," faltered poor Harry. "But I thought you had fooled me."

"But, after all, he was the means of saving Tom, and, in a way, you, also," said Grace.

"Who\'s Tom?" asked Will.

And they told him.

That there was surprise at Orangeade when the outdoor girls arrived with Will Ford can easily be imagined. The first thing done was to send a telegram to Mr. Ford, apprising him that his son was found.

Then Will told his story.

The first part the girls were already familiar with—how, tiring of life in Uncle Isaac\'s mill,[200] he had determined to strike out for himself.

"Then I fell in with a plausible talker," explained Will, "and he persuaded me he had a great scheme for making money. Well, before I knew it I had signed some papers—foolishly. At first I was given decent clerical work to do, and then the scheme failed, I was transferred to another part of the............