In the captain’s private room Frank Merriwell stripped off his wet clothes. The captain provided him with a dry suit of underclothes, a pair of trousers, socks and a woolen shirt. His coat, vest, shoes and hat were brought him, and he made a very respectable appearance when he came out.

In the meantime, in another room the girl was making such changes as were possible.

It was nearly an hour later when Frank found her seated on the sunny side of the boat, wrapped in a blanket and holding the little dog in her arms. On her head was a handsome hat, and her hair had been dried and combed. She laughed when she saw him.

“Why,” she exclaimed, “no one would know you had been in the water! As for me, my dress is ruined. It was fortunate I had other dresses aboard and I could get to my trunk. I was so chilled that I came out here and kept this blanket about me at first. I don’t need it now.”

She let the blanket slip from her shoulders, and Merry was amazed to find her dressed in another suit that was quite as stylish and handsome as the first. Again she seemed to read his thoughts, for she said:

“I’m just back from Boston, you know. Father lets me go up twice a year, and I always get a full supply of[126] clothing while I am there. That’s how I happened to have a trunkful on board.

“You were fortunate.”

“Wasn’t I? Bring that stool and sit here by me. It’s delightful in the afternoon sunshine.”

Frank was ready enough to do as she directed, and soon he was seated at her side, chatting with her freely. She thanked him earnestly for what he had done, and again declared she could never forget it. They laughed over the adventure, as if it had been of no consequence.

She was lively company, as he soon found, and she made that hour spent thus with her pass most pleasantly and swiftly. She was witty, too, and only occasionally did she drop into slang.

After a time, Merry thought he would try to discover how much she really knew. Her language seemed to indicate that she was intelligent, but he was surprised to find her something of a scholar and a great reader.

“You see, reading is nearly all the amusement I have at home,” she said; “and so, whenever I go to the city, I buy a stack of the latest books. I have a large box of books on the way down home now.”

He found she had read something besides the ordinary gushing love story, for she could talk with him of “David Copperfield,” “Vanity Fair,” “Ivanhoe,” “The Scarlet Letter,” and so forth. But he was most surprised when she informed him that Stevenson’s “Treasure Island” was her favorite book.

“There is something about the men in that book that[127] attracts me,” she declared. “I have seen such men as Silver and Israel Hands.”

“You have?” cried Frank. “Why, they were desperate characters!”

“Well, you can find desperate characters not far from here. You are on ‘the line’ now. It’s easy for a man who commits a crime to cross over and get away.”

“Where do you live, if I may ask?”

“On Blank Island.”

“Where is that? Anywhere near Forest City?”

“North of Forest City. It is on ‘the line,’ so they say; one-half the island is in Maine and one-half in New Brunswick.”

Frank was more than ever astonished, for it seemed most amazing that such a girl could live on an island away up there in the lake. He did not wish to seem too curious, and so he did not ask other questions just then.

But she took her turn, for she led him to tell how he came to be there. She listened attentively to his story of adventures around Moosehead. He told how Hans had been taken ill, and they had stopped at Brownville. He explained how he had acquired the handsome rifle, and how it had been stolen from him by a man named Enos Dugan, whom he had pursued to the Grand Lake region.

“Perhaps you know something about Enos Dugan?” he said, in conclusion.

“Yes,” she slowly answered; “I do.”

“What can you tell me about him?”

[128]

“He is a second Long Jim Silver. You had better give up this pursuit.”

“So I was told at Vanceborough; but I vowed that I would have that rifle, and I will!”

“You may lose your life instead of recovering the rifle. Enos Dugan is a man to shun.”

“I have heard that he is a smuggler. Do you know if it is true?”

“I believe they tell such things about him, but it is hard to prove. In fact, it is next to impossible to prove anything against him. He will soon find out you have followed him, if he does not know it now, and you will be in terrible peril. I beg you to give up this search and go back at once!”

Her earnestness was impressive. All the laughter was gone from her face now, and she was looking at him with those dark............