Page:Outdoor Girls in Florida.djvu/206

194 no word came from her brother. He seemed to have disappeared completely.

Following the receipt of a letter from her father, containing no news, Grace was so gloomy that one day Betty proposed a ride in the launch

"It will do you good," she said to Grace. "We will take our lunch again, and"

"Get trapped by alligators or snakes?" suggested Amy.

"No!" declared Mollie. "We'll take The Loon along, and he will look after us," for Harry was back from one of his wanderings. He spent much time away from the grove, seeking in many strange places for the young man who had appealed to him for help. But he did not find him.

So the girls went for a little excursion. In spite of the gloom that seemed to hang over them they had an enjoyable time.

They were scanning the shores ahead of them, looking for a suitable place to land and eat their lunch, when Betty, who had taken the wheel, with The Loon to stand beside and direct her steering, uttered a cry and pointed ahead.

"See!" she said. "What is that?"

The other girls looked.

"Some sort of a raft," answered Mollie.

"And someone is on it!" added Amy.