"who's there?" called rand sharply. he was sitting with donald and pepper on the steps of the piazza, in front of mr. scott's house.

"there is nobody there," declared donald; "it's just your imagination."

"but i certainly saw something move behind that bush over there," insisted rand.

"and i, too," confirmed pepper.

"you are always seeing things, even when there ain't any," continued donald.

"and you can't see them until they hit you with a club," retorted pepper.

"any one there?" called rand again, going to the spot which pepper pointed out, and followed by the others.

"sh!" was the whispered reply from behind the bushes. "it is only i."

"who are you?" demanded rand.

"win moore," replied a small boy, coming out.

"why, hello, win," said rand; "what were you trying to do, play spook?"

"no," replied win, "but i thought maybe gerald was here."

"he isn't here," answered rand. "do you want to see him?"

"yes," hesitated win; "i have something to tell him."

"i am sorry he isn't here," continued rand. "anything i can do for you?"

"there isn't any one around, is there?" went on win doubtfully.

"nobody but pepper, don and i," replied rand. "you know them. what is it?"

"they are going to smash the shell to-night," whispered win, looking fearfully about him.

"they are going to do what?" exclaimed donald.

"say it again," said rand, doubting that he had heard aright.

"they are going to smash the shell to-night, so you can't row to-morrow," repeated win.

"who are?" demanded donald, still incredulous.

"monkey rae and sam tompkins," answered win.

"how do you know?" asked pepper.

"i heard them planning," explained win. "i was up in the woods to-day and i heard some one talking, and i listened to hear who it was."

"what did they say?"

"monkey said he guessed there'd be a surprise party here in the morning, when you found you didn't have any boat to row with. sam asked how they could do it, and monkey said they would go down to the boathouse to-night, after it got dark, and fix it. sam didn't want to go very much, but monkey said it was all right, and nobody would know who did it."

"do you think he meant our shell?"

"sure," replied win. "he said he was going to get square with rand peyton and pepper blake. so i hid in the bushes until they went away, and i came down here to tell gerald."

"thank you, win," said rand; "we are ever so much obliged to you."

"don't let them know i told you," pleaded win, "or they will half kill me for telling."

"sure not," promised rand. "you can slip off again and no one will know you have been here."

"well, what do you think of that!" exclaimed pepper, when win had gone.

"shure, an' phat mischief are ye's plotting now?" demanded gerald, who came across the lawn as his brother slipped away.

"more monkey tricks," responded rand. "monkey is going to surprise us to-night."

"is he now?" asked gerald; "and phat is he up to now?"

"he is going to smash the shell so we can't row to-morrow," replied donald.

"faith, i think he'll find it a hard nut to crack," asserted gerald, dropping his brogue in his indignation. "though there isn't anything surprising about that. i don't think monkey could surprise us, except by trying to be good."

"and i don't believe he'll try that," laughed pepper.

"what shall we do about it?" asked gerald. "tell the colonel?"

"i am no sure there is anything to it," said donald. "and it may be possible we can take care of monkey and sam ourselves. in my opinion, it would no be a bad plan to go down to the boathouse and capture them if they come."

"that isn't a bad idea," agreed rand. "we can slip away, one at a time, so if they see us they won't suspect anything. i will go first and the rest of you can join me later. there isn't any moon to-night, and we can easily find places to hide around the house."

"faith," whispered gerald, "we'll beat them at their own game."

acting upon rand's suggestion the boys separated, each taking a different course, meeting later at the boathouse. the place was in darkness when rand, who was the first to arrive, got there. making a hasty examination by the light of a match he saw that the shell was all right. keeping in the dark, he waited until the others, slipping up like so many shadows, had come.

"seen or heard anything?" asked donald, as they consulted behind the house.

"not a thing," responded rand. "perhaps they have given it up."

"you can no depend upon what they may do," commented donald.

"that's right, old solomon," agreed pepper; "so it's just as well to be prepared for anything."

"what shall we do if they come?" asked donald.

"jump out and scare them to death," suggested gerald.

"no," advised rand. "let's give them a chance to get in. if they go to the door or window, don or i will give the call and we will all rush on them and grab them."

"don't wait too long or they may spoil the shell," said pepper.

"we will just give them a chance to get inside," went on rand, detailing his plans. "i think it will be better if we each hide in a different place. pepper can go over there behind those bushes and watch the road. don can watch the door, and i will go on the other side and look out for the window."

"and phat will oi be doing?" asked gerald, who could not resist his fun-making instincts.

"you can hide down by the shore and watch the river."

"we ought to have some kind of a signal if we hear them coming," suggested pepper.

"like paul revere, 'one if by land, and two if by sea,'" quoted rand. "if you hear them coming down the road, pepper, you can give the whip-poor-will call, and gerald, if he hears anything, can give the owl call."

"owl right," responded gerald, as they each went to their appointed stations.

the night was warm and pleasant. no sound, except the soft lapping of the waves on the shore, the chirp of a cricket or the occasional croak of a tree frog, disturbed the quiet of the night. as the time wore on, without any disturbance, the watches began to doze until gerald was suddenly roused with a start by a splash in the water and saw a boat gliding silently toward the landing.

"faith, it looks as if there might be some fun after all," whispered gerald to himself, softly hooting a couple of times and concealing himself behind an upturned boat.

"what was that?" asked one of the rowers at the sound of gerald's call.

"aw, it's nothing but an owl," replied the other. "whatcher 'fraid of?"

the boat was now at the landing, and the taller of the two stepping out fastened the boat and went toward the house, calling upon his companion to follow.

"there will be some fun here in the morning," chuckied the foremost, whom gerald now recognized as monkey rae.

"sure there ain't anybody 'round?" asked the other, hesitating.

"of course there ain't," responded monkey confidently. "aw, come on! what yer 'fraid of? nobody knows anything about it but you and i, and we ain't a-shoutin' it."

"i thought i heard a noise," demurred the other.

"oh, bother!" returned monkey impatiently. "you're always hearing something."

"how are we going to get in?"

"don't worry about that," answered monkey, "i fixed the window all right to-day."

while talking monkey had opened the window and started to crawl into the house. "if you're afraid to come in," he said scornfully to the other, "stay outside and keep watch. it won't take me more than a minute to crack this shell."

at this instant rand, with a shrill, clear whistle, sprang out from his hiding place and in a moment all was confusion.

"shure, the fat's in the fire now," chuckled gerald to himself.

as the whistle sounded monkey sprang back through the window, landing in a heap almost at rand's feet, but was up and off before rand could get a hold on him, and sped after his companion, who had started off at the first alarm, in a race down the landing to their boat.

"hi! stop them, gerald!" shouted rand, dashing after them.

donald, at the alarm, rushed toward the window, and, tripping over a coil of rope, stumbled against a stack of oars, sending them down with a crash that could be heard a mile. picking himself up, he ran after rand down the landing.

there was a splash in the water, and the sound of rapidly receding oars, but there was no one at the landing.

"what has become of gerald?" asked rand, looking around.

"he can't be far off," replied donald, "give him a call."

"hello-o-o, gerald!" shouted rand, but gerald did not answer.

"hello, there! what's ail the noise about?" demanded colonel snow, who had followed pepper onto the landing. "why, boys, what are you doing here?"

"we can't find gerald," explained donald, who was looking in ail kinds of impossible places.

"i shouldn't think you would in such a place as that," said the colonel, as donald turned over some small boxes. "what is it now, hide and seek, or has gerald been losing himself?"

"i don't know," replied rand. "we heard that monkey rae was going to smash the shell tonight, so we came down to catch him, but he got away from us."

"monkey rae again!" exclaimed the colonel. "i should think there was at least half a dozen of him the way he gets around. but what has that got to do with gerald?"

"why, gerald was out here on the landing, and now we can't find him. i don't know what has become of him, or if he is just hiding for fun," explained rand; "though i don't see where he could hide here," he added.

"sure of that?" questioned the colonel. "let's take another look around." lighting a lantern from the boathouse they made a thorough search of the place without finding anything of their missing comrade.

"perhaps he got tired of waiting and went home," suggested the colonel.

"that wouldn't be gerald," averred rand and donald. "he wouldn't go off and leave us without saying anything and, besides, he was here when they came, for he gave us the signal."

"well, he isn't here now," decided the colonel after another look around. "hello, gerald!" he called, and the boys sounded the call on their bugles.

"he ought to answer that if he is anywhere around," said rand.

"do you think they could have carried him off?" asked pepper.

"i don't know what to think," replied the colonel. "it's queer. you boys certainly have an amazing faculty for getting into trouble."

"but how did you get here?" asked rand.

"i was just taking a stroll," replied the colonel, "when i heard the noise and came down to see what it was."