"Because it was from here the two girls started out into the wilds to
gather rare flowers, and they have not since been heard from!"




CHAPTER XIII

OUT IN THE BOAT


Ruth and Alice looked at each other. It seemed almost impossible that
there could be this confirmation of the news item they had read, and so
soon after arriving at the hotel. Yet such was the fact.

"Does any one know what has become of them?" asked Alice, after a pause.

"Not the least trace of them has been found," replied the clerk.

"Have they made any search for them?" inquired Ruth, looking over her
shoulder almost apprehensively, as though she, herself, were out in some
swamp, surrounded by perils of all sorts. But only the lighted parlor met
her gaze.

"Search! Indeed they have!" cried the hotel man. "The parents of the
girls have sent out party after party."

"With no result?" asked Alice, softly.

"Well, they found traces where the girls had evidently landed, but that