"Quick, George! Pail!" Nancy cried.

            George picked up the bucket she had been using before and started to work. Nancy crumpled up a newspaper lying on the bottom of the boat and stuffed the hole with it. In a tackle box she found a small burlap sack, which she rolled up and added to the paper. In a moment the inflow of rushing water was reduced to a trickle.

            "Good!" George panted and sat down. "Now we can chase that other boat!"

            It was not in sight, however, and Nancy decided it would be useless to try pursuing the faster craft. She turned her attention to Bess.

            "How are you feeling?" she asked.

            "All right. But I'd like to go home."

            "We will," said Nancy. "I'm afraid this boat can't stand much more."

            "I wish we hadn't lost the fellow who ruined it," said George. "If I ever see him-"

            "Would you recognize him?" Nancy asked.

            George said she would not, and Bess had not gotten a good look at him either.

            "I saw him," Nancy said slowly. "I'm sure I'd recognize his face. And he was thin and wore a light-blue cap."

            The girls dreaded returning to Campbell's Landing with their damaged craft. But when the owner saw the damaged craft, he was not angry.

            "It won't cost more than twenty-five dollars to repair it," he assured them. "My boat rental insurance will take care of it."

            After saying good-bye, Nancy drove her friends home. As Bess got out of the car, she said, "I'm sorry our trip to Heath Castle was ruined."

            Nancy smiled. "We'll go another time."

            The following day's investigation unearthed no clue to the identity of the boatman. Though Nancy described him and his blue-and-white craft to several persons, not one of them was able to identify it. Finally she thought of Salty the clam digger.