CHAPTER III.
A MUD-BESPATTERED ARRIVAL FROM CALIFORNIA.
Acting upon the suggestion contained in Elta's note, Winn lighted a fire in the galley stove, and was soon enjoying its cheery warmth.
When the tea was heated, he ate heartily of the supper so thoughtfully provided by the dear girl, and his heart grew very tender as he thought of her and of her unwearying love for him.

"I ought to go and find her this very minute," he said to himself; "but I must get dry first, and there probably isn't any fire up at the house." To while away the few minutes that he intended remaining on the raft, Winn got one of the books of exploration from a shelf in the little after-room, and was quickly buried in the heart of an African forest.
Completely lost to his surroundings, and absorbed in tales of the wild beasts and wilder men of the Dark Continent, the boy read on and on until the failing light warned him that his lamp was about to go out for want of oil.
He yawned as he finally closed the book.

"My! how sleepy I am, and how late it must be," he said.

"How the wind howls, too! It sounds as if we were going to have a storm.

I only hope it will bring plenty of rain and high-water.