"Hush! They'll hear you," cautioned her sister, for Alice was very
impulsive at times.

Indeed the dudish actor and Miss Pennington were glancing rather
curiously in the direction of our friends. Then Miss Dixon came along,
whispering something that caused the other to laugh.

"Fawncy that now! Only fawncy!" exclaimed Mr. Towne, in his exaggerated
English drawl. "That's a good joke--on them!"

"I wonder if they mean us?" spoke Paul. "If I thought so I'd go ask them
what the joke was, so we could laugh, too."

"Oh, don't," begged Ruth, who disliked "scenes."

The mirth of Miss Dixon and Miss Pennington seemed to increase rather
than diminish, and Mr. Towne was now fairly roaring with merriment. He
laughed so hard, in fact, that he coughed, and leaned back against the
rail for support.

And then something happened. Just how no one could explain, but Mr. Towne
went overboard, his arms and legs wildly waving, and his cane flying far
out into the river. He struck the water with a splash, just as one of the
deckhands yelled:

"Man overboard!"