"Knee-deep!" "Better go round!" "Skeel!" "Skeek!" "Skeel!"
"Skeek!" "Blub!" "Glub!" "Chralk!" Gladys's eyes started out of
her head at the unearthly noises. Her nerves were just about on
edge from their incessant piping when suddenly a long, eerie
laugh rang out over the water.

"Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"

She screamed aloud and sat up in bed. "What's the matter?" said
Migwan, waking up.

"What was it? Oh, what was it?" asked Gladys in a voice cold
with terror.

"What was what?" said Migwan.

Just then the sound rang out again. "That!" said Gladys.

"Why, that's nothing but a loon," answered Migwan. "Isn't it
lovely!" And she fell asleep again.

But slumber would not come to Gladys. The bed sagged in the
middle and she could not get herself adjusted to it. She was
finally in the act of dozing off when the bed collapsed with a
jarring crash. Instantly the whole camp was awake. Migwan
jumped up and lit the lantern, and Nyoda came running over from
Alpha to see what was the matter. There was much laughter over
the mishap, but unfortunately Gladys got the idea that Sahwah,
who had giggled uncontrollably from the start, was responsible
for the bed going down. "You made it fall down," she said to