“Queer old boy, I guess,” admitted Chess. “But I want to know more about those chaps who unloaded the boxes.”
“What could have been in the boxes? Surely there is no camping party on that island. At least, no pleasure party.”
“I fancy not. If you ask me about the boxes, I am puzzled. Yet, I’ve a glimmer of an idea—Are you sure that was a woman with them to-day in their boat?”
“Wonota called her the yellow lady. And Wonota has good eyes.”
“With a yellow face, yes? And we saw a Chinaman in the boat that other time on the river,” said Chess quickly.
“Surely she wasn’t a Chinese woman? Yet, she might have been.”
“Chinese women aren’t usually smuggled over the border, I guess,” muttered the young fellow. “But Chinese men are.”
“Perhaps we should have reported it to the authorities,” Ruth suggested.
“Not until we are sure there is really something wrong. I don’t want to be laughed at, you know.”
But Ruth just then had considered another phase of the matter.