"I'll tell you how you can get away from this house in double-quick time. Be off with you!" roared the man. "What do you mean by turning up here and scaring a man out of his wits? We thought this island didn't have a soul on it but us."
"What are you doing here?" asked Phil quietly.
The man turned red and stammered. He was too stupid to think of a prompt answer.
At this moment a man who had all the appearance of a gentleman appeared at one side of the house. He bowed pleasantly to Madge and Phil, but did not try to conceal his amazement at seeing them.
The girls were equally nonplussed. They certainly had not been prepared to meet a gentleman in this oddly assorted company.
"I overheard your story," he remarked pleasantly. "You will forgive the surprise of my servants at your unexpected presence. We presumed we were alone on the island. It is supposed to be entirely uninhabited, except in the hunting season. The place is so desolate that I brought this gypsy lad and his mother over to look after my man and me. I am sorry that I can not offer you any assistance in returning to your homes at present. My boat brought me to this island and left me, as I wish to be entirely alone."
"How funny!" exclaimed matter-of-fact Phil. "I should think you would be awfully lonely."
"I am—I am recovering from an attack of the nerves, due to overwork," replied the stranger suavely.
"And are you all alone in the house, except for your servants?" questioned Madge, with her most innocent, far-away expression.
"Yes," replied the man in the same moment, fixing his cold, blue eyes on Madge and Phil. "I am entirely alone in the house except for my man. The gypsy woman and her boy Jeff live in a tent a little distance off. I am sorry you have had your long journey across the island for nothing. The boy will show you a shorter way back. Rest assured that as soon as my boat comes for me, I will communicate with you. Until then it is wisest for you not to return to this side of the island."