“Seems to me Mr. Nocker knew what he was saying when he warned us to beware of that thief up here on Bass Island. Looks as if we ought to chain things down good and tight every time we go to sleep, because they do seem to have a queer way of walking off.”
Humbert Loft was seen to curl his lip, and those close to him heard him give a scornful sniff while he observed in his drawling, affected way:
“It’s simply shocking, that’s what I think. Why, right now every individual in this camp is really under suspicion of being a vulgar thief! I never dreamed that I should find myself amidst such dreadful surroundings. I imagine some of my ancestors would turn in their graves with horror if they knew a Loft had the finger of suspicion pointed at him.”
He looked as though his appetite had been taken away by the thought. The boys, however, being no respecters of persons, only laughed.
“The walking’s good between here and the station, Humbert!” remarked one.
“And there’s sure to be a train for Cliffwood before night, you know,” another told him in a mocking tone.
Humbert turned red, but for all that there was a glint of defiance in his eyes, Dick noticed, when he flung back his answer.
“Oh! I suppose we’re all in one boat, boys, and if you can stand it I ought to be able to do so. On the whole, I’ll reconsider your offer of some of that bacon, Eddie. Perhaps it may start my sluggish appetite, who knows?”
“But who can it be, hanging around here and stealing everything he can lay his hands on?” persisted Phil Harkness.
“Might be some lunatic that’s escaped from the asylum and is hiding in the woods and brush on the island!” intimated Peg.