Mr. Holwell it was after all who, laughing as though he did not have a care in the world, started to raise their spirits.
“Come, this will never do,” he told them. “You look as if you had lost all interest in life. We mustn’t let a thing like this spoil the whole outing. Doubtless in good time the mystery will be cleared up. And now let’s talk of all our good friends here, Mr. Bartlett and Mr. Rowland, have planned to do to-day.”
By degrees he had the boys looking much more cheerful, though when they got together in clumps after the meal, the conversation was naturally almost wholly of the last strange happening.
Nat and his two cronies were seen talking earnestly. Some of the others could hazard a pretty good guess as to what must be troubling the trio. This was a time when a person’s past reputation was going to come back to haunt him. Nat, aided and abetted by Dit and Alonzo, had engineered numerous dubious enterprises in times that were gone, some of them of a questionable nature. And now being reproached by their consciences, they felt that the others must of a certainty be eyeing them with suspicion. Alonzo showed signs of wanting to desert the camp at once, being only restrained from doing so by the stronger wills of his companions, who realized that this action would look too much like guilt.
Altogether it was not a very happy lot that proceeded to take up the various duties laid out for that morning, and in doing which they had expected to enjoy themselves hugely.
After the excitement had died down the six who had been selected to visit the farm went off in one of the two boats. And while the chosen fishermen were making deft use of the mosquito-net seine in order to secure minnows for bait, Dick found an opportunity to have a little talk with Mr. Holwell.
Eddie Grant, Ban Jansen and Cub Mannis, with tin pails in their hands, hurried past, looking as though they meant business.
“We have found where the blueberries are as thick as clover in a field,” called Ban. “It’ll be an easy job filling these pails by noon. Never saw such big berries as there are on this island. It’ll be a picnic getting stacks and stacks of ’em, and we can pay our way easily as we go.”
Mr. Holwell looked at Dick on hearing this, as though he did not quite understand. Accordingly, the boy hastened to explain that Mr. Nocker had proposed that boys belonging to the association who wanted to go on the camping trip and could not spare the ready money to pay for their share of the expenses should earn enough while on the island by picking the blueberries that found a ready market in Cliffwood.
“That’s a very good scheme,” declared the minister, smiling. “And it shows that our friend, Mr. Nocker, knows more about boys than some of us gave him credit for. Of course he could have offered to pay the way of Eddie and the rest, but after all it’s the wise thing to do to make boys feel that they have earned things, and are not objects of charity.”