“Yes, sir,” said Alonzo, thinking he ought to add the weight of his testimony to that given by his two companions, “it was a wild man as sure as anything. And right away, sir, there were three wild boys tearing through the woods like fun. As luck would have it we came in the right direction, and didn’t get lost. Whew! I’d hate to spend a night alone on this island with that thing roaming around loose!”
The camp director and Mr. Holwell walked aside, Dick going with them.
“What do you think about it, Mr. Holwell?” asked the boy.
“They evidently did see something that frightened them,” admitted the gentleman. “But whether it was an animal or a crazy human being remains to be found out later. When boys are suddenly thrown into a bad scare they can easily mistake a hog, or even a harmless calf, for a monster.”
“But if there is some sort of strange creature loose on Bass Island,” pursued Dick, eagerly, “mightn’t that explain the thefts that have been taking place?”
“True enough, Dick,” answered Harry Bartlett, “and for one I earnestly hope that may turn out to be the case. It gives me a heartache to think of suspecting any boy among us of being a thief.”
Several other boys joined them just then. They were all trying to figure out how much dependence could be placed on the story told by Nat and his cronies. In times past they had cried “wolf” so often that now no one felt like believing them, though, in fact, there might be real cause for alarm.
“Huh!” said Dan, skeptically, “like as not they were looking to see what the chances were to leave the island when they could hook one of the boats, and then got scared at their own shadows. It’s nearly always the way with bullies like Nat.”
“But why should they want to desert us, Dan?” asked Mr. Holwell.
The other shrugged his shoulders in a way that stood for a great deal.