"I am. I am in a bigger hurry than a dog with a package of firecrackers tied to his tail. It's a matter of business. No time is to be lost."
"You will have to seek another mode of conveyance."
"What? Now, you are not in earnest! Ha! ha! He! he! I see that you are something of a joker. It's all right, all right. I tumble to your game."
"And I think I tumble to your game, Mr. Cooler," said Merry, sternly. "You can have the information you want."
"The information?" repeated the queer old man, in apparent consternation. "Why, it can't be that you are connected with the Eastern Bay Land Syndicate?"
"I do not know anything about the Eastern Bay Land Syndicate."
"What a relief!" sighed Mr. Cooler. "Really, you gave me quite a start. But I am ahead of them. If the island is
as represented, I will secure it. This part of the Bay is bound to become famous with summer people."
"I do not know what you are trying to give me, but I tell you I am onto your little game. Go back to Mr. Dave Hicks and tell him I am going to Devil Island. I have met him there once; tell him I shall be pleased to meet him there again."
"But I do not want to go back to Mr. Hicks," protested the little man. "I want to go to Devil Island with you."