"I trust you will pardon me for the deception, young gentlemen," smiled the little secret service officer. "Had to do it, you know. Just came over to set Mr. Merriwell at liberty, but I see you are here ahead of me."
Bruce Browning leaned against a tree, looking tired and unnerved.
"This is too much for me!" he muttered. "I'm sure to go into brain fever! I can't comprehend it all."
Nor could the others just then, but every word the little man had spoken proved true. He showed them the skillfully concealed entrance to the cave, which was sometimes used in which to hide the bogus money. They understood how he had been able to give them the slip in such a remarkable manner.
Then all went over to the old boarding house, where the boys inspected the prisoners. Dan Hicks glared at Frank and cursed him, snarling:
"All I regret is that I didn't cut your throat!"
Beneath the building was a room the boys had not discovered, and there the "queer" had been made.
At last the mystery of the island was solved, and Frank Merriwell was satisfied. But the boys had been furnished with a topic for conversation and discussion that would be interesting for a long time to come.
And Frank was well satisfied to leave Devil Island at last.