“I wonder who he was?” asked Bob.
“Don’t you know?” inquired Jerry.
“No; who was he?”
“One of the government inspectors of lighthouses. I saw him down at Harmon Beach after Noddy and Bill, and the others in the gang, tried to wreck the steamer by showing false lights.”
“Then he’s after Noddy for his part in that!” exclaimed Ned. “But I thought they weren’t going to prosecute Noddy?”
“Maybe they want him for a witness against Bill Berry,” suggested Jerry. “At any rate we’ll give him the message if we see him. He’s to come home to attend to a matter of which he has already received official notice. Probably he’s been subpœnaed and has skipped out for fear of arrest. Maybe that’s why he said he was going to his cocoanut grove. Say, boys, I’ll wager Noddy has gone to Florida to hide!”
“But why doesn’t the government attend to its own affairs and not ask us to tell Noddy to come back?” inquired Ned. “That’s a queer way of doing business.”
“Perhaps they haven’t any officials down near Lake Okeechobee,” replied Jerry. “It’s rather desolate down there, I guess, and it would be hard work to hunt around for an unknown cocoanut plantation and locate Noddy. Maybe the matter is not of much importance, and that man may think we’ll do to deliver the message. Anyway I believe I’m right and that Noddy has fled from Cresville because he’s afraid of something in connection with the attempt to wreck the steamer, and his part in the attack on Mr. Hardack, the lighthouse keeper.”
“I’d like to see Noddy get his desserts,” interposed Bob. “He’s done us a lot of mean turns, but, somehow or other he always manages to sneak out of the consequences. If I get a chance I’ll scare him with this message. I’ll tell him the government detectives are after him with a pack of bloodhounds.”
“Better wait until we find him,” advised Jerry. “Lake Okeechobee is a big place and there’s a slim chance that we will meet Noddy.”