Leaving the girls still seated in the skiff, Serge leaped from it to the deck of the Merry Jane just in time to see a man jump over the side into the deep marsh grass.
Serge looked after him, but the intruder was completely hidden by the tall growth.
“He got away!” Serge called to the girls. He was about to follow the runaway man when Arden stopped him.
“There’s no use in following him, you could never catch him in that marsh,” she said and Serge was forced to agree with her as he saw how dense were the tall cat-tails and sedge-grass in the swamp.
“What did he look like?” Terry asked.
“I couldn’t see his face. He was just going over the side when I approached. But I saw black rubber boots.”
“That might have been anyone,” Arden said. “Half the natives in Oceanedge wear boots around the marsh.”
“Let’s go inside,” suggested Sim, “and see what he was after.”
“Yes,” agreed Serge. “That’s the only thing to do now.”
He led the way and, not pausing for a moment in the outer room, parted the curtains and, as the girls could see, went straight to the shattered cupboard.