“Yeah. Cooked some hot dogs for our supper, and Larry Reed had a can of baked beans. Boy, we had a swell feed! And never thought a thing about the picnic on the island till it started to get dark. Then we put out the fire, packed our stuff away, and made tracks for home.”
“About what time was that?” asked Mary Louise. “I mean, when you finally left your camp?”
“Nine-thirty or ten, maybe. I don’t know.”
“And you saw two people on your way back, you said?”
“Four people, really, because the Ditmars were taking a walk in the woods. They were quarreling, I’m sure. She was mad at him. Said she thought he was positively cruel!”
“What!” exclaimed Jane. “Looks as if Horace Ditmar might have set the place on fire himself—just as Mr. Frazier was expecting!”
Mary Louise wrote something in her notebook, and Freckles continued:
“Then, a little farther on, we met a tramp. At least, we think he was a tramp, though it was too dark to see his face. He was a big man in shabby old clothes. Overalls, I think. He was coming towards us—away from Shady Nook. We think he’s the man you want!”
“Had you ever seen him before?”
“I don’t think so, but I wouldn’t want to be sure. After we passed him, we saw the funny-looking woman with the big pitcher under her arm. The moon was out then, and we got a good look at her. We all think she was crazy—kind of talking to herself as she went along.