“Would that be fair to the man?” asked Nat. “He—er—he might starve to death—or try to swim to shore and get drowned.”
“He can’t starve to death in one night, and I don’t think he’ll drown himself. The authorities can come over here early in the morning and round him up, if he is here.”
“I—er—I don’t think much of your plan,” murmured Nat, and seemed much disturbed.
In about a quarter of an hour the boys reached the island shore, at the spot where Nat’s motor-boat was tied up. They helped him get in and start up the engine. He had been told how they had come to the island.
“If you want to, you can tie your boat fast to the stern and ride back with me,” he said.
“All right, Nat, we’ll do it,” answered Dave. “It is getting rather late and it’s a pretty stiff row to the school.”
The motor-craft was started up and sent along in the direction where the boys had left the Oak Hall rowboat. Their course took them past the spot where the wild man’s boat had been tied up.
“Why, look, it’s gone!” cried Gus, standing up and pointing to the place.
“True enough,” answered our hero. “He 134 must have gone off in it while we were up to the cabin.”
“He can’t be very far away, Dave.”