“I think they brought the lady here this morning, about nine o’clock. I’d like to search the island for her.”
“It’s a trick!” cried Larkspur. “It’s a trick to get ashore and play us foul! Don’t you let ’em land!”
“There is nobody on this island but ourselves,” said Alfred Darkingham. “You can take my word for that.”
“Will you let me make a search?”
“I will not. I want you to go away, and at once. This is private property, and if you try to land I’ll have the law on you!” And as he spoke the young man looked not only at the Rovers but also at the captain of the steam tug.
CHAPTER XXV
ON CHESOQUE ISLAND
For a moment there was silence. Dick looked at Alfred Darkingham and then at Captain Wells.
“What do you think of this?” he asked of the captain of the tug.
The captain shrugged his shoulders.
“You do as you think best, Mr. Rover,” he said slowly. “He can certainly have us arrested if we land without permission. And the authorities have been pretty strict lately—so many folks landing where they hadn’t any business to.”