He hardly gave him time to wake up completely. "The phone!" he demanded. "What's wrong with it?"
The old man stirred drowsily, and blinked sleepy eyes. Then, quite suddenly, he was wide awake and staring.
"What's matter?" he muttered. "Who're you? How did you get here?"
"Never mind who I am," Fenton said. "Just tell me one thing. Did you give a boat to three men just now? Better not lie about it. I saw them pushing off."
The old man shook his head. "Been asleep for an hour," he mumbled. His eyes had darted to the clock on the opposite wall of the boathouse, as if Fenton's question had filled him with alarm and an instant need to find out the time.
"But you expected three men to come and take a boat? One of them would be acting kind of frightened."
The old man nodded again. "Boss told me to be on the lookout for them. But I must have dozed off."
"You know why they wanted a boat in a hurry?" Fenton asked. "Boss tell you?"
"No, he just said they were friends of his."
"What kind of man is this boss of yours. Has he a police record?"