"Is there anything I can do to help you?"
"Yes. Can you go to the dock and ask them to hurry back? There are four ugly acting men here on the island, who have ordered us off. They threatened to make trouble for us if we do not go soon."
"Don't your friends know those men are there?"
"No; we discovered them after the boat left."
"All right, I will run down to the dock and tell them."
Max literally kept his promise relative to his manner of travel. He ran all the way to the dock, half a mile. The Catwhisker was there, tied fast with cables, but nobody was on board.
"They've gone to the depot," he concluded; then he turned his steps toward the railroad station.
He ran and walked alternately, with a dozen changes of speed, and arrived just as the train from the west was pulling in. He had no difficulty in identifying Mr. Perry and Cub when they introduced themselves to Mr. Baker, as the latter stepped from a coach, and a moment later he was addressing the owner of the Catwhisker thus:
"Is this Mr. Perry of Oswego, New York?"
The latter turned quickly and beheld a youth about the age of his own son, but of considerably shorter stature.