“And he asked you to recover the box.”
“Yes. But I wanted it for myself. I had become acquainted with a man who said he could dispose of it for me. He offered me fifty thousand dollars for the collection.”
“Fifty thousand dollars!” exclaimed the boys.
“It is worth even more than that, for many of the stamps have increased in value since the year they disappeared. I don’t suppose Elroy Jefferson would sell it at any price. My uncle was dead, I was the only person who knew where the stamps were hidden, so I made up my mind to get them for myself. I came to the island, but I soon saw that the only way I could get at the box would be to wreck the chimney. I went to Elroy Jefferson and made him an offer for the cabin. I did not have the eight thousand dollars I offered him, but I thought that if he accepted, I could give him a small cash payment, occupy the island long enough to get possession of the stamps, and then I would clear out. But he wouldn’t sell. So then I determined to get the stamps by hook or by crook——”
“Mostly crook!” interrupted Chet.
Hanleigh flashed him a glance of hatred.
“You boys spoiled my game!”
“We were almost ready to give up,” Frank told him. “If you hadn’t been so persistent we might have left the island and you might have got the stamps after all.”
“I was afraid you would find them first,” said Hanleigh. “When I lost that notebook, I was afraid you would solve the cipher and get the box before I had a chance. Well, I took a long chance, and I lost. That’s the whole story. Now what are you going to do?”
He glared at them defiantly.