Then he wheeled about abruptly and disappeared into the darkness of the cave.
The boys looked at one another in amazement.
"Can you beat that!" exclaimed Chet.
"What's wrong with the old coot, anyway?" demanded Biff. "Has he gone crazy?"
"I can't understand it," said Frank. "One minute he invites us to stay for dinner, and in the next breath he orders us away."
Joe tapped his head significantly.
"I think he's a little bit off his head."
"Perhaps it's the heat," volunteered Chet.
"He is certainly a queer old codger," Biff declared. "I don't know what to make of him."
The boys went back down the beach toward their own cave. Fortunately, before he started, Chet had had enough presence of mind to pick up the provisions they had obtained from the old man, so the boys were so much to the good, at any rate.