"Hello! found something, have you?" asked Bobolink.
"Mebbe the footprints of the ghost!" chuckled Tom, meaning to be humorous.
But Jack saw that his chum was very serious; and as he dropped down beside Paul, he let his eyes fall upon the sand.
"What's this, Paul?" he remarked, immediately. "Looks like the prow of a rowboat had been pulled up here—why, that's a dead certainty, because look at the plain prints of boots here, and several different kinds, too. Shows that somebody landed here on the island; and Paul, it must have been after that rain storm, for these marks don't seem to be washed, as they would be if the rain had beat down on them. What in the world d'ye suppose it means? Are there people on this queer old Cedar Island? If there are, who can they be, and why should they hide from everybody like this?"
As Jack said this he looked up. Bobolink and Tom were staring at the plain marks in the sand, with wonderment written on their faces; and even Paul shook his head.
CHAPTER XIV
TRYING TO FIGURE IT ALL OUT
"We'll have to look into this thing," said Paul, finally, seeing that his three chums were waiting for an opinion from the one they looked up to as their leader.
"But what I said was pretty close to the truth; wasn't it, Paul?"
Jack asked.
"Every word of it" came the ready response, for Paul was always willing to give every fellow his meed of praise. "The only trouble is, it stops right where you left off. None of us can say a word after that."