“Of course, there was no harm in it. And there may be no harm in the man himself, or his reason for being here on Acorn Island.
“But if the girls hear of it—all of them, I mean—they are going to be scared again, and it will break up our outing and spoil all our fun. Now! I want to know what it means, Liz.”
“Don’t mean nothin’,” declared the girl, sullenly.
“Why, that is no answer,” cried Laura. 161
“Then there ain’t none,” said Liz, shrugging her narrow shoulders, and she turned to her work again.
“You absolutely refuse to talk to me about him?” demanded Laura, rather vexed.
“I ain’t got nothin’ to say,” muttered Lizzie Bean.
“Then I’ll find out about him in some other way. It is that Mr. Norman you spoke about before—I am sure of that. And I shall write to Albany and learn why he is up here and what he is doing. Of one thing I am sure: he has no business on this island frightening the girls. The island is private property and is posted.”
If Liz was at all frightened by this threat, she did not show it. And, to tell the truth, it was an empty threat. Laura Belding did not know whom to write to in the city. She did not know the address at which Liz had worked there, and at which the mysterious Mr. Norman had been a boarder.
Some of the boys came over that afternoon and arranged with the girls of Acorn Island Camp to go fishing up the lake the next day. There was a certain creek, which came in from the north side, that was supposed to be well stocked with perch and trout.