"I'll call you from downstairs, and again when we get set on the mainland. Good luck."
The girls echoed the wish.
Cap'n Mike was fishing, allowing the rowboat to drift slowly in the direction of the cove. Rick watched awhile, and was satisfied. If anyone could put it over, Cap'n Mike could.
"Now," he asked Scotty, "how do we get to Whiteside without attracting attention?"
Scotty scratched his head. "I don't know. Unless you want to walk. We could cross the tidal flats and hike to town."
Rick vetoed that. "Too far and too slow. The barber would have time to cut twenty heads of hair before we got there."
"How about asking Jerry to come for us?"
"You've got it! He could come down the wood road and pick us up right behind the island. He knows the way." Rick went into the library and called the Morning Record number. Duke Barrows answered. Rick explained that they had to get to Whiteside by the back way, without volunteering why. Duke hesitated, then agreed to send Jerry.
Rick smiled as he hung up. "Duke will get a story out of this somehow," he said. "He's so curious he could burst a seam. Come on. Jerry will get started right away."
Just before nine o'clock the boys and Jerry arrived at the newspaper office. Jerry was about to burst with curiosity, but he wasn't going to let it get the better of him. He hadn't asked a single question all the way from the wood road back of Whiteside into town.