Jack and Peggy were left at the dock in Ives Bay, while Leslie took the wheel for the homeward trip. This they made quickly, landing in time for Beth to superintend the hot lunch. Mr. Tudor was invited to partake, but he thanked Beth and declined, saying that he had work to do and that his late breakfast made a late lunch desirable.
For Leslie and Sarita it had been a full and surprising morning. After lunch was over, with its work, they found a quiet place apart where they could discuss the present dilemma.
CHAPTER XVII
PIRATES’ COVE
Bill’s men, out in the boats, reported to him at noon the short trip of the Sea Crest and the passengers upon it. Bill accepted the report, thinking that the “writin’ feller,” if he liked the girl who made pictures and kept himself to his work and his visits with the Secrests, was probably harmless so far as Bill’s pursuits were concerned. He dispatched Tom Carey with an excellent choice of fish, which he could leave at the tent if the man had not returned. But Tom chose to wait for Mr. Tudor.
“Hello, Tom,” Evan Tudor called, as he approached his tent and saw Tom stretched out on a rock by the stream. “Have you been waiting long? You might have left the fish, but I’m glad that you did not. Anything to report?”
This last was in a lower tone, after he had jumped across the stream by its little stepping stones to the rock where Tom now stood.
“Yes, I have. Here are the fish.”
“Good. Those are fine. Bill must think that I have an appetite, but then I did not limit the quantity and the more delivered the better business for Bill.”
“Yes, sir,” grinned Tom. “I didn’t expect to have any news for you so soon, but Bill is about sick to-day, having a chill or something. So he wants me to take a boat, go to Pirates’ Cove, row into the cave and bring out a man.”
“What?” Evan Tudor was a little puzzled. “I thought, from what I have been told that it was not safe to go into the Cove at all. Miss Secrest just spoke of it on a trip that they took me around the bay and through the channel to Ives Bay.”