“Hello, the boat,” came the hail from the shore.
“What do you want?” asked Clay.
“I want to come on board.”
“Beds all full,” answered Alex.
“But I want to talk with you,” insisted the strange voice.
“All right,” Clay said, “proceed with your conversation.”
“I’m not here to confide to the whole countryside what I want to say to you,” was the angry reply.
Clay was considering a sarcastic rejoinder but Case laid a warning hand on his shoulder.
“There may be something in this,” the boy said. “Suppose two of us get into the boat and go over and see.”
“Don’t you think of such a thing,” Captain Joe advised. “That fellow may not have a boat of his own, but if he is of any account at all, he can get one long enough to row out to the Rambler. The place for him to talk to us is right on this deck. It may be a trap.”