“I brought them. That’s why I have been away so long.”
The man with the shining, black, gold-headed cane, leaning slightly on it as he walked, approached Ted and Janet. He looked at them with more of a frown on his face than a smile, and asked, rather sternly:
“What are you two doing here on my island? Don’t you know there are signs up forbidding trespassers?”
“No, sir, we didn’t know it,” answered Teddy.
“And we couldn’t help coming!” added Janet. “We are shipwrecked!”
“Shipwrecked! Bless my soul! Shipwrecked!” exclaimed the man. “You don’t mean it! I didn’t hear of any ship being wrecked around here. Besides, the bay is too shallow for any ship. Come now, no nonsense!” and he spoke sternly. “What are you doing on my island?”
“We—we didn’t know it was yours,” faltered Ted.
“And we wouldn’t have come here, but we got adrift while we were crabbing,” explained Janet. “We lost our oars and the anchor stone slipped out and—and—we’ll give you a basket of crabs if you give us something to eat!” she finished, with a sigh.
“Crabs? You’ll give me crabs for something to eat? Bless my—” began the old gentleman.
“Yes, sir!” broke in Janet, anxious to tell everything at once. “We’ve got a whole basket of crabs in the boat at the other end of the island—your island,” she added.