“That’s what I’d like to know.”
“He’s been on the Arabella, Lav!”
“Or someone of his gang.”
“Isn’t that funny? What would he come here for?”
Lavender was silent. And Sidney, staring at him as though to read from his face some explanation, suddenly fell silent, too. The secret that Cap’n Davies had laid upon her weighed heavily. She wished she could tell.
“Sid, I haven’t played square,” Lavender suddenly blurted out, flushing. “We promised to tell one another if any one of us found out anything and I did—and I didn’t tell!”
Lavender’s admission faded beside the fact that he knew something.
“Oh, what?” Sidney cried.
“I wasn’t going to tell you. I thought you didn’t care anything about the pirates any more. And the laugh’s sort o’ on me, anyway, because I thought we were all crazy to suspect Jed Starrow.”
“Tell me quick, Lav,” commanded Sidney, quivering with excitement.