“Oh, ho!” exclaimed Sid.
“Where’d you go?” asked Phil, with brotherly interest.
“Crest Island. That’s what kept me so long. I got her home in good season though, and rowed slow the rest of the way.”
“Crest Island!” exclaimed Frank. “Did you find any more clues, Tom?”
The tall pitcher hesitated. He was in two minds about what had taken place that afternoon. Should he tell his chums the secret he thought he had discovered, and get their opinions in working it out? Or should he play a lone hand? A moment’s thought convinced him. He would tell all—that is, all save Ruth’s secret. That he had no right to divulge.
“Well?” asked Frank, as his chum hesitated. “Did you find anything, Tom?”
“I sure did, fellows,” and he tossed on the table the card of Boswell, and the strands of silk.
For a moment no one spoke, and then Sid, picking up the card remarked:
“This looks suspicious, Tom. Did you and Bossy quarrel over a girl, and go to Crest Island to have a duel? It begins to look that way—exchanging cards and all that.”