Cora's heart did give a quickened response to her nerves as she saw that something must be wrong. But she said not a word to her companions.
"What are they after?" asked Belle timidly.
"Probably some fishermen casting their nets for bait," Cora answered evasively. "You stay here, while I speak with old Ben."
Bess and Belle complied, although Bess felt she should have been the one to ask questions. What if anything had really happened to the boys! Jack was Cora's brother.
"Have you seen anything of some boys in a canoe?" Cora asked of the man with the lantern. "They set out this afternoon, and have not yet returned."
"Boys in a canoe?" repeated Ben, in that tantalizing way country folk have of delaying their answers.
"Yes, my brother and two of his friends went out toward Far
Island—"
"Fern Island?" interrupted the man.
"No, when we last saw them they were going away from Fern and toward
Far Island," said Cora.
"Well, if they're on Fern Island at night I pity them. There ain't never been anyone who put up there after dark who wasn't ready to die of fright, 'ceptin' Jim Peters. And the old boy hisself couldn't scare Jim. Guess he's too chununy with him," and the waterman chuckled at his joke.