"Jim Peters!" repeated the hermit. "Yes, he was here the night
Laurel went away with that nice young lady who looks like you."
Jack started at that. The night Laurel went away was the night Jim
Peters had quarreled with Tony and been hurt.
"Did he come to the hunt?" asked Jack.
"No, but the other man did. Brentano and he quarreled, and he drove Jim Peters down to his boat. I saw them for I was wandering about wishing for Laurel, and I remember it all."
"If that man, Brentano, you call him, chased Peters into the boat did he get in with him?" Jack asked anxiously.
"Yes, I saw them shove off, but Peters was ugly and wanted to come back."
"Did he?"
"I had to hide then, as they might have injured me if they caught me. I did not see the boat go out or come back. I went to one of my many hiding places," finished the old man with evident effort.
"Well, Mr. Starr, you have relieved my mind greatly, and I hope I have not taxed your brain too strongly. But the fact is the detectives are trying to find out about those men and every bit of information helps. The police, you know, like to clear things up to suit themselves," Jack said.
At the word "police," the man winced. Jack noticed the change of manner, and at once turned the subject to that of the health of his listener. He urged him to get up enough strength to leave the island, for Laurel's sake, as well as for his own.