“Bear in mind that Mr. Manheim, the island owner, has been very friendly to the Scouts and Cubs. He’s given permission for us to camp on Skeleton Island this weekend. Now if wild accusations should reach his ears, it might prove embarrassing to say the least.”
Brad and Dan grasped the idea Mr. Hatfield intended to convey.
“After all, maybe we were mistaken,” Brad grinned. “Those waves were pretty big.”
No more was said about the sailboat mishap at that time. But later at the Cave, the two boys told Mr. Hatfield why they had been so interested in the raft operator’s contact with the motorboat.
“It seemed queer the men in the motorboat would signal,” Dan remarked. “We figured it must have been Jabowski who ferried across the river to meet them. No one else appears to be living on the island.”
“We’ll know more about Skeleton Island after this weekend,” Mr. Hatfield remarked. “The camping trip should give us an opportunity to see that everything is satisfactory before the property is purchased.”
“Then you think something queer may be going on there?” Brad demanded alertly.
Mr. Hatfield smiled and did not answer the question directly. “Oh, one can’t tell,” he replied. “No use exciting the Cubs in any case. So not a word of this to the other boys!”
During the remainder of the week, preparations for the camping trip kept Dan and Brad so busy they had little time to think of possible mystery at Skeleton Island.
However, unknown to them, Mr. Hatfield was more disturbed by the sailboat incident than he cared to admit.