“Why, you heard about the two tramps on the Eastern Star, didn’t you?”
“Yuh mean the fellers as collared the roll o’ Mister Pemberton?” asked Pet, forgetting to even shiver, in his new excitement.
“Yes, and they’re here on this island right now, hungry and desperate,” continued Frank, thinking it good policy to rub it in good and hard while he was about it.
“Here on this yer island—them desperadoes are?” gasped one.
“That’s easy to say, Langdon; but how d’ye know?” demanded Pet.
“Well, we’ve seen them, for one thing. Then they robbed us of a kettle with our supper last night. Let a cord down from the top of the cliff, and caught the bale of the kettle with a hook. First thing we knew, our supper was sailing up, and that was the last we ever saw of it,” replied Frank, now beginning to edge toward the beach, as he had suddenly decided to return by an easier path than the one he had taken in coming.
Then the boys looked at each other uneasily.
“A wild man loose here; an’ now them two desperate critters huntin’ round fur anythin’ loose. Say, fellers, it’s up ter us ter git outen this in the mornin’,” said Pet, shaking his head with determination.
And not one of his mates lifted his voice, even in a whisper, contrarywise. Indeed, to tell the truth, they looked as though the hours that must elapse ere they departed hence would fairly drag along.
Frank, believing that he had reached a point where he could boldly make his exit from the hostile camp, was just in the act of backing away when he saw something that gave him a shock.