“That’s the very man. He talked almost all the way to Cockburn Island. He can do one thing well though, let me tell you.”
“What is that?”
“He knows how to cook salt pork and potatoes.”
“I fancy,” said Mr. Button, “that the air and the appetites of you boys helped you to appreciate the quality of Rufus’s cooking.”
“Maybe it did, but the strange part of it all was after we stopped at Cockburn Island.”
“What happened then?”
“Why, he wanted us to stay on board the boat while he went up to that old house. He didn’t find what he wanted and when he came back he said we would have to wait there for a while. It was almost dark then. It seems he thinks he hasn’t been treated just right by this man Halsey, who is probably the smuggler you want to get.”
Mr. Button smiled, but did not interrupt the story which Fred was telling.
“While we were waiting, Rufus got to talking about his experiences and he made us think that he was the one that wrote both those letters. He wanted to get even with the man who didn’t give him his share, as he believed.”
“Is that all he told you?” inquired Mr. Button.