“No, there’s another thing he spoke about and that is the barn.”
“Ah,” said Mr. Button quickly. “What did he say about the barn?”
“It wasn’t so much what he said as what he made us believe. He told about two Great Danes they have to guard the barn and another one which they have to protect the house. He said if anybody tried to get into the barn they would have their troubles.”
“What did you say then?”
“Why, we asked him what any one would want to go into that old tumbled down barn for and he looked at us in a way that made us sure there was something there worth while. Do you suppose that Mr. Halsey hides in the barn the stuff which he smuggles into the United States?”
“I’m not sure—yet.”
“Are you going to find out?”
“That’s one of the things that brought me to Mackinac Island.”
“But the boys say,” suggested Fred, “that you haven’t any right to search his property over there. He’s in Canada and you belong to the United States.”
“I surely do,” responded Mr. Button smilingly, “but it is possible that I may try to make a few investigations, not as an officer, but simply to satisfy my personal curiosity.”