“Maybe he will,” responded Fred somewhat dubiously.
“Here he comes, anyway,” said John quickly, as glancing toward the woods he discovered the man approaching, who was the subject of their conversation.
The boys waited until the man drew near and when he discovered their presence his remarks were not complimentary to either of his would-be passengers.
“No, sir, I cannot take either one of you,” he said positively. “I have something else to do. In fact I have got to do it. I cannot go to Mackinac to-day under any circumstances. But what are you two boys doing here? You haven’t explained that yet.”
“We don’t know,” said John, “just why we’re here. About all that we know is that we are here and we want to get away.”
“How do you propose to leave?”
“We want you to take us on your motor-boat.”
“And I have already explained to you,” said the stranger, “why I cannot do that.”
“We’ll pay you well for it,” suggested Fred.
“It isn’t a question of pay,” said the man. “It’s simply a question of my not being able to do what you want.”