“Must have been. Look at the diamonds.”
“Think we can get them?”
“Believe so.”
“But, say, how about the Whisperer?”
“Didn’t see a sign of any such person. Guess she was just a hoax—never existed at all.”
“I’m not sure about that. I think she must be a real person.”
“Well, when we get back there on Flaxman Island we’ll look around.”
They arrived at the food depot next day. As soon as the exploring party had been made comfortable, Joe and Curlie set out to solve two problems, the problem of the Whisperer and that of saving the rubies and diamonds.
The question of the Whisperer was soon settled, or at least they believed it was, for, leading away from the island, they found a three days’ old sled track. The sled had been drawn by eight powerful dogs. There were no human footprints beside the sled track.
“Saw what happened to the outlaw and skipped,” was Joe’s comment.