“Sha—shall we tell them?” he asked after a moment.
“Who? Grandfather and Dave? Oh—why should we? It can’t be anything that affects us! Let’s keep it for our own little secret. Perhaps we’ll solve the riddle—”
“All right,” Johnny agreed, readily. There’s a queer girl for you, he was thinking. She’d be lots of fun, though.
“Is the elderly man your grandfather?” he asked.
“Yes. Professor Casper’s his name. Only wish I knew as much as he does. My name’s Doris—Doris Casper.” She put out her hand. “I—I’ll be seeing you. Good night. And don’t forget—it’s our secret—sign of the green arrow!”
She was gone.
“Sign of the green arrow,” Johnny whispered, softly. “Perhaps I should report it to the professor. And then again—perhaps I shouldn’t. It can’t have a thing to do with this boat, and it’s entirely out of my line of duty. The girl wants to share a secret. Most girls do, in fact. So why not?”
With that, for the present at least, the whole affair was dismissed from his mind.
Half an hour later he found himself sitting alone on the after deck, glancing away at those dim, mysterious shores, and thinking back over the events that had led up to this mildly exciting night.
Two months before, he had found himself in New York wanting a job, and not able to find one. After three weeks of trying he had grown somewhat bitter about the whole thing.