“And now, how about a few words over a cup of coffee?” suggested the colonel.
It was a very friendly chat they had with the colonel, as, with the light of the moon streaming in at their window, they sat contentedly listening to the distant roar of dashing waves.
Without seeming to pry into their affairs, the gray-haired man found out just how matters stood with them.
“You’ve been doing a grand work,” he rumbled at last. “In a most splendid spirit. Before I left I told Addison, the fuel man you know, to supply all your needs. I shall stand back of you in this.”
“Oh, that—that’s grand!” Florence choked a little.
“I don’t know how we can thank you, sir!” Dave said huskily.
“You don’t need to. This is perhaps but the beginning. I hope we have much better things in store for you.”
“The little we have done has been for the good of the kindly people of the island,” said Florence.
“And for the good of all,” added the colonel. “You must not forget that Isle Royale is to be a national park. That it is to belong to all the people of America. When you save a square mile of that virgin beauty you are saving it for all the American people.
“By the way,” he said after a moment’s silence, “That man with the speed boat doesn’t like you very well, does he? I suppose you know the reason why.”