“O-o! He got it!” she murmured, drawing in her line. With a deft hand she replaced her bait with a bit of tougher clam meat. Thirty seconds later a three-pounder was beating a tattoo in the bottom of her boat.
“That is a good one,” said the stranger. “Can you now afford a moment for talk?”
“Why?”
“It may be worth your while.”
“Well.” The girl settled back.
The man began to speak. In the twenty minutes that followed, this mystery man of the rocky isle told the girl things she had never dreamed of. He had opened up for her a new and quite terrible world. He ended by startling her with his knowledge of recent events.
“Someone stole your cousin’s punt,” he said quite suddenly, tilting on his tiptoes above the black waters.
Pearl looked at him in surprise. “Last night.”
“It was loaded with explosives when you got it back.”
Again the girl stared.