“I’m afraid Aunt Nina spoiled you terribly.”
Billy stepped back and surveyed the tree with a proud air. “I never went so high before. You can see the ocean off yonder.” He swung his arm seaward with a grandiose air. “The hospital, too. There was even a seat to sit on.”
“A seat!” exclaimed Brad. “You mean boards nailed across the limbs to make a seat?”
Billy nodded. “I sat on it. The wind swings the top. It was fun. I was a bird up there!”
“Kitty, I’m going up!” Brad said, with sudden decision. “Somebody has a lookout here.”
“Oh!” The very idea seemed to take Kitty’s breath away.
A moment later Brad was scaling the tree by the route Billy had taken.
“He can climb ’most as good as me,” boasted Billy. “I’m going up, too.”
“Indeed, you’re not! You’re never going to climb such a high tree again.”
While Billy picked up his imaginary gun once more and played at shooting them, Kitty’s mind was in turmoil. Finding this tree lookout was certainly a sequel to what Uncle Mose had told them. It seemed quite obvious that the man who had leased Terrapin Island wanted to be sure that this end of the estate was kept entirely private, even to the extent of moving an ignorant old negro from his life-long home.