A PASSENGER FOR COCKBURN ISLAND
Neither George nor Grant was aware of the reason for their abrupt flight
when the shout of the approaching man was heard.
"Hold on!" called George to Grant after the boys had gone a hundred yards
or more. "What fools we are. What are we running for anyway?"
"Because we want to get somewhere. We don't know just where it is but
we're in a hurry to get there, I guess."
As he spoke Grant glanced toward the woods in the distance from which the
man that had hailed them had unexpectedly come. "I'm not afraid. Come on,
let's go back to the motor-boat."
"Did you find them?" inquired the captain when the boys approached the
boat.
"No."
"You look so tuckered out, both of you, that I thought maybe you saw them
somewhere."
"No, we didn't find them," said Grant, "but we saw--"
The boy stopped as if he hesitated to refer to the fact that they had
fled from a man who had unexpectedly hailed them.
"Saw what?" said the captain.
"Do you know who lives on Cockburn Island?" abruptly asked George.
For a moment the captain made no reply as he looked keenly at the boys.
At last he said, "I have sailed over to Cockburn Island a good many
times. Why do you want to know who lives there?"
"We had some strange experiences on that island," explained Grant.
"I don't doubt you," said the captain. "I don't doubt your word a bit.
What did you see there?"
"Why, it wasn't so much what we saw as the fact that there seemed to be
something very mysterious about the island and the people who live there.
We went into a little shanty one day. At least it looked like a little
shanty, not very far back from the shore and we found it all fitted up
like a city house. There were rugs on the floors, and chairs and tables
just such as you might see in town. The man had a Japanese servant, but
there was something so strange about the whole thing that we didn't know
just what to make of it. Do you know the man who lives there?"
"I have seen him," said the captain simply.
"Is there anything queer about him?"
The captain whistled as he looked up into the sky as if he was searching
the clouds for an answer. "I know him when I see him," he said at last. A
moment later he added, "I guess I see him now."
Startled by his words the boys looked quickly in the direction indicated,
and across the field saw two men approaching the shore. One plainly was
the man whom they had seen on Cockburn Island and his companion was the
one who had approached from the woods and at his unexpected and startling
hail the boys had fled up the shore.
"What do you suppose they want?" said George in a low voice to Grant.
"I haven't the remotest idea. If we stay here a little while we may know
more about it."
Not a word was spoken while the boys and the captain waited for the two
men to approach. It was plain that they were walking toward the place
where the motor-boat was anchored, although what their errand was neither
of the boys understood.
At the same time George felt of the letter in his pocket. The strange
epistle had not only puzzled the boys but somehow they were unable to
free themselves from the thought that it was directly connected in some
way with the approaching man.
At that moment George pulled the sleeve of his friend and excitedly
pointed toward the lake. Not far from the shore a swift little motor-boat
was passing and when George whispered, "That's the little Jap at the
wheel, I'm sure it is," the excitement of both boys became more intense.
Abruptly the two men who had been approaching when they discovered that
the boys were not alone, turned and walked along the shore in the
direction in which the motor-boat, driven by the Japanese, was moving.
"There!" exclaimed Grant "We had our run for nothing. Those men didn't
want us."
"I'm glad you are so well informed," said George, still watching the
departing men as long as they could be seen.
"Well, boys," said their captain, "it's about time for us to start on. If
we are going to find your friends we have got to get busy or we shan't
get back to Mackinac Island to-night."
His words at once were heeded and the search for the missing boys was
quickly renewed.
George and Grant walked along the shore maintaining a careful outlook for
their friends, or for any signs that would indicate that they had been
there not long before. Occasionally the boys advanced into the island,
but in every case they returned without having discovered any traces of
their missing companions. In this way much of the afternoon passed and
the sun was sinking lower in the western sky when the captain said,
"There isn't much use in trying any longer, boys. We must be starting
back."
Both George and Grant were depressed now for they had been working busily
throughout most of the day and all their efforts had been unavailing. The
missing boys had not been found nor had anything been discovered to
indicate that their friends had even landed on Western Duck Island.
"They will be all right," said the captain, striving to cheer up his
downhearted young companions. "They'll take care of themselves. There
hasn't been any storm and two boys in such weather can't get into trouble
on Lake Huron unless they try to and you say they aren't that kind."
"No," said George quickly. "They wouldn't be looking for trouble, but
trouble may have been looking for them."
"I guess not," laughed the captain. "Most likely when we get back to
Mackinac you'll find they are already there or else have chartered
another motor-boat to go out and look for you."
As the boys were about to take their places on board the little craft
they were surprised when they heard a hail from some one who was
approaching from the woods.
In a brief time it was manifest that the man whom they had seen on
Cockburn Island was the one who was now before them and that he was
earnest in his request for them not to depart before he joined them.
"Are you going to leave now?" inquired the man when at last he stood
beside the boys who were ready to embark on the little skiff and row out
to the motor-boat.
"Yes, sir," said Grant quickly.
"I am wondering if you'll be willing to take me on board."
"As far as I'm concerned, I'm willing."
"I guess the captain wouldn't object if I agreed to pay him. How about
it?" added the new passenger, turning to the captain as he spoke.
"The boys have chartered the boat," said the captain, "and I haven't
anything to say about it. They'll have to decide."
"Do you want to go to Mackinac?" inquired Grant.
"No," replied the man. "I want to stop at Cockburn Island."
"That's out of our course," said the captain quickly. "We shall cut right
across to Mackinac. In weather like this we're as safe as we would be on
a mill-pond."
"I'll pay you well for my passage."
"How much longer will it take?" inquired George turning to the captain as
he spoke.
"We shan't get back to Mackinac before eleven o'clock if you go by
Cockburn Island."
"It's very important," broke in the man. "I ought to be there now. I'll
pay you ten dollars if you'll take me."
"All right," said George, after he glanced questioningly at his
companion.
Without delaying, the man at once stepped on board the skiff and in a few
minutes all three were on board of the motor-boat.
There was no delay now and the swift little boat was soon leaving Western
Duck Island behind it.
Somehow the mystery in which the boys had found themselves involved
during the past few days instead of becoming clearer was darker than
before. Who was their passenger? Why was he so desirous of being carried
to Cockburn Island? These questions and many others were discussed in low
tones by George and Grant while their passenger remained seated in the
bow of the swiftly moving little motor-boat.
"Speaking of calm," said the captain breaking in upon the prolonged
silence on board, "I knew a man once that was held up three days on one
of these islands by a storm. 'Twas a regular no'-easter and blew a gale
without stopping. This man I'm telling you about managed to get ashore on
one of the islands and couldn't leave until the storm passed and he was
picked up by some boat. So you see you needn't get so down-hearted about
your friends. Something may have happened to their boat or they may have
landed somewhere and maybe they didn't pull their skiff far enough up on
the shore. There's a hundred things I can think of to comfort your
hearts."
"That's good of you," said Grant "I wish I felt about it the way you do."
It was dusk when at last the motor-boat drew near the familiar shores of
Cockburn Island.
"Some boat's ahead of you," called the captain. "See, there's a
motor-boat already there at that little landing."
The attention not only of the boys but of their other passenger was at
once called to the boat in the distance. And it was apparent too that the
man was greatly excited by the discovery.
As the boys came nearer they both were convinced that they had never seen
the boat before. They were able to see that it had been long since it had
been painted and its general air of dilapidation was so manifest that
under other circumstances the boys would have laughed at its appearance.
Occasionally they glanced at the man on board whose surprise and
excitement or alarm at the discovery of the presence of the other
motor-boat had now become more marked.
"Look yonder!" said Grant at last when they were within a few yards of
the landing place. "There's somebody coming from the house."
Both boys were silent for a brief time as they watched the approaching
men. One of them was tall and ungainly and had a strange swinging motion
as he walked across the fields. Beside him were two boys.
George suddenly grasped his friend by the arm and in a low voice said,
"Do you know who those fellows are?"