A PERFECTLY UNSATISFACTORY INTERVIEW
"Goodness gracious!" gasped Bobby, the first to find her breath. She
fell limply against Laura and Jess. "What do you know about _that_?
Say, girls! Do you see the same thing I do, or am I going crazy?"
"Hush!" commanded Jess, hoarsely.
"Don't be ridiculous, child," advised Laura, rather sharply. "He will
hear you----"
"Will that be a crime?" demanded Bobby, still in a whisper.
"It may be," said Laura, slowly. "We don't know why the professor is
here."
"To commune with nature, I judge," said Jess, drily.
"I can't imagine Old Dimple communing with nature--not as a pastime,"
giggled Bobby.
"He surely has some good reason for being here," Laura murmured.
"We won't accuse him of robbing the camp that time, I suppose?" asked
Jess. "Or being up there last evening in the storm?"
"That trail came this way," declared Bobby, suddenly forgetting to
laugh.
"Barnacle's nose might have deceived him," said Laura.
"I haven't faith in much of that dog _but_ his nose," declared Jess.
"He showed particular intelligence in following the trail down here.
Why should we suddenly suspect him of being foolish, just because we
found what we didn't expect."
"Clear as mud!" exclaimed Bobby. "'Didn't expect' is good, however. If
you had asked me a minute before we saw him, who was the most
unexpected person to find at the end of our walk, I should have said
Old Dimple."
"Why!" gasped Jess, "it _couldn't_ be Professor Dimp."
"You mean he couldn't have been the kleptomaniantic thief?" chuckled
Bobby.
Laura began to laugh softly herself. "Nor could he have been the
person we--and the Barnacle--have been trailing," she said, suddenly.
"Why not?" demanded Jess and Bobby together.
"Did you ever notice Professor Dimp's feet?" asked Mother Wit.
"Horrors! No. Never saw him barefooted," said Bobby.
"Miss Smartie! His shoes, then?" proceeded the unruffled Laura.
"I--I----Why, no," admitted Bobby.
"Look at them now. He's not a big man, but he has plentiful
understandings," chuckled Laura. "See?"
"Plain!" exclaimed Jess, peering through the branches.
"And those footprints we followed were of a person who wears a narrow,
small boot. Small for a man, I mean. I don't believe the old Prof.
ever _could_ get into such shoes."
"Hurrah for Mother Wit--the lady detective!" cheered Bobby, under her
breath.
"I am going to ask him----"
"What?" demanded Jess, half frightened as Laura started to press
through the fringe of bushes.
"If he knows anything about that young man."
"What young man?" demanded the startled Jess.
"The young man who scared Liz last evening in the storm. The same
young man who took the things from our camp--and left the ten dollar
bill."
"The kleptomaniantic!" breathed Bobby, tagging close behind.
"Then it's the man who has been fishing with the professor?" gasped
Jess.
"You've guessed it," said Laura. "They are together. This is a camp
for two. You can see the fish-heads lying about. There are two
tin-plates and two empty cups."
"Are you sure the--the old Prof was one of those fishermen we saw in
the boat?" asked Bobby.
"I recognize that old coat and hat," said Laura, firmly. "I do not see
why I did not recognize Professor Dimp, in spite of his disguise,
before."
"Well!" sighed Jess. "I am thankful one of our fellow-inhabitants of
the island is nobody worse than Professor Dimp."
"But _why_?" demanded Bobby, wonderingly.
"We'll find out what it means," said Laura, with more confidence than
she really felt. Of course, she was not afraid of any physical
violence. But the old professor was so terribly stern and strict that
it took some courage to walk across the glade, where Barnacle was
chewing fish-heads, and face the shabby old gentleman.
"What, what, what?" snapped Professor Dimp, rising up from the log on
which he had been sitting. "Girls from Central High, eh? Ha! Miss
Belding--yes; Miss Morse--yes; Miss Hargrew--yes. Well! what do you
want?"
He seemed grayer than ever. His outing in the woods (if he had been
here ever since school broke up) had done him little good, for he was
wrinkled and troubled looking. His thin lips actually trembled as he
greeted the three girls in characteristic manner. His eyes, however,
were as bright as ever--like steel points. He looked this way when the
boys had been a trial to him in Latin class and he was about to say
something very sharp.
"We are sorry to disturb you, Professor Dimp," said Laura, bravely.
"But we are in a quandary."
"A quandary, Miss Belding?"
"Yes, sir. Our dog has been following a man who came to our camp last
night and frightened us. The dog led us right here to this spot. Have
you seen him?"
"Seen the dog?" demanded the old professor. "Do you think I am
blind?"
"I mean the man," said Laura, humbly.
"What does he look like? Describe him," commanded the professor,
without a change of expression.
Laura was balked right at the start. She had no idea what the young
man looked like, whom she believed Liz Bean knew, and whom she
believed had come to the camp at the other end of Acorn Island twice.
"I only know what his boots are like," she said, finally, and looking
straight into the old professor's face.
"Well, Miss?"
"I think _you_ can supply the rest of his description," said Mother
Wit, firmly.
"What do you mean, Miss?" snapped the old professor.
"He wore narrow boots, and his footprints lead directly to this
place," said Laura. "Surely you must have seen him."
"Why should I?" demanded the professor.
"Because you have had a companion here. Two men made this camp--have
eaten more than one meal here. Where is your companion, sir?"
"Miss--Miss Belding!" exclaimed the professor in a tone of anger. "How
dare you? What do you mean?"
"I don't mean to offend you, sir," said Mother Wit, while Jess tugged
at her sleeve and even Bobby stepped back toward the fringe of brush.
The old gentleman looked very terrible indeed.
"I don't mean to offend you, sir," repeated Laura. "But that man has
been twice to our camp. He has disturbed us. He was there again last
night and frightened our little maid-of-all-work almost out of her
wits. We have got to know what it means."
"You are beside yourself, girl!" gasped the old gentleman, and
instantly turned his head aside so that they could not see his face.
"Liz calls him 'Mr. Norman,'" Laura pursued. "If you do not tell me
who he is, and what his visits to our camp mean, I shall find out more
about him--_in Albany_!"
Professor Dimp did not favor them with another word. He walked away
and left the trio of girls standing, amazed, in the empty camping
place.