“They say ghosts are peculiar in many things,” he remarked at the conclusion of the little talk. “And that might account for the padlock. It’s all very interesting, boys. I only regret that I was not here when the manifestation occurred. Perhaps, if I hung around tonight, the thing might get up courage enough to show again. It would repay me for all my trip here. I came for the fishing; but to catch a ghost in the act, would be positively refreshing, I assure you.”
Jack was still watching the professor. While he liked the other, somehow he seemed to feel that there was something rather strange about him. He seemed to be studying the four lads as though seeking to read them, and make up his mind as to whether they were just what they claimed.
Could it possibly be that he was connected with those mysterious men who seemed so bent on chasing the motor boat boys away from the lonely island?
After chatting for some time, and making quite a favorable impression on Herb, George and Josh, the professor remarked that if they would excuse him he would step ashore, and take a look at the delightful old ghost cabin.
Josh was just about to volunteer to accompany him, when he caught the quick look Jack cast in his direction, accompanied by a negative shake of the head.
“If he wanted us he’d have said so, Josh,” came in a whisper.
A minute later the gentleman, having managed to land, vanished amid the heavy growth of timber and brush.
“Sure as you live, he’s following that trail, Jack,” he said.
“That’s only natural,” remarked the other, “because, you see, it was mighty plain, as though lots of people had gone back and forth.”
“Yes,” observed Josh, simply, “if them chaps were camping in the cabin, and going out fishing every day, of course they’d make a well-worn trail down to this cove here, where their boats must have been tied up. I’ve been thinking, Jack, that p’raps they’re engaged in some sort of fishing that’s illegal, such as setting nets against the law. Say, wouldn’t that be an idea now? And if true, it must explain just why they watched us so close. They thought we might be wardens getting on the track of their business. How’s that for a guess, fellows?”
But Jack said nothing. He was thinking along the same line Josh had suggested, but in an altogether different way from the lanky cook of the _Wireless_.