"So don't worry. Stay as long as you like, and you'll have all the chance you want, Sammy, to go through the old house. You won't find anything, though, I'll wager."

Sammy said nothing, but he made up his mind that if there was anything in the deserted mansion that would solve the mystery he would find it.

A short time later Mr. Jessup's cabin was reached. It stood in the midst of a grove of trees, and through them a glimpse could be had of the frozen lake. This part of the island was separated from the portion where the boys had played Robinson Crusoe by a wide stretch of marshland.

"Which way is the hermit's cabin from here?" asked Sammy, when he and his chums had put away the clothes they had brought in their satchels.

"Right back of here," answered Mr. Jessup. "But I wouldn't advise you to try to find it alone. There's a bad, swampy bog near it, and you might get mired."

"Wouldn't it be frozen over now?" asked Frank.

"No; and that's the funny part of it. That bog never freezes, even in the coldest weather. It's down in a sort of valley, and it's protected. So keep away from there unless I'm with you. There's another reason, too, for not looking up Mr. Addison."

"What is it?" asked Sammy, while the other boys waited eagerly for the answer.

"Well, he's a queer sort of man," went on Mr. Jessup. "He doesn't like company, and he even objects to me, sometimes, though I seldom bother him. Just how he would take to you boys I don't know."

"He didn't take to us at all the first time he saw us," spoke Bob.

"I should say not!" cried Frank. "He ordered us away."

"And we went—in a hurry," added Sammy.

[Pg 73]

[Pg 73]

"Yes," remarked the hunter, with a smile. "Then I'd give him a wide berth. I don't just know what his rights are on this island. I know he doesn't bother me, and he keeps off my land, except when he wants to borrow something, or have me buy food for him. So I don't bother him, and I'd advise you boys to do the same."

"All right," answered Sammy. He did not exactly promise, and the truth of the matter was that he made up his mind to find out more 

 Prev. P 49/86 next