"Who sent you here?" he asked of Will.
"Gee-whiz!" exclaimed Tommy angrily. "Is this the third degree?"
"How long are you going to remain here?" asked Antoine, without paying any attention to the boy"s question.
"Gee!" exclaimed Tommy. "You make me think of the stories of little Clarence in the newspapers! You"re the original little interrogation point."
"You"d better answer my questions!" thundered Antoine, losing his temper at last.
Now this was exactly what Tommy had been hoping for. Antoine angry might prove to be more communicative than Antoine in a pleasant temper.
"Will you answer a few of my questions?" asked Will, wondering if it would be possible for him to spring upon the trapper and bring him down before his rifle could be brought into use.
"If you"ll keep that impertinent little gutter-snipe still,"
Antoine snarled, "I"ll answer such questions as seem to me to be worth answering."
"Are you the man who was seen sitting half-asleep before a fire in a cavern three nights ago?" asked the boy.
The man hesitated for a moment, as if in deep thought, and then answered with an exclamation of impatience.
"Were you in the cave that night?"
"No, but my chums were," Will replied.
"What did they see there?"
"A man asleep by the fire!"
"Perhaps the man wasn"t asleep at all. What else did they see?"
It was Will"s turn to hesitate now. He was wondering if he ought to mention the fact of the presence in that cavern of the Little Bra.s.s G.o.d.
At first it seemed to him that he ought to do so, that he might be able to secure information as to the exact situation from Antoine by facing him with the fact of the discovery of the ugly little idol.
Then he reasoned that an acknowledgment that they knew anything whatever of the Little Bra.s.s G.o.d would be likely to get them into deeper trouble, if possible, than that which they now faced.
So the boy decided to say nothing whatever of what George and Thede had seen shining in the light of the fire.
During this brief time of silence Antoine brought his rifle into a more menacing position and began stirring about angrily.
"Are you going to answer my question?" the man finally demanded.
"That"s about all so far as I know!" replied the boy.
Of course Will was not telling the exact truth, but he believed that, under the circ.u.mstances, he was privileged to shade the exact facts a trifle in the interest of his own safety.
"What was it you put in the tea you gave George?" asked Tommy with a mischievous grin on his freckled face.
"I put nothing whatever in it!" replied Antoine, "that is, I put nothing in it calculated to do the boy any harm."
It seemed to the boys that Antoine"s manner was becoming more conciliatory every moment.
"The lad was worn out, weak from loss of blood, and sadly in need of attention," the man went on, "and so, after caring for his wound and giving him a good breakfast, I gave him a mild sleeping potion, which, as you already know, affected him only a short time."
"You say it well!" grinned Tommy.
Antoine threw an angry glance at the provoking youngster, but soon turned to Will once more.
"I didn"t quite understand the sudden attack the boys made on me,"
he said. "I was astonished when I received the blow which broke my wrist."
"Who set your wrist?" asked Will.
"There was only one bone broken, and I set it myself!" was the reply.
"Perhaps we did wrong in taking it for granted that George had been drugged to get him out of the way, and that we would share the same fate," Will admitted after a moment. "But, under the circ.u.mstances, I don"t see how we could have done any differently."
"I"m sorry you were so precipitous," Antoine said with what was intended for a suave smile. "You boys, I understand," he went on, "are now occupying the cabin on the island in the marsh."
"Who told you that?" asked Will.
"No one!" was the reply. "I have been near the place twice since you took possession.
"Why didn"t you call?" demanded Tommy.
Again the boy"s question was ignored.
"Did you see any one loitering about the cottage when you were there?" asked Will. "You were there in the daytime, I suppose."
"Why do you ask that question?" demanded Antoine, giving a quick start. "Have you been annoyed by people hanging about the cabin?"
Will didn"t know whether to relate the story of the midnight visit or not. He finally decided that the least he said to Antoine the better it would be for him, so he replied that they had pa.s.sed two very restful nights in the deserted log house on the island.
"Did you find it deserted?" asked Antoine.
"It had the appearance of having been recently occupied," replied Will. "I understand from one of the boys that Pierre formerly lived there."
"So I understand!" Antoine replied grimly. "The point now is, whether it was occupied by any one after Pierre left it."
Not caring to tell the exact facts. Will said nothing whatever, and for a moment there was a rather embarra.s.sed silence.
"What do you say about that?" demanded Antoine.
"Why, I think there was a little fire left when we went into the place," Will replied, "but that might have been a left-over from the day before. Those large fires burn a long time."
"And you say that you have not been disturbed at all during your occupancy of the place?" Antoine continued.
"Now I wonder how much this fellow knows," Will asked himself while Antoine stood gazing curiously down upon him. "I wonder if he knows about the people who came there that night? He seems to have a suspicion that some person is wandering about the country, and keeping pretty well out of sight. I wish I knew how much he knows."