"Could I not fetch it? You don't want to leave the girls when they
have just come up," Jack interposed.
"I am afraid this time I will have to get my own mail," said Cora
with a smile. "Ed can run me down and we will come straight back."
This was finally agreed upon, although Jack did not like the
arrangements. He called Ed aside and warned him not to let Cora
leave the boat, not to let her speak to anyone, and not to let any
one intercept her. "You can tell about those lawyer fellows," he
finished. "They might think it their legal duty to interview her,
for they know she has been let into the hermit's secret."
Ed readily promised all Jack said, punctuating his remarks with a
display of arm muscle which meant that anyone would have to pass
pretty close to it to reach Cora while she was in his company. Then
they left.
Jack sat down on the ledge near the water. He was not given to the
"glooms" but surely he had had more than his share of serious
business lately. How it would end was his cause for anxiety. So he
was pondering when Laurel touched his arm.
"Father would like to speak to you," she said in a faint voice. "He
seems to think he knows you."
Jack jumped up suddenly. "He spoke to me very rationally last
night," he said; "perhaps that is what he means."
He followed Laurel into the hut. The old man had gotten up and was
as nicely washed and fixed as a sick person is usually when loving
hands hover around.
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