"It doesn't 'sound foolish,'" contradicted Brice. "As it happens it's just what he wants to do. I don't know just why. But I mean to find out. He wants me away from a house over there. A house I had a lot of trouble in getting a foothold in. It's taken me the best part of a month. And now I don't mean to spend another month in getting back there." "No, sir," said Davy, respectfully, still plodding on in front with head and shoulders bent. "No, sir. Of course. But--if you'll let me ask, sir--does Hade know? Does he suspicion you? If that's why he's framed this then Roustabout Key is no place for you. No more is Dade County. He--" "No," returned Gavin, smiling at the real terror that had crept into the other's tone. "He doesn't know. And I'm sure he doesn't suspect. But he has a notion he's seen me somewhere. And he's a man who doesn't take chances. Besides he wants me away from the Standish house. He wants every outsider away from it. And I knew this would be the likeliest place for him to maroon me. That's why I sent you word .... I'm a bit wobbly in my beliefs about the Standishes,--one of them anyhow. Now, where's this storehouse prison of mine?" "Over there, sir, to the right. But--" "Take me over there. And walk slowly. I've some things to say to you on the way, and I want you to get them straight in your memory." "Yes, sir," answered the conch, shifting his course, so as to bring his steps in a roundabout way toward the squat storeroom. "And before you begin there's an extra key to the room under the second packing box to the right. I made it from Roke's own key when I made duplicates of all the keys here. I put it there this morning. In case you should want to get out, you can say you found it lying on the floor there. I rusted all the keys I made so they look old. He'll likely think it's an extra key that was lost somewhere in there." "Thanks," said Gavin. "You're a good boy. And you've got sense. Now listen:--" Talking swiftly and earnestly, he followed Davy toward the square little iron building, the conch outwardly making no sign that he heard. For, not many yards away, a handful of conchs and negroes were at work on a half-completed shed. Davy came to the store-room door, and opened it. Then, turning to Brice he said aloud in the wretched dialect of his class: "Funny avocado fruits all pile up in yon. Mighty funny. Make yo' laugh. Want to go see? Look!" He swung wide the iron door and pointed to the almost totally dark interior. "Funny to see in yon," he said invitingly. "Never see any like 'em befo'. I strike light for you. Arter you, my boss." One or two men working on the nearby shed had stopped their labor and were glancing covertly toward them. "Oh, all right!" agreed Brice, his uninterested voice carrying well though it was not noticeably raised. "It seems a stuffy sort of hole. But I'll take a look at it if you like. Where's that light you're going to strike? It--"