“Kin you s-swim?” says Mark. “Swim? Naw. What I want with swimmin’? Ketch me workin’ like that! What? You hain’t got no idee how swimmin’ tires a feller! No, sir, I hain’t never learned to swim, and I don’t figger I ever will.” Mark sort of scowled. “B-better hide quick, then,” says he, and off scooted George. Then Mark says to us: “Too much l-laziness is a dum’ nuisance. I f-figgered we’d git George and swim ashore and leave that man to set and watch us. It would have f-fixed everything all right. We could have taken George right to his sister’s and got her to sign that option, and found some witnesses, and then we wouldn’t have had any worry, but now here we be, shut up on an island with George and the detective, and jest at this minnit I don’t see how we’re ever goin’ to git off it with what we want. But we will,” says he, and he snapped shut his jaws. “I hain’t a bit d-discouraged. Jest watch and see. I’m a-goin’ off to think it out.” “If we jest had that witness,” says I, “we could swim off and leave both of ’em.” “Um!...” says Mark. “Um!...” Then he turned perty sudden and walked over to a board and sat down. “Wish I knew how the mill was gettin’ along,” says I to Tallow. “Maybe it’s busted by this time.” “Bet it hain’t,” says he. “Anyhow, I wisht we had this thing over and was back to work. I kind of liked workin’ around that mill.” “Huh!” says he. “Only ones of us four I ever see workin’ was Binney and me.” “Oh, that!” says I. “Anybody can do what you was doin’, but it takes brains to work the way Mark and me did.” “If it does,” says he, “then neither of you done anything.” “Let’s walk around,” says I. We started off around the edge of the island, and I noticed we didn’t see anything of Mr. Man. He wasn’t in sight any place, and it kind of worried me. Then I happened to look across the river, and down-stream, maybe a hundred yards, was our boat stranded on a bar. I made up my mind I’d remember that and tell Mark. It might come in handy. We fussed around maybe an hour and went back, but Mark was still pulling at his cheeks and thinking. Just as we got there he started in to whittle, and says I to myself something or other’s going to happen now perty quick. “Seen Mr. Man?” says I to Mark. “No,” says he. “He’s disappeared,” says I. “F-f-find him, then,” says Mark, sharp-like, and off he went to figgering and whittling again. So we started off to hunt for Mr. Man, and pretty quick we heard him moving around among the bushes in the middle of the island. We went over cautious where we could see him, and in a minute you could tell he was searching. He was looking behind every log and under every hanging bush and up into every tree. “Huntin’ for George,” says I. “Figgers on beatin’ us even if he is stranded on a desert island.” “What if he finds him?” says Binney. “Hain’t no idee,” says I.