Fred at once followed and the two boys found themselves in a low, rude kitchen. The stove was in one corner and it was plain now that the smoke they had discovered was rising from it through the chimney. Upon the stove several cooking utensils were to be seen, but as yet no person had announced his presence in the little building. "There must be somebody here," whispered Fred. "Of course there is." "Well, why doesn't he show up?" "He will be here in a minute." But when several minutes passed and still no one made known his presence, John decided to announce their arrival in other ways. "Hello!" he called, and then as his hail was not answered he repeated the summons in tones still louder. "Hello! Hello!" he shouted again. While he was speaking both boys were glancing toward the rude stairway that led from the room to the small loft. They had surmised that the occupants of the house might have been caught in the storm as they themselves had been, and were in the upper room changing their clothing. "Who are you?" Startled by the unexpected sound both boys turned quickly about and saw standing in the doorway of the kitchen a man plainly puzzled by their unexpected appearance. Neither of the boys ever had seen him before. He was apparently fifty years of age, strong, and his face bronzed by sun and wind. There was an expression in his face, however, that was puzzling to both boys. He glanced quickly from one to the other and for a moment the boys suspected that he was prepared either to leap upon them or precipitately flee from the spot, they could not decide which. The man was well-dressed and it was plain that he was not an ordinary inhabitant. "We got caught in the storm," explained John hastily. "We landed down here and then we saw this little house and we thought perhaps we could come up here and dry out." "Anybody with you?" inquired the other man, still gazing keenly at both his young visitors. "Nobody but the mate." "Mate of what?" "The _Gadabout_." "Did you come over from Mackinac Island?" demanded the man quickly. "Yes, sir," said Fred. "We started this morning about four o'clock." "And you came over with Captain Hastings?" "Yes, sir. We got caught in the storm out here around the point and we couldn't get back to the _Gadabout_, so the mate just let our skiff drive before the wind and the boat was stove in when we finally landed in that little cove out yonder." "Where is the mate now?" "We don't know. He went ahead of us and the first thing we knew he disappeared from sight." "Was he on shore here?" "Yes, sir, we landed, as I told you, in that little cove and while we were getting ashore we lost the mate. We don't know where he went." "And you say there were others with you?" "Yes, sir," explained Fred, "there were two other boys and they went out with the captain." "What happened to them in the storm?" "We don't know. We wish we did," said John soberly.