The conversation turned from the stranger who had claimed the letter to plans for the following day and then when two hours had elapsed all four boys, thoroughly tired by their experiences of the day, sought their rooms. The following morning John was surprised when he first went down to the lobby to discover there his host of the preceding day. At first John suspected that the man intended to ignore him, for he advanced toward him with outstretched hand to express his surprise at the unexpected meeting. The stranger, however, turned abruptly away. Abashed by the action John's face flushed and he watched the man when he slowly walked out to the piazza and seated himself near the entrance. Turning to the clerk John said, "Who is that man?" "I do not know," replied the clerk. "I have seen him here several times this summer." "How many years have you been coming here?" broke in John. "Fourteen." "And you never saw this man until this summer?" "No. Why?" "Oh, nothing much. I just wanted to know. I had an idea somehow that he belonged to this part of the country and that perhaps he was here every summer." "No, sir," answered the clerk. "This is the first summer he has shown up on Mackinac Island." "You mean it is the first time he has shown up at your hotel," suggested John. "No, I don't mean anything of the kind. I mean just what I say, that this is the first summer he has been seen on the island." John said no more and turned away. He had decided that he would go out to the piazza and see if this mysterious man was still there. Was it possible that he had been mistaken? Was not this the man who had received them in his strange house on Cockburn Island the preceding day? If any questions concerning the identity of the man remained in John's mind they were quickly dispelled when he glanced toward the dock and there saw the newcomer talking to the captain of the _Gadabout_. At that moment the other three boys approached the place where John was standing and declaring that they were hungry demanded that he should at once go with them to the dining-room. CHAPTER VI AN ADDITION TO THE PARTY While the boys were seated in the dining-room they found Fred's namesake, as they now called Mr. Button, seated near them at a small table. Apparently, however, he ignored their presence and paid no attention to what they were saying. Convinced, that peculiar as the man's actions were they had nothing to fear from him, the boys soon gave their undivided attention to their breakfast and to discussing their plans for the coming day. "It is agreed," said Fred, "that we are to go back to Drummond Island, isn't it?" "That's right," said George. "We shan't get as early a start this morning but we ought to do as much as we did yesterday." "I hope," said Grant, "that we shan't have any such storm."