"What's that you say? What's that you say?" demanded the captain sharply, as he glared at John. "Why, what I said," explained John, "was that you seem to be very much impressed by him. Do you know who he is?" "I don't know nothin' about him," retorted the captain, resuming his occupation once more. When at last the captain declared that they had arrived at the grounds he was seeking the boys renewed their attempts of the morning. For some reason, however, all their efforts were unavailing. Either the fish were not there, or they were not biting. "I believe, Captain," said John, at last, "that you were more interested in following that man than you are in getting a good shoal for us to fish over." "What's that you say?" retorted the captain. "It's no such thing. It's no such thing. I don't care about that man any more than I do about--you." "You have a strange way of showing it, then," suggested Fred with a laugh. "I tell you what I'll do, boys," said the captain at last. "If we don't have any luck here by noon I'll take you across the channel and we'll try it 'long Cockburn Island." "But we haven't any right to fish there. That's in Canadian waters," said John quickly. "Well, I have a permit," explained the captain. "Good for us, too?" inquired Fred. "Yes, good for you, too." Both boys were somewhat dubious as to the extent of the permission secured by the captain, but they made no protest. Swiftly the little boat was rowed across the intervening waters and in a brief time, under the shelter of the bluffs of the island they were seeking, preparations were made for resuming their sport. "We don't want many fish just now," said the captain. "That's lucky for us," laughed Fred. "What I mean is, that we want something for dinner, but that's about all. After dinner we'll see what we can do with our luck." When the time came for landing, the captain turned to the boys and said, "Before I start a fire I want to go up to that house yonder for a minute." "We'll go with you," suggested Fred, winking at John as he spoke. "No, no," said the captain sharply. "You stay right here on the shore. If you want to you can start a fire and have things goin' so that when I come back everything will be ready." "What do you suppose is the matter with the captain?" inquired John after the departure of their guide. "Why he's either afraid of or he doesn't like that Mr. Button. Maybe he's the man that wrote that letter." "More likely he's the man that the other fellow wrote the letter about," laughed John. "I think myself that the old fellow will bear watching." "I haven't seen anything in him that I thought was wrong," said Fred. "Naturally he doesn't waste very much affection on the officials of the law." "I don't see why he shouldn't," broke in John. "Unless there's something wrong with him."