However, the man seemed too greatly occupied. He was concerned just then with the fireplace and evidently he considered himself quite safe from observation. Back and forth he went, examining the interior and exterior of the fireplace and the chimney, measuring it from every possible angle, even counting the number of stones. He took an envelope from his pocket and jotted down figures on the back of it.
Suddenly, there was a gust of wind.
The side door of the cabin, through which Hanleigh had evidently entered, blew wide open.
With a mutter of astonishment, the man swung around. He looked toward the door.
The Hardy boys and their chums ducked beneath the level of the window sill. But they were too late.
Hanleigh had seen them. They heard a shout of consternation. Then they heard heavy footsteps on the cabin floor. The door slammed. Hanleigh came running around the side of the building.
“Hold your ground!” advised Frank quietly to his companions. “Don’t let him bluff us.”
Hanleigh, red with wrath, confronted them. He recognized the Hardy boys at once.
“Spying on me, are you?” he shouted. “I thought I told you boys to stay away from this island.”
“You told us,” returned Frank coolly.
“Then what do you mean by this?” roared Hanleigh. “What do you mean by coming back here again? I’ve a good mind to horsewhip the whole crowd of you. A bunch of meddling youngsters! Now get out of here and stay away. If I catch you fellows on this island again, I’ll—I’ll—”
“You’ll do nothing, Mr. Hanleigh,” said Frank.
The man looked at them suspiciously.
“How do you know my name?” he demanded.
“It doesn’t matter how we come to know your name. But we’re here to tell you this, Mr. Hanleigh—you have no right to order us off the island. As a matter of fact, it works the other way.”
“What?”
“We’re not trespassing. You are. You have no right to be on this island at all. And you certainly have no right to be in this cabin.”
“Why, you young whippersnapper!” choked Hanleigh. “I’ll show you if I have any right to be here!”
“You can’t show us. What are you doing here, anyway?”
“None of your business!”
“It is our business.” Frank reached in his pocket and produced the key to the cabin. “See this key. Mr. Jefferson gave it to us. We’re in charge of Cabin Island from now on. I’d advise you to clear out unless you want us to report the matter to Mr. Jefferson. He can very easily have you prosecuted for trespassing on the island. He told us you had been given no permission to come here.”
Hanleigh was at a loss for words. This development came as a complete surprise to him.
“It’s a—a lie!” he gasped finally.
“There’s the key!” piped Chet. “Laugh that off.”
“I don’t believe Jefferson gave you that key at all.”
“Oh, yes, he did. We know more about you than you think, Mr. Hanleigh. We know you’ve been trying to buy this place and we know Mr. Jefferson refused your offer. We were at his house the day you offered him eight thousand dollars for the place and he turned you down. Does that look as if we don’t know what we’re talking about?”
“What do you know about this place?” demanded Hanleigh.
“Nothing except what we’ve told you,” Frank continued. “We would like to know, though, just why it is so interesting to you.”
The shot went home. Hanleigh licked his lips nervously, then stared at the boys in silence for a while before replying:
“It isn’t interesting to me,” he said lamely. “That is—except as a cabin I’d like to buy.”
“Was that why you were measuring the fireplace so carefully?” put in Biff dryly.
“I’m not going to argue about it. I’m going back to town and taking up this matter with Jefferson. He gave me to understand that he wanted to sell the island, but he wants too much money for it. That’s why I came out here to look the place over.”
“You seem to come out quite often,” remarked Frank. “Well, you’ll find us in charge here from now on. Any time you can bring us a note signed by Mr. Jefferson, stating that you have permission to visit the place, we’ll let you in. Just now, though, I think you’d better clear out.”
Hanleigh clenched his fists, glared at the boys for a moment, and then turned on his heel. Without another word, he went away. The boys followed him around the side of the cabin and watched him as he strode heavily down the slope, muttering to himself.
“We’ll see that he does go away,” declared Frank.
The boys followed.
Near the edge of the cliff they saw Hanleigh turn and look back. He seemed surprised to find that they had followed him. Then, evidently deciding that further opposition was useless, he went on down the path that led toward the boathouse at the base of the cliff.
The boys stood watching until he reached the boathouse, and they watched until he emerged again with Tad Carson and Ike Nash. The trio stood looking up for a moment, and Hanleigh shook his fist in their direction.
“Merry Christmas!” shouted Chet.
If Hanleigh heard the greeting, he did not return it in kind.
The interlopers went on down the shore toward the place where they had left their iceboat. They vanished around the bend. After a while, the boys saw the iceboat emerge into the open bay and recede swiftly in the direction of Bayport.
“That’s that!” exclaimed Biff cheerfully.
“He didn’t have a leg to stand on, did he?” added Chet.
“I don’t think we’re through with Hanleigh yet,” said Frank thoughtfully. “He isn’t the sort to back down so easily at the first sign of fight. I have an idea that we’ll see him on Cabin Island again before very long.”
“Let him come,” said Chet. “We have the
