 That's a ferry, that's a ferrox. Oh, since we left the mainland. Say, you don't think it might be a fire. That you were a soldier, Corporal Denton, not a sailor. Yeah, Gary and my time, a man whose soldier had no little of everything. No telling what he might get into. Oh, days they got everything specialized. No chance to let a man use his brain. All right, Lee, swing around and cut the engine. We'll beat you right up to the little inland. Yes, sir. Hop out, Gary, make her fast. Yeah, okay. If we're free right here, we can tie onto him. Well, tie her up, tie, Gary. We can't have the boat drifting away. Yeah, it's done. Come on. Easy there, Lee. All right, let's go. Whoa. Hey, wait a minute. Hey, we're not the only boat that's been tied up here. Look here, lads. What's the matter? Look here, marks of another boat. See them there on the sand? Gee, they sure look like it. They are. About as fresh as if they was made last night. See here, here's another place. Yeah, and look here, footprints. You're right, Corporal Denton. There has been someone here not long ago. I wonder if he's still in the shack. I don't think so. He'd have to use a boat to get off the island, and the boat's gone. It's true, true, not, Gary, but maybe... Well, let's give a hello and find out, huh? Here goes. No answer. Come on, let's go. Here, here, here, here. I'm in command, being rank an officer. Take it easy like now. Ain't no use rushing off into a place not known what's ahead. Say, if you tried that in the Philippines in my day, you'd find yourself in a pretty bad hole, so easy does it. I'll lead the detail. All right. All right. Doesn't seem like anybody's here. You never can tell, Gary. Many an ambush has been successful, because those caught in it thought they were safe. Oh, oh, there's the shack. Yeah, nobody's around. Hold off a minute, lad. Say that the door's open. So it is. All right, I guess we're safe for a little foray. Look a little faster, lads. Holy smoke, I nearly jumped out of my skin. What do you see, Corporal Dan? Right there. Take a look at that tree. Why? Some of the little branches have been cut off. That's right, Lee. Take a closer look at them. Look here, lads. Somebody's hacked off a few of the small branches with a knife. And it ain't so long time ago, neither. Sapp ain't had time to heal the cuts. Hey, you're a woodsman, too. Oh, piss talk, Gary. That's something everybody with even a little mind of sense would know. Now, whoever was in this cabin certainly was a greener, a rookie. Didn't have no better sense than to try to use green wood for a fire. Well, come on. Let's look inside. Yeah, okay, let's go. Now, easy there, Gary. I'm still living the detail. Now, I'll peek in. You lads, keep back until I give you the coming head. You keep your noses right here. Life is not at stake, but we can take any chance. I think he's making more of this than is necessary. He likes to do it. He's a lot of fun. I think he knows he's kidding. All right, lads. Come on. All's clear. Okay, we're coming. Well, not a soul here. Whoever our bird was, he flew all right. Oh, there's an answer to your fire and smoke, Jerry. Green wood in the fireplace. Yeah, the rookie didn't know it would smolder for a long time. Yeah, I get it. Every once in a while, it would sort of flare up and smoke would come from it. Yep, that's the answer. Like, it's not. It was somebody who didn't have no place else to sleep. Somebody had something to eat. Look here. Oh, something left in the paper. Well, maybe he didn't have no place to sleep, but he didn't skimp himself when it came to eating. Part of a steak left. No goodin'. Best cut. How do you know? Listen, Lee, a man once done his own coconut on to 25 years should know which cut of a steak is the best. Yes, sir. Whoever this was, he gave himself good ration. Hey, look what I found. What is it, Jerry? Look, a gold pencil. Oh, good ones, too. Cheap pencil, lads. Here, let me see it, Jerry. Yeah. Here you are. Oh, good gold and solid, too. Say, are there any initials on it? No, no, nothing. Just plain gold pencil. Well, that's funny. Funny? What do you mean? I guess he just forgot it. Or maybe it fell out of his pocket. Well, I don't mean the reason for him leaving it here, Jerry. I'm thinking about what kind of a person would have a pencil like this. Anybody might have one. I don't know about that, Lee. Oh, gee, I think you're kidding us, Corporal Dent. The way we crept through the clearing to get here and all of that. Well, I will give you that, lads. Corporal Dent was having a bit of fun with you there, but... No, sir, I'm serious now. Because something just struck me like a steel-jacketed bullet. You're not kidding us again? No, no, ain't Lee. Not a bit of it this time. Then what do you mean? Ever read detective stories, lads? Oh, of course. Well, let's be detectives for a minute. Now, we thought that anybody who'd stay in this shack would be looking for a place to sleep. Isn't that right? Sure. Maybe a hobo. Yeah, no. Now, if he was looking for a place to sleep, it stands to reason that he wouldn't have any money to spend for a hotel. No, that's right. Sure, it's right. I said it. No, all right, so far so good, lads. Let's just go a little further now. It stands to reason that anybody having a gold pencil that looks as expensive as this one could be afforded to stay in a hotel. He wouldn't have to stay in an old broken-down shack all night. And he wouldn't have to be cooking his own meals. How's that? Well, what's the matter, don't you follow it? Yeah, I follow it all right. I'm not so sure about it either, Corporal Dan. Not so sure about it, why it's as plain as the nose on your face. Well, it sounds good, but there's one thing wrong. Maybe the pencil was, well, was some sort of a keepsake. Maybe whoever stayed here was keeping it. Sure, and, you know, didn't want to sell it to get money. Oh, no, no, don't think so. Ain't no initials on the pencil. Anybody that gives a pencil like this puts initials on it. I don't think it's keepsake. I think you're kidding us again, Corporal Dan. And I'm telling you I ain't. Old pencils and hobos just don't jive together. They don't fit in. You've been reading detective stories, Corporal Dan. I ain't, I'm just using my head. I'm telling you lads that I ain't got an eye on to 50 years of army behind me for nothing and some years of them spent in Indian country where every mark meant something to a smart scout. Well, suppose it was somebody. Somebody like you said, a man who could afford to spend the night in the Faroaks Hotel, but didn't. A man who could afford to buy the best meat, like you said. Well, what then? Then lads, then we ask why. Why what? Oh, Tarn Nation, leave. I gotta point out everything, ain't you got no imagination of your own? What do they teach you young lads nowadays? They give you everything in books and nothing in the head. Now think, lads, think. Wait, I'm beginning to see. Yeah, so am I. You mean, why should he spend the night here? I'll bet my hat my best one, that he was up to no good. You sure do make it sound real. Yeah, I'm beginning to believe you, Corporal Dan. About time. Maybe he was hiding. From what? That's something else again. But I'll bet anything that he was hiding from something or somebody. But this is a funny place to hide. Wherever it was, might have known that he was going to be found out. You can't just hide in the middle of a lake that's surrounded by people that'd be bound to catch sight of you. Jerry's right, Corporal Ben. Jerry's right. And that gives me all the more reason for believing that something's up. Call ya, I bet you're right. It certainly sounds that way. Lads, we're going back to my cabin and telephone. Have you got a telephone? Yes, I have. But don't you go spreading that all around. I just keep it there for emergencies. You know, you never can tell it's coming out. Well, a telephone, I mean now. Well, I ain't had so much fun in a long time. Might be that we're just barking up a bear tree, lads. But, well, anyway, we're having fun and doing it. Yeah, but why are you going to telephone? Why? Well, I'm going to call Will Edwards, the butcher. And I'm going to ask him if a stranger in town bought a best-cutter steak yesterday. Come on, lads. Jerry, maybe you shouldn't have picked up that statuette. Well, I did pick it up. And if this isn't an adventure, Corporal Dennis, you're making it seem like one. Well, let's go. Yes, all right, come on. Hey, Jerry. Hey, what are you doing, Jerry? Well, I'm just looking in this wood box. Huh? Some newspapers in here. Oh, come on. Jerry, come on. Ain't no time to be rummaging through trash. Come on, get a move on. Hey, wait a minute. Wait. What's so interesting about old newspapers? Nothing interesting in old ones. But there is something in new ones. Oh, so our mysterious man left newspapers behind, eh? Ah, looky here. See, this isn't a Faroaks paper. Hey, huh? Well, here, let me look at it. Why do I get my glasses on here? And, uh, let me see. Yeah, you're right. Tend a Faroaks paper. See the town, how papers fold around. Uh, yes, here's the town's name. See, it's kind of interesting. You know, this paper comes from Wardville. Wardville? Yeah. That's the town about 150 miles from here, isn't it, Corporal Dennis? That's right, that's right. Big town about the old three times the size of Faroaks. Well, we'll just keep this. See, look at here. What now? Look at this little sticker fastened to the top of this page. What kind of a sticker? Well, it says, uh, the central and northern railroad wishes you good morning. This paper is placed on your dining cart tables, another added service of the sea and then route. Well, say, looks as though you were right, Corporal Dent. Anyone who travels on a sleeping car certainly wouldn't be a hobo. Well, how do you know he did travel on a sleeping car? Oh, he's right, Jerry. This sticker says, good morning. That means he ate breakfast in a dining car, so he must have been on the train at night. Hey, wait a minute. Turn back to the front page. I thought I saw something. Oh, yes, there you are. What did you see? Look, Lee, look at the headlines. Government continues investigation of bomber crash. Guy Linwell on road to recovery as son visits him. Linwell, he's, uh, he's that, uh, that aviator following it. Yeah, his son Harold is a cadet at Faroaks. And let's see what else it says. Yeah, read it. Wait a minute. I'm trying to find it. Let's see. Now, the headline goes over this way and... Well, well, come on. Give me the paper. I'll read it. You hurry up. Well, wait a minute. Give me a chance, will you? I don't think anybody's going to read the story in this paper. What are you talking about, lad? Come on, come on. Well, take a look for yourself, Jerry. Look, Corporal Dent. Well, let me see. Well, now, this is getting better all the time. You know, I'd mean I was just doing a bit of kiddin' before, makin' somethin' mysterious like, but now this. The story about Harold's dad is cut right out of the front page. By somebody who was in this cabin, who didn't want to be seen by anybody. And he was pretty interested in Harold's dad. But why would he come to Faroaks? Harold's dad isn't here. No. Harold's dad ain't and... and neither is Harold. Huh? What do you mean? Never mind, lads. Something tells me that this thing is kind of grown beyond a little fun. Come on. We're going to see the major at the school. Let's go.