“Yes,” Saxe admitted. He was greatly disconcerted by his failure to add anything to the seer’s knowledge.
“Bully for Chris!” David exclaimed. “Crafty old critter, too, to dig into that safe. Huh! I’ve heard about that sort of devotion on the part of old family servants, but it’s the first instance I’ve struck in my own experience. Don’t have ’em in Wyoming.”
“Awful nuisance,” Billy Walker grumbled, “aged family retainers--doddering remnants, always butting in!” He gaped shamelessly, with a great noise.
Saxe, outraged by the sage’s flippant reference to sacred things of his heart, felt himself indisposed for the further companionship of his friends just then. It was this mood, rather than any anxiety concerning the treasure, that led him to devise an excuse for separation.
“Let’s get to bed,” he said, “and then make an early start for the island in the morning.”
Billy Walker, whose lids were weighted by the day’s activities, grinned contentedly at the first phrase, and scowled portentously at the second.
“That’s the idea,” David agreed. “We’ll be off as soon as it gets to be light. I’ll tell Jake to call us, and Mrs. Dustin to have our breakfast ready.” He bustled out of the room, eager for the mission.
“Dave is too precipitate,” he growled; “too precipitate by far.” He rose and started for his room. “If we’re to arise at some ghastly hour,” he explained to Saxe, “I musn’t lose an instant in getting to bed. Brain-workers require ten hours of sleep. It’s different with you others.” His feelings somewhat soothed by this gibe, he departed.
In consequence of David’s alertness, they were routed out of bed the following morning while yet there was only the most pallid hint of gray in the east to foretell the dawn. When Billy Walker found that he required a lamp to direct the process of his toilet, he was in a state of revolt. He was thoroughly disgusted when he discovered artificial light a necessity at the breakfast-table. He made it plain to all and sundry that nocturnal ramblings were not to his mind. But he sank into wordless grief when the party set forth in the launch, for darkness still prevailed, and he heard Jake announce that there would be a full hour before the rising of the sun.