County and that his name was Buffalo Dare."
This source of evidence exhausted, Hardy found that the other men in the group had no knowledge whatever of the stranger, so he hurried back to the oysterman for a last word.
"I don't want no other folks' belongin's," insisted the old man, "but nobody ain't goin' to get that boat but the lawful owner, and then only when he forks out fifteen dollars fer haulin' it out of the oyster bed. It was wuth every cent of it, and it kilt some o' my young oysters, too."
"Now, Hatton," said the pilot, turning to the boy, who had followed every word of the oysterman with breathless interest. "You stay here with Nash and don't worry. You know your father's been heard from. I s'pose one of his boats got adrift when he laid over in the Sound, and that's all there is to it. I've wasted too much time already. Nash, take care of him till I get back."
Legs, however, was in no mood to be shaken off. As fast as the words could tumble out of his mouth, he argued he must get to Roanoke Island to find out something further; it would be
