Pendleton; and Nell cried:

"Professor Dimp! What do you know about the professor?"

"Is _he_ here?" demanded Dora.

"Not Old Dimple?" chimed in her twin.

"You surprise me, Clara," said Mrs. Morse. "Are you referring to your
Latin teacher? and is he anywhere near here?"

"Oh, gracious! I'm always putting my foot into it whenever I open my
mouth," groaned Bobby.

"A highly impossible athletic feat, I am sure, Bobby," said Jess,
unable to keep from laughing, although she knew Bobby deserved
chiding.

"I want to know what this means," exclaimed Lil again. "Who is this
sheriff after? And why is Old Dimple mixed up in it?"

"It's the fellow who came and robbed our larder!" shrieked Nell,
guessing the enigma at last.

"I am afraid that is who the sheriff is looking for," admitted Laura,
gravely.

"And why _here_?" cried Lil. "Didn't that fellow take the food and get
away from the island?"

"We did not find him--that's sure!" said Dora Lockwood.

"Barnacle found his camp, and we saw Professor Dimp there," explained
Laura seeing that a clean breast of it was the better way.

"Who's 'we?'" demanded Lil.

"Jess and Bobby and I. We spoke to the old professor, and he was real
cross to us. He would not tell us anything about the young man."

"Then Liz _did_ see that Mr. Norman the night we were robbed?" said
Nell.

"Yes. I expect so."

"'Mr. Norman?'" Nell repeated, reflectively. "And the fellow who
robbed that bank in Albany is Norman Halliday? The very same!"

"And you knew this all along, Laura Belding?" cried Lil. "You mean
thing!"

"Oh, quit, Lil," advised Bobby, gruffly. "Why should Laura stir up a
row and scare you all? I never till this very moment guessed who the
fellow might be, myself. Of course the sheriff is looking for him!"

"And on this island!" murmured Lil. "A criminal!"

"We don't know how much of a criminal he is," said Laura, stoutly. "He
was the fellow that saved Short and Long from that dog yesterday, I
verily believe," and she wagged her head. "_He_ didn't look very
desperate, I can tell you!"

"My goodness! that's so," said Bobby, eagerly. "Let's keep the sheriff
off."

"How are you going to do it?" asked Jess. "Go down there and stone him
when the barge comes near?" and she chuckled.

"He hasn't any permit. This is private land----"

"But can't he search the island for a lawbreaker?" asked Dorothy.

"I don't know that he has a right to, without a warrant."

"But if we t