Hal and Bud.

Half an hour later they returned, with the prisoner, his hands still
shackled with the rope strands. They had been unable to find Mr.
Baker's son on the island where the prisoner said he and his companions
had left him.

Meanwhile Mr. Perry had returned in the Catwhisker to Friday Island. He
was accompanied by Max Handy and a Canadian government officer.

CHAPTER XXIII

"Sweating" the Prisoner

It was now supper time, but nobody except the Canadian officer was hungry
enough to think of eating. The latter, being a disinterested party, save
as one commissioned with the duty of enforcing the law, had not diverted
to a subject of absorbing interest the energies that ordinarily create a
human appetite, hence he was normally hungry. Moreover, he was a man of
good physical proportions and organic development, and consequently
hunger with him meant a good plateful, or dissatisfaction.

This officer, who was introduced by Mr. Perry as Mr. Harrison Buckley,
seemed to take no interest in his mission until he saw the evening meal
in course of preparation in real kitchen-like manner; then he took the
prisoner in charge and proceeded to "sweat" him in the approved style of
a police captain's private office. The prisoner squirmed about for a
time, successfully evading the inquisitorial probe aimed at him, but at
last he "confessed" as to his name and address. He said that his name was
Grant Howard and that his residence was at Gananoque, Ontario. Then a
call to supper was issued and the composite aggregation of humans
gathered around the table, which was never intended to accommodate quite
so many guests.

However, with the exercise of due ingenuity, the supper was properly
disposed of with the unexpected discovery of more appetite than was
originally expected. Max Handy proved to be a healthy eater and the
savory smell of juicy broiled steak from the Catwhisker's refrigerator,
loosened even the nervous tension of Mr. Baker's worry over the fate of
his son, so that he was able to do fair justice to the cooking of Cub,
Hal, and Bud, who had full and joint charge of the preparation of the
gastronomic spread.

After the meal the four boys cleared the table and washed and wiped the
dishes, while the three men joined forces in the continued "sweating" of
the prisoner. The latter adhered stubbornly to his earlier "confession"
as to what he and his three companions had done with Mr. Baker's son, but
failed t