"Why not?" challenged Dave in astonishment.

"It's just like this," Tom went on. "Solving human riddles is
all right in the daytime, but it's likely to spoil our rest at
night. I can't help feeling that last night's Sploderite function
was a mark of displeasure over our unwelcome interest in the lake
mystery."

"Suppose we grant that," Dick answered, "yet how would last night's
rascals expect us to connect the bang concert with Tom and Dan's
canoe trip and discovery yesterday afternoon?"

"There's something in that idea," Reade admitted. "The unknowns
might hardly expect us to show as much human reasoning power as
all that. Yet I'm of the opinion that we'll continue to rest
badly at night as long as we continue to feel any unhealthy curiosity
about the lake mystery. In other words, my belief is that our
interest in the affairs of perfect strangers is regarded by the
unknowns as rudeness that must be rebuked."

"I don't care a hang about the lake mystery, anyway," gaped Dan,
who was giving forth a series of yawns, his mouth only partially
hidden by his right hand.

"There's just one strong point to the other side of the question,"
Dick argued. "There's a very fair amount of reason to believe
that a man may have been drowned late yesterday afternoon, and
that Tom and Dan saw him go down for the last time. That probability
existing, I believe we are bound, as good citizens, to see if