It's a trick of some kind." "I--I don't know about that," answered Shelley.

"Don't you think it would be better to come here in the daylight?
We--er--we can't find that cave in the dark anyway." "Yes, we can--and I am going to do it, too," was Merrick's answer.
"That is a trick, I tell you." He raised his voice: "Who are you ?" he called out.

"Answer me truthfully, or I'll fire on you!" This threat alarmed the Rover boys, for they saw that Merrick was in earnest.
"I guess our cake is dough," muttered Tom.
"Wait, I think I can scare him back yet," said Dick.

"Let me do the talking." "I say, who are you ?" repeated Merrick.

"You needn't pretend to be ghosts, for I don't believe in them." "We are the owners of this isle," answered Dick, in the heaviest tone he could assume.