He was fixing a pipe for a smoke, and seemed to be entirely at his ease, so Thad made up his mind that at any rate no suspicion of the danger that hovered over his head had come to Felix Jasper.
Lying there perfectly motionless the boy tried to study the man whom he had come so many hundreds of miles to find. So this was the unfaithful steward whom his mother had been compelled to discharge; and who, it was believed, had revenged himself in the most cowardly way possible by stealing the Brewster baby, and so cleverly that all the detectives who had been hired at great expense to search for the same, had been unable to accomplish anything.
No wonder Thad shivered and then grew fiery hot as he fixed his eyes on the figure of the man who had once been in the employ of his parents, and proved treacherous to his trust.
He had always hated the name because he believed that if Jasper were really to blame for the disappearance of his baby sister his act had certainly shortened the life of his dear mother, for whom Thad had grieved many a year.
Jasper was a slender sort of a man; but then, knowing this fact already, Thad was more concerned about his features. He saw that when the other glanced up and looked around there was a hunted expression on his face; just as though he must have known that this last desperate act of his would make him a much sought prize with all the sheriffs and marshals of the country.
He must have figured on remaining in hiding for a certain length of time, after which in some sort of disguise, and carrying his stolen loot as well as the girl along, he could make his way to New Orleans, and take passage on some steamer bound for a Mexican port, or else one in Central America, where he could buy a plantation, and live at his ease.
Neither of the concealed scouts dared move hand or foot so long as the man was in plain sight; for the least action might have caught his attention, with the result that the plans of the sheriff would be overturned. A dead man was not worth more than half as much as a live prisoner, to the law.
After puffing away at his pipe for a few minutes the man knocked it on his heel, as though after all the flavor did not appeal to him. He looked around once more, shrugged his shoulders, yawned once or twice; and then taking out a revolver from a hip pocket he seemed to be idly turning the cylinder, as though to make sure the chambers were all loaded.
When Thad saw him yawn again he concluded that Jasper must be doing more or less sleeping day and night, to make up for lost time; or else hardly knew what to do with himself while in hiding.
He did not like the man’s face. To his mind it expressed cunning, and he wondered how any one could trust him; but then Jasper may not have always looked this way in those days far back, when he had charge of the Brewster estate.