“I told you so,” came the answer; “that fellow with the sneaky eyes is a bad egg, and he means to do us trick or I miss my guess.”
“Are you only saying that in a general way, or do you know something?” asked the scout leader, in the voice he used when giving orders to the troop in place of Dr. Philander Hobbs, the real scout master, who was often absent when the boys were enjoying an outing in camp or on the trail.
“I followed him outside,” continued Giraffe, sinking his voice to a mysterious whisper, “and saw him talking with some other tough-looking fellows; and, let me tell you, they acted mighty suspicious.”
CHAPTER X.
THE THROB IN THE NIGHT BREEZE.
Thad may have thought that, up to this point, Giraffe was allowing his suspicions to overcome his better judgment; but he now saw the other was unusually serious. So the scout leader considered it wise to ask a few questions.
“How many others did he talk to, Giraffe?” was what he first wanted to know.
“There were two, all told,” came the answer; “I think one was that fellow with the coarse laugh, and the other may have been the man almost as broad as he was long, and who made our Bumpus here look like a baby.”
“Huh!” grunted the party referred to, “I always told you I wasn’t such great shakes when it came to topping the scales; but you’ve got us interested, Giraffe, so give us the whole story while you’re about it, please.”
“Did they only get their heads together and talk?” Thad continued.
“Oh! that was just the beginning,” admitted Giraffe; “and if it stopped there, how would I know that they were bothering themselves about a party of boys who had dropped in to spend the night? It was what they did that gave them away.”