CHAPTER XXVII
BAFFLED AGAIN
William, coming across the street to take up a position, where he could watch the lad he suspected was Ned, puzzled his head over the scene he had just witnessed.
“I wonder what he went off with that man for?” he said to himself. “Didn’t act as though he wanted to, either. I’ll ask the fruit man.”
He approached, and then the thought struck it would be a good idea to apply for the job the other boy had just left. He got it, for there was need of hurry in unloading the fruit, as the day was cold.
“What was the matter with the other fellow?” asked William carelessly as though it was of little moment to him.
“I don’t know,” the fruit man replied. “The boy came along just like you and asked for a job. I hired him and then along comes this fellow and says the lad owes him money. It wasn’t any of my affair. Hustle those boxes in now, I don’t want the oranges to freeze.”
“Who was the man who took him away?” asked William, as indifferently as he could, though he was nervous with eagerness to hear the answer.
“I never saw him before. It was none of my affair, though I liked the looks of that boy, and I didn’t care much for the man. But I’ve gotten over the habit of interfering in other people’s business. Come now, boy, hustle!”
William went to work with an energy that pleased his employer. The boy was beginning to think he had made a mistake. He felt that he should have followed the man, to see where he took the lad he believed was Ned. But then, too, he had telephoned Mr. Wilding and the chums to meet him at the fruit store, and if he was not there when they arrived, they would not know what to make of it.