“Well, let’s get back to school,” proposed Jack. “It will soon be grub-time.”
“And Tom can tell us more about that hunting trip,” suggested Bert.
“All right,” agreed our hero, but as he walked along he was puzzling his brain, trying to think what Professor Skeel’s object was in coming back to Elmwood Hall.
Perhaps if Tom could have seen Mr. Skeel a little later, as the cutter drew up at a road-house some miles away—a road-house that did not have a very enviable reputation in the neighborhood—Tom would have wondered still more over his former teacher’s return.
For, as the cutter drew up in the drive, there peered from a window two men, one with a more evil-looking face than the other, which was his only claim to distinction.
“There he comes,” murmured the man with the less-evil countenance.
“Yes, but he’s late,” agreed the other. “Wonder what kept him?”
“He looks mad—too,” commented his companion.
A few moments later Professor Skeel entered the rear room of the road-house. The two men arose from the table at which they had been sitting.
“Well, you kept your word, I see,” muttered Skeel to the man with the evil face. “You’re here, Whalen. And you too, Murker.”