"Well, I don't know if you have noticed the way a messenger generally carries a telegram to the office."
"Well, I amuse myself frequently by noticing these things, and I have observed that he invariably carries it in his hand, and reads it twice before sending it."
"Well, what of that?"
"In the first place it will enable us to see who the messenger is, and in the second we may be able to read the telegram as well as he," answered Hal, as he took up his position in a deep doorway on the side of the street opposite to the hotel.
Shortly afterwards they saw Gussy appear at the door, and look about her to see all was clear. A few minutes later a boy appeared carrying a telegram in his hand.
Walking on the opposite side of the street as far as King William Street, they shadowed him, and crossing the road walked close in his rear. As the lad stopped at the office, he opened the telegram, and looked at it. Hal at the same time glanced over his shoulder, and read:
V. Wyckliffe, Great Australian Palace, Melbourne. Morris and another called for you to-day. Going Melbourne. Look out. G——y.
"Hal, you're a wonder," said Reg when he became acquainted with the contents of the telegram.
"I reckon we're getting close on him now. He will only have three days' start of us," said Hal, complacently. "The guide says—'Express to Melbourne at 3.30., arriving at 10.30 next morning: boudoir car attached.'"