“You let him get away!” Bruce said angrily. “You shouldn’t have!” He looked around. “All right, Gale?”
“Yes,” she answered. “But he almost had them, didn’t he?”
“You came here to meet someone?” the new arrival asked. He was a short, stocky, blurred figure in the darkness.
Gale thought instinctively that he must be Stubby. The name fitted him to perfection.
“Yes,” Bruce murmured. He wondered if this were another foe or really the man they had come to meet. “What time is it?” he asked without further preliminary.
“’Bout seven o’clock by the stars,” the man answered.
The right answer! Gale breathed easier. Now they could be rid of the plans.
“How long have you been here?” Bruce continued.
“Three days, come Friday,” was the answer. “Have you anything for me?”
“Yes,” Bruce almost shouted in relief. He took the package of plans from Gale and handed them to the man. “You’re Stubby?”