“I should think you could, at the price you say you paid. Then if it isn’t the quality of the beef it’s something else. They may be stringing you along to get the best of you in some other deal. I’d watch out, if I were you.”
“Thanks. But don’t worry. I’ll take care of myself. It takes a pretty early bird to get the worm if little ol’ Sid Munson is after it!” and once more the man with the diamonds patted himself on the back, so to speak.
“Did you hear that?” asked Ned in a whisper, as the two men moved away.
“Couldn’t very well help hearing it,” assented Bob.
“Sort of queer,” commented Jerry.
“More than queer!” declared Ned when they were in the dining-room. “It’s a clue, I think, to the cattle——”
“Hush!” exclaimed Jerry with a warning glance; and he spoke only in time for at that moment the two men who had been talking in the corridor entered. They did not notice the boys but went to a table at the far end of the room, whence came murmurs of their talk about the cattle business. But the three chums could overhear no more because of the general din around them.
“Don’t give yourself away to them,” advised Jerry in a low voice.
“That’s right, I should be more careful,” admitted Ned. “But don’t you think there’s something in this?”