“No, he is not,” said Jack, “and just now I don’t care to say any more about it. Show your plate if you want to convince the boys that your odd sort of camera can do something. They may not notice the man on it. They will probably simply notice the trees and rocks, which are very sharp and distinct.”
“All right,” said Billy. “I would like to show it to those wiseacres just to convince them that the thing was all right, and to get the laugh on them.”
“Revenge is sweet,” laughed Percival.
“Of course it is,” said Billy, “but I guess we fellows had better get to bed or the doctor will be giving us fits. Is there time to show this picture to the fellows?”
“I should think so,” replied Jack. “I will keep the enlargement in case I need it, and I would rather you did not say anything about it to the boys.”
“Of course not!” said Billy promptly.
Billy and Percival now took their leave and Jack put away his developing outfit, locked the enlargement in his bureau drawer and turned on the lights and threw aside the curtains, so that any one in any of the other cottages or in the Academy could see him.
“Still in the neighborhood,” he muttered, as he sat by the window and looked out on the calm Autumn night. “I wish he would leave it. I am not safe as long as he remains. At any rate, I shall do my duty as I have always done it, no matter what happens.”
An hour later Jack went to bed, and no one who saw him at that time would have imagined that anything was on his mind, his face was so calm and tranquil.