“What signs?”
“Why the sign 'Rest' along this road.”
He paused for some seconds with a perplexed expression on his face.
“Then you are not the sign man?” I said.
“No,” he replied, “I ain't any sign man.”
I was not a little disappointed, but having made my attack, I determined to see if there was any treasure aboard—which, I suppose, should be the procedure of any well-regulated pirate.
“I'm going this way myself,” I said, “and if you have no objections—”
He stood looking at me curiously, indeed suspiciously, through his round spectacles.
“Have you got the passport?” he asked finally.
“The passport!” I exclaimed, mystified in my turn.