It was so unexpected, this meeting, that he was almost too paralyzed to move.
He gave a faint cry of alarm. Porler heard it and looked in his direction.
“Ah, so there you are!” he sang out. “I thought I would find you somewhere in the vicinity!”
He ran toward the lad.
Instinctively Mart turned to flee.
“Stop!” he cried. And he made after the boy at a greater speed.
Mart did not answer him, but ran the faster.
But the boy was no match for the old balloonist, who in his day had been a swift runner.
He kept gaining on Mart, and seeing this, the lad ran toward a clump of bushes.
Mart dived into the midst of these, and thus managed to get out of his sight.