The lad assured him he was correct, as he seemed to be in every supposition which he made.
"Do you think you would know either of those men if you met them again?"
The question was a startling one, not from the words themselves, but from the peculiar manner in which it was asked.
Cyrus Sutton bent forward, thrusting his face almost in that of the boy and dropping his voice to a deep guttural bass as he fixed his eyes on those of Fred.
The latter looked up and said:
"The voice of the man I met in the lane sounded just like yours. Are you the man?"
It surely was a stranger question than that to which the lad had made answer, and Sutton, throwing back his head, laughed as if he would sink to the earth from excess of mirth.
"Well, that's the greatest joke of the season. Am I the other tramp that led you on such a wild-goose chase? Well, I should say not."
Nevertheless Fred Sheldon felt absolutely sure that this was the man he accused him of being.