"I smell a cigar; somebody is near us."
Chester tested his smelling apparatus and replied:
"You are right; the odor is in the air."
"It reminds me of the kind the governor smokes; and is therefore a mighty good one."
"It is the man in gray; he smoked nearly all the time on the boat."
CHAPTER XIX
Not Near Either Bank
Having convinced themselves that the man in gray was near at hand, the next question Alvin and Chester asked themselves was whether he knew of their proximity. It would seem not, for they had moved with the silence of shadows, and spoken in the most guarded of undertones. Moreover, it was not to be supposed that he would smoke a cigar, knowing the liability of betraying himself, just as he had done. Further, there was the danger of the glowing end catching the eye of anyone in the vicinity. The youths peered here and there in the obscurity in quest of a tiny torch, but failed to see it.
While speculating over the situation an unexpected shift took place. Chester laid his hand on the arm of his comrade and whispered: