“Why, you see, first of all, that fellow in the white neckcloth and napkin told me somewhat shortly that neither General Lyon nor any of his party were at home.”
“‘I know that, because they are here,’ I answered.
“‘But they are not in, sir,’ he replied.
“‘Then we will wait till they are,’ I rejoined.
“‘They’ll not be here, till five o’clock,’ he added.
“‘All right. We will sit down and make ourselves comfortable until that hour,’ I remarked.
“‘That’s the General’s dinner hour,’ growled the fellow.
“‘Which is extremely lucky, as we can dine with him,’ concluded I.
“The fellow looked as if he suspected me of being the confidence man, and meditated calling in the police. However he contented himself with beckoning to an under waiter, jerking his thumb over his shoulder in my direction, and muttering something very like an order to the other one not to lose sight of me. And so he or the other fellow kept an eye on me all the while.”
“The insolent scoundrel!” exclaimed General Lyon, indignantly.