"Did he get him?" asked Jimmie.
"Yes, he got him, worse luck!" was the reply. "Where did he go with him?"
"Don't know," replied Jimmie.
"I'll find a way to make you know!" gritted Collins. "Do you fellows know what it is to be hungry?"
"Honest," Jackson cut in, "we don't know where Nestor went with
Lyman. When he left us, he was not certain that he could get him.
Thought Lyman might not want to go away with a stranger on such
short notice."
"Oh, what's the use?" demanded one of the others. "The fellow has gone back to Asuncion. That's easy to figure out. Who set you boys at work on this case?" he added, in a moment, at a whisper from his seat-mate.
"Ned set me at work," Jimmie answered.
"Yes, but who set him at work?"
"I'll tell you," Jackson said, with a smile of satisfaction on his face, "the United States government set Ned at work. You'd better watch out how you butt up against the Secret Service men."
"That's just what I told you!" sneered Collins. "You wouldn't believe me. Now what do you think?"