Ned lost no time in getting to the buffet, where he found Gastong, sitting in conversation with a trampish-looking fellow who seemed to be somewhat under the influence of liquor. He beckoned to Ned when he entered the room and made room for him on the leather rest at his side.
“This is Tommy, the cook,” he said, when Ned was seated. “Your cook.”
“You ought to join the force,” laughed Ned. “I never would have known you.”
“Lieutenant Gordon told me to keep watch of you boys,” laughed Tommy, “but I reckon you’re doing pretty well for yourselves.”
“You are a secret service man?” asked Ned, satisfied now that Gordon had indeed thought it necessary to keep them all under surveillance.
“Of course,” replied Tommy. “I’m not much of a cook. I guess you found that out up at the camp.”
“It was thoughtful of the lieutenant,” Ned said, “but, as you say, we seem to be getting on very well. Do you happen to know where Gordon is at the present moment?”
“He was to meet me here,” was the reply, “but has not shown up.”
“It is dollars to apples,” said Gastong, “that the Japs have cornered him. He told me, on the night you went after the bomb-man, that some one was sleuthing him.”
“I didn’t know that you knew him,” Ned said, wondering if every person he had come upon since arriving on the Isthmus was in the secret service.