Jimmie heard the words and rose unsteadily to his feet. He recognized the voice as that of the boy who had given him the Boy Scout challenge. At least it was not that of Chang, and there were only two figures outlined against the sky when he looked out beyond the rug, still pushed aside.
“Fool! Fool! Fool!”
Chang gritted out the words as he took the Chinese boy by the back of the neck and hustled him into the cave. Then he spoke for a minute in Chinese and turned away again. Jimmie stepped back into his alcove and felt around for a stone, or anything in the shape of a weapon, as the boy advanced toward him.
“What does the badge say?”
Jimmie opened his eyes wider than ever, if possible, and stood facing the boy, half hiding the stone he had found.
“Be prepared,” he replied.
“Then drop that rock!”
Jimmie dropped it and stepped forward.
“Liu, Owl patrol, San Francisco,” the Chinese boy said.
“McGraw, Wolf patrol, New York,” replied Jimmie.