When the boys returned to the office in half an hour the clerk called them over to the desk at once and told them of what had taken place.
"How did he ever follow us out without our seeing him?" asked Jimmie.
"He must have shot through the air," the other declared.
"Are you sure you kept a good lookout?" smiled the clerk.
"Well, we looked about a good deal," Jimmie admitted, "and I can't say as I thought of being chased up. What did Washington say?"
"You boys are to wait here until you receive instructions. The cipher message is now going on the wire."
The boys sat down in a restaurant not far from the telegraph office and ordered porterhouse steaks, French potatoes, and all the side dishes that were on the menu.
"We may have to ride to-night," Jack said, "and may as well prepare for it."
"I don't like the idea of our being followed here," Jimmie observed. "We'll be apt to come across that chap on the way back. The funny part of it all is that we never suspected there was a sleuth out after us!"
"We ought to have known," Jack grumbled. "Somehow everything has gone wrong with us. If we ride back in the night we'll probably have a skirmish."