“Where did you say this place was, sir?” asked Paul, affecting ignorance.
“Almost directly northwest of here,” the man replied with what seemed undue eagerness. “You can’t miss it.”
All the boys nodded in unison, as though they understood perfectly the directions he was giving them. In silence they wondered why the man was so anxious to have them move from their present camping ground. He tried hard not to betray his eagerness and anxiety, but he was a very poor actor. Jack inquired, “Is there anything wrong with this camping ground?”
The man scratched his head. “Well,” he answered, “not very much but it isn’t anywhere near as good as the one I’m telling you about. You really ought to go over there and see it.”
Wallace spoke up, saying, “I’m sure the gentleman has the best of intentions and if he says that the camping ground he’s telling us about is superior to this one, it must be so. In that case, it would be a shame not to take advantage of the information. The first thing tomorrow morning I’m going over there and take a look. If it is all the gentleman says it is, we’re going to move.”
The man grinned, the curl of his lips betraying, his deep self-satisfaction. “That boy is a smart one,” he cried. “He’s got the right idea.” He jumped to his feet. “Well, I’ll be going,” he announced. “So long, fellows.”
“So long.”
He went in the direction he came from. The boys held their breath and silently waited for fully five minutes, until the man’s footsteps could no longer be heard. Ken exploded. “Can you imagine that?” he cried. “He said he was going the other way and he walked back in the direction he came from.”
Paul held up his hand and motioned for order. “Hush, fellows,” he said. “We can discuss this quietly. Trees and bushes have ears, you know.”